Night flying

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I'm thinking of doing a night flight tommorow, it will be my first one. Anything I should know? (Obviously the obstacle avoidance will not be workin right, nor would active track). Should I use different camera settings than I do in the daytime? What settings (in 4K at 24FPS) do you ise at night? I just got a filter set (Bower), would any of them make a difference (UV, Circular Polarizing, ND4, and ND8)?
 
First, of course your night camera settings will different from your day settings. There is no sun at night. With that being said, try shooting in automatic first to see if the auto settings can present a decent image. Chances are, if the auto settings can't get you a good image, using manual will not help much more. As I have written in other threads (I suggest you search these as well), the sensor on the P4 camera is not the best and it not really optimized for low light or night time video. However, you can still get some decent video and shots if you practice a bit and learn about the relationship between ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. Google is your best friend.
 
Yes it's not specific for hobbyists. On the rare occasion I fly at night, auto settings for video work well for me.
 
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I only shoot video. I fly night missions often & find Auto Mode provides the best overall results. I usually record at 30 fps or else the ISO drops to 6400 producing extremely noisy & unpleasant blacks. Night flying only produces interesting video if you have lots of lights in the scene. Night flying over water, woods, or sparsely populated areas seems mostly to be a waste of time. Video below recorded @ 1080x30 fps in Auto Mode.


I'm thinking of doing a night flight tommorow, it will be my first one. Anything I should know? (Obviously the obstacle avoidance will not be workin right, nor would active track). Should I use different camera settings than I do in the daytime? What settings (in 4K at 24FPS) do you ise at night? I just got a filter set (Bower), would any of them make a difference (UV, Circular Polarizing, ND4, and ND8)?
 
I only shoot video. I fly night missions often & find Auto Mode provides the best overall results. I usually record at 30 fps or else the ISO drops to 6400 producing extremely noisy & unpleasant blacks. Night flying only produces interesting video if you have lots of lights in the scene. Night flying over water, woods, or sparsely populated areas seems mostly to be a waste of time. Video below recorded @ 1080x30 fps in Auto Mode.


Dirty Bird - your video is awesome. I live in Baltimore and have a P3P. Great job (sorry that this is not on topic, but had to comment your night video).
 
Excellent video! I love it.
I only shoot video. I fly night missions often & find Auto Mode provides the best overall results. I usually record at 30 fps or else the ISO drops to 6400 producing extremely noisy & unpleasant blacks. Night flying only produces interesting video if you have lots of lights in the scene. Night flying over water, woods, or sparsely populated areas seems mostly to be a waste of time. Video below recorded @ 1080x30 fps in Auto Mode.

 
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No filters at night, you want as much light as possible coming in the lens. Night shots are fun, 2 second exposures are cool on a calm night, especially with car traffic.

I've actually taken some cool shots using the max 8 seconds exposure. It's amazing how steady the Phantom can be in the air.
 
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I don't think that this is an answer to his question.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app (living near Cologne, Germany)


Perhaps not an answer he was looking for, but it IS a valid answer. I was about to post the same observation. I'm not trying to be argumentative, but this might be something the new pilot was unaware of.
~Joey
 
Perhaps not an answer he was looking for, but it IS a valid answer. I was about to post the same observation. I'm not trying to be argumentative, but this might be something the new pilot was unaware of.
~Joey

I agree. With a new pilot, something like whether or not to fly "legally" makes a big difference for us that have been flying for a long time. I live in Tokyo and it's the few rule breakers that ruin it for the rest of us. Be smart and know your limits at night!
 
I only shoot video. I fly night missions often & find Auto Mode provides the best overall results. I usually record at 30 fps or else the ISO drops to 6400 producing extremely noisy & unpleasant blacks. Night flying only produces interesting video if you have lots of lights in the scene. Night flying over water, woods, or sparsely populated areas seems mostly to be a waste of time. Video below recorded @ 1080x30 fps in Auto Mode.

Nice video bloody insane.
 
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I don't know we're you're from but in my country and as far as I've read from other posts night flight is illegal

In the U.S. model aviation pilots must operate either under Part 107 or Section 336, of the Special Rule for Model Aircraft. Section 336 is for hobbyists and Part 107 is for commercial. Part 107 requires commercial flyers to earn a remote pilot’s certificate through the FAA and follow FAA’s guidelines which deny operations 30 minutes before official sunrise to 30 minutes after official sunset. Section 336 flyers (hobbyists) don't have that restriction but have operate within the guidelines and programming of a community-based organization (CBO) such as the AMA. The AMA’s programming allows night flying if the model is illuminated to provide a clear view of the drone's altitude and orientation.
 

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