Spot metering in auto for Dawn & Dusk?

[Smoghog]

Hey, I'm still pretty new with my spark, but I'm having trouble with auto mode when taking stills around dawn and dusk. If even a little bit of the horizon is in the shot, the whole image wants to goes dark. I have to aim lower than I like to get it to focus enough on the land and scenery to brighten up. Is there any kind of spot metering mode that I can use to keep the camera on auto but use the center of the frame for light balance?

 

[Spark 317]

About the close you can do is to leave it in Auto and program one of two Function buttons on the remote to AE LOCK and lock the image at whatever level you are comfortable with as you slowly tilt / pan from dark to light.

 

[Smoghog]

I like that idea! I hadn't thought of that, but it's simple enough. I have my camera settings on the right shoulder, I could easily swap it over since I need it more often than the settings menu.

Thank you!

 

[Spark 317]

Your welcome.

 

[JoostGT3]

Hey, I'm still pretty new with my spark, but I'm having trouble with auto mode when taking stills around dawn and dusk. If even a little bit of the horizon is in the shot, the whole image wants to goes dark. I have to aim lower than I like to get it to focus enough on the land and scenery to brighten up. Is there any kind of spot metering mode that I can use to keep the camera on auto but use the center of the frame for light balance?

You can also touch your device on the screen at the space you want to meter on, then touch again within the circle to lock the exposure.

 

[Spark 317]

I forgot about that one.
Thanks.

 

[Andre Levite]

You could also use Auto Exposure Bracketing Mode (AEB) to combine up to 5 photos when unsure of best exposure setting. The photos are merged to create an HDR image.

 

[JoostGT3]

You could also use Auto Exposure Bracketing Mode (AEB) to combine up to 5 photos when unsure of best exposure setting. The photos are merged to create an HDR image.

I'd like to add to that: the Spark only takes 3 exposures if I am correct (where the MavPro can do either 3 or 5). Also, using AEB will only take the separate pictures if I am correct? You can also select HDR which will merge the images.

On a sidenote; when people do AEB, how are the results? Whenever I merge multiple exposures in Photoshop, and then try to do some tone mapping, the result ALWAYS looks horrible and not realistic at all. (This is not a DJI problem, I also have it when I take many more exposures using my DSLR on a tripod)

 

[monty.roman]

..program one of two Function buttons on the remote to AE LOCK..

that's a great idea, thank you. last weekend the AE ruined one of my video shots when overbrighted the scene completely when I tilted the camera down on the trees. wish I had this set up in that moment.

 

[Multikoe]

I'd like to add to that: the Spark only takes 3 exposures if I am correct (where the MavPro can do either 3 or 5). Also, using AEB will only take the separate pictures if I am correct? You can also select HDR which will merge the images.

On a sidenote; when people do AEB, how are the results? Whenever I merge multiple exposures in Photoshop, and then try to do some tone mapping, the result ALWAYS looks horrible and not realistic at all. (This is not a DJI problem, I also have it when I take many more exposures using my DSLR on a tripod)

The Spark takes 3 exposures but only one stop apart. In my experience, that is not enough to make a big difference. I would have liked the option to set the difference to 2 stops, which in my view would be more usefull.
Even with multiple images taken without a tripod, Photoshop will be able to auto-align the images.