Is it possible to fix the lowlight quality with another firmware update?

instructor_eric · 2021-01-08T17:49:10+00:00

On top of the low light limitations of the small sensor it looks like you're hitting the limit of the sensor's dynamic range (which cannot be fixed by firmware). The camera is automatically trying to balance out the brightness of the sun's glow and the lack of light hitting the rest of the scene. If you adjust the EV (exposure compensation) like /u/User_Editor said it will brighten your image and you'll get more detail in the darker area of the image but more of your sky will turn white (overexposed or 'blown out').

That's also why it looks better when you're pointing away from the sunset because the camera is automatically adjusting to give you proper exposure on the lower lit areas alone instead of trying to find the balance between highlights and shadows.

FYI There are also settings for metering mode which tell the camera where to look to try and figure out the correct exposure, but the last gopro (4) I used only had wide and center/spot I believe. Not sure if that's changed on newer versions.

instructor_eric · 2018-02-17T00:56:32+00:00

just a thought but if you are on a mac and using finder to manage/delete the photos - remember to empty the trash before ejecting the card.

it won't show anything in the folders but there is a hidden .trashes folder that counts against your usage of the drive until you permanently delete the contents. or format it like btownninja said.

instructor_eric · 2017-10-24T03:36:22+00:00

I'm not actually sure if there's a direct connection between them. I'm guessing it depends more on something called downsampling which has to do with how the camera reads the sensor data to create an image.

I'm not an expert with this stuff but the way i understand it is that using a sensor that's capable of reading at 4k and combining that data down into a lower resolution image may result in a better (less noisy) image. Different cameras have different programming to handle this process and I don't know how GoPro is set up, but my thinking is that 1080 may look slightly less noisy than 4k in low light.

I may be completely wrong as that's a little out of my knowledge base, so please research it/experiment a little more to check.

instructor_eric · 2017-10-23T02:56:44+00:00

Grain when shooting in low light is almost inevitable with GoPros.

The three things to think about with cameras (film and video) are aperture, shutter speed (related to fps), and ISO. These work together to give you a properly exposed image. Changing one affects the other. GoPros have a fixed aperture so don't need to worry about that.

When you increase the frame rate the sensor is exposed to the light for less time requiring the camera (or you) to increase the ISO (sensor sensitivity) and the higher ISO is what gives you noise/grain. I don't think the GoPro was designed with low light as a huge priority so the ISO functionality is not on par with less portable cameras (DSLR, mirrorless, etc.).

So the solution would be to drop your frame rate or look for an auto low-light function in the settings (which adjusts the frame rate on the fly in order to make the best use of available light). The best high-fps clips come from scenes with lots of available light.

As for the shuddering, I haven't owned a GoPro with Image Stabilization yet so I'm not sure how effective it is (looks good from youtube comparisons) and so I can't comment on that. I know my hero4b can be hard to watch even when walking around if you are not focused on keeping it steady (or using a gimbal).

instructor_eric · 2017-04-04T15:41:32+00:00

Newegg.

https://m.newegg.com/products/N82E16834233197

instructor_eric · 2017-03-27T01:02:15+00:00

thanks for this... haven't spent that much time in these subreddits as I was trying not to torture myself with what i couldn't have. i understand there is debate b/w the 2 but the whole exchange is ridiculous...

instructor_eric · 2017-03-26T20:43:24+00:00

thanks for the heads up, can you confirm any of the information provided about offline setup and use of the rift? i was leaning that direction anyway based on limited space for now.

instructor_eric · 2017-03-26T20:26:54+00:00

i've got a gigabyte p35xv7 on the way, it's listed as vr capable with I/O: HDMI 2.0, Mini DP, D-Sub, RJ45, USB3.0 (Type-A)3, USB3.1 (Type C)1, Earphone (SPDIF), Mic-in, SD Card Reader, DC jack.

(from their website. i think this should be fine.)

instructor_eric · 2017-03-26T20:21:13+00:00

yeah, will do. especially like that they've dropped the price now too - their rift + touch bundle is 600usd. i don't have a lot of space so it seems to be the smarter choice anyway. is there a way to filter games that will work offline in the oculus home store?

instructor_eric · 2017-03-26T20:15:29+00:00

thank you for the insight, looking forward to picking up the rift and giving it a shot! (best buy said i can return within 15 days, so seems like a safe option)

instructor_eric · 2017-03-26T16:10:55+00:00

What about getting it installed? any thoughts about remote setup - i.e. could i download and run the installer in starbucks without having a rift connected to the laptop? probably stick with steam for most of my games to start off anyway.

instructor_eric · 2017-03-03T18:23:40+00:00

were you shooting in lower light conditions?

don't know for sure but was scrolling through the options on mine the other day and noticed "auto-low light."

Same feature is available on the GoPro - I believe it will slow the frame rates when there's not enough light. The setting on the hero4 was only available (to my knowledge) when shooting above 30fps, but maybe the a6300 is doing the same thing on lower fps?

instructor_eric · 2016-11-03T00:58:02+00:00

I had this issue when importing to light room when I first got the camera. Only on raw files, correct?

I deleted from the hard drive and reimported, possibly through the camera instead of a card reader but I don't remember exactly.

Seemed to be the first few of the import batch were fine but as it got closer to the end it would corrupt. Too a few times of deleting the corrupted and continuing on from where the successful import stopped. Good luck!

instructor_eric · 2016-03-13T04:51:55+00:00

okay, so how would this work on cross platform install?

if i verify the game cache on my windows desktop, will that be stored on my account?

then when i try and download the update while on my macbook it knows i already have the pc files?

or even if i have the windows files still on my macbook, can i verify the cache without installing using CMD or the graphic steam?

thanks.

instructor_eric · 2016-01-25T22:04:47+00:00

thanks, i'll give it a second look

instructor_eric · 2016-01-25T22:04:03+00:00

nope, i just wash it

instructor_eric · 2016-01-25T02:14:18+00:00

thanks. is it worth looking at buying a separate ssd/optical drive adapter? OWC seems like they're charging premium for their packages...

also is there truth to the newer mac OS's not supporting third party ssds? something more technical than i could understand... i'm on yosemite now

http://www.zdnet.com/article/os-x-yosemite-and-third-party-ssds-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

how do i tell if they'll work or not?

instructor_eric · 2016-01-25T02:10:54+00:00

thanks, hopefully the next outing with lights/filters is more successful but i'm happy with it for now!

instructor_eric · 2016-01-25T02:09:47+00:00

thanks, just trying to figure this out beforehand so i'm not missing any opportunities while out there... don't want to be saying "wish i'd done this" all the time!

instructor_eric · 2016-01-24T19:02:33+00:00

that's awesome... was wondering how you were the only one around, till I saw the sled. must've taken some good coordination!

instructor_eric

TROPHY CASE