Here's the difference between a go pro at 60Mbps and a CGO3+

[NoCoOutdoorGuys]

Steve, one of my (many) complaints with my CGO3+ camera is the extremely warm (high color temperature) video I have gotten on bright sunny days using either Auto or Sunny WB. It doesn't seem to make a difference, at least with my particular setup. I give you Exhibit A (the only test video I've ever uploaded from my POS CGO3+):

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Edit: Anyone else notice the softness (out of focus) issues here?

That video looks way better than anything I've shot.

 

[Tuna]

I'm not convinced that auto anything is a good way to fly a drone camera. Sure you can use it to compensate when you pan into and out of sunlit areas, but watching exposure and colour balance change makes for a less than perfect video.

Isn't it better practise to lock settings (particularly white balance) and then keep the camera oriented as far as possible to keep a consistent level of light in a scene? Most professional aerial shots seem to be tracking, rather than looking round the scene panning side to side or up and down?

 

[CAPTAINDRONE]

I'm not convinced that auto anything is a good way to fly a drone camera. Sure you can use it to compensate when you pan into and out of sunlit areas, but watching exposure and colour balance change makes for a less than perfect video.

Isn't it better practise to lock settings (particularly white balance) and then keep the camera oriented as far as possible to keep a consistent level of light in a scene? Most professional aerial shots seem to be tracking, rather than looking round the scene panning side to side or up and down?

In photography the scene you are shooting always dictates the camera settings. In the air with panning the scene is changing and locking settings may not work. When tracking, the target remains the same, for the most part, unless the camera angle changes or the background suddenly changes, then the scene changes. But as you noted, if you lock the settings on the target that you're tracking and keep distance & angle somewhat stable then the result may turn out pretty good... as long as the lighting doesn't change (i.e. sun goes behind a cloud or sun comes out or target moves to a shadowed area, etc).

 

[Tuna]

In photography the scene you are shooting always dictates the camera settings. In the air with panning the scene is changing and locking settings may not work. When tracking, the target remains the same, for the most part, unless the camera angle changes or the background suddenly changes, then the scene changes. But as you noted, if you lock the settings on the target that you're tracking and keep distance & angle somewhat stable then the result may turn out pretty good... as long as the lighting doesn't change (i.e. sun goes behind a cloud or sun comes out or target moves to a shadowed area, etc).

Yes, exactly my point - drone cameras are not that good at auto adjustment, so try not to use them in situations where they have to do a lot of auto adjustment.

It's also very noticeable on a lot of drone footage where the pilot is constantly panning and tilting to look at stuff. It seems that the professionals cut to a separate shot where they've recomposed the image and adjusted exposure and so on appropriately. Unless you've got someone else controlling the camera, gimbal controls appear to me quite intrusive and are hard to 'get right' to produce a naturally flowing video.