Search

What is Shutter Priority Mode on the Phantom 4 RTK?

The Phantom 4 RTK does a good job producing high-quality images, but in low-light conditions, you may find that the images are of lower quality. Typically, motion blur is to blame due to a slower shutter speed. To avoid this, we want a fixed, faster shutter speed. We recommend using the shutter priority exposure mode to achieve this.

Setting the Exposure Mode for a mission

1. Turn on the controller and craft.

2. Tap on Plan, and choose a mission type.

3. Tap on Camera Settings on the right-hand side.

4. Enable Shutter Priority.

Adjust the shutter speed to reduce the time it takes to take an individual image.
If you select 800, the images will be taken in 1/800th of a second. 1000 is 1/1000 of a second or 0.001 seconds. 

We recommend 1/1000th as a starting point for shutter speed. In low-light conditions, you may need to slow it down a bit.

Examples:

Flying at 10 m/s

1/100

Shutter Priority 1:100.png

1/500

Shutter Priority 1:500.png

1/1000

Shutter Priority 1:1000.png

Limitations and further explanation

Taking the image as fast as possible is not always the best solution. When using shutter priority mode, we are locking one of the three methods we have available to control the image's exposure. The other two components of the equation (Aperture and ISO (for our purposes at least)) will need to work around the limits that we have imposed.

If the shutter speed is too fast for the lighting conditions, the aperture may be fully open (f/2.8), and the ISO, which can be seen as a sensor gain, starts to increase considerably. The higher the ISO, the more sensor noise in the final images. 

Although we can still process higher ISO images if necessary, we find the best results can be produced with images taken under ISO400, preferably at the native ISO100. 

For more information on ISO and how it affects the imagery you're collecting, check out this article.

In winter or lower light environments, you may need to reduce both your flight and shutter speeds to maintain the same low motion blur as the brighter environments can achieve while flying faster.

Does the Aperture have an impact on the image quality? 

Yes, it does. It has a sweet spot where the camera can take the sharpest images.

Max Aperture = f/2.8 

In this arrangement, as much light as possible hits the sensor. Fortunately, the image is still clear enough with this camera's aperture fully open, but it's not the best it can be.

F/4-5.6

The sweet spot, with the aperture "stopped" down to this point, will make your images as sharp as possible with regard to the aperture.

Greater than f/6.3

As the Aperture is closed even more, diffraction can occur. We want to avoid this and suggest you keep it more open than f/6.3 if possible.

I still can't do it!

We wrote these articles to equip you with everything you need to get the job done on your own, but we understand that sometimes this isn't sufficient.

If you're stuck, the Propeller hardware support team may be able to help. You can contact them by emailing hardwaresupport@propelleraero.com.au.

Related to