Strange artifacts in Night Mode photo

[LoneDrone]

I recently purchased a flashing LED drone beacon so that I could legally do some night flight testing. Overall, I was pleased with the photos and videos shot in night mode, even in my poorly lit rural neighborhood. It was quite dark and a little windy, so I did get some images ruined by camera shake on the long nighttime exposures. That may be the reason for the strange 'artifacts' in my attached image -- or -- perhaps it was the night mode processing algorithm getting a little too eager to fill in the missing pieces of the image. Both images attached are the same photo resized to 50%, with the 2nd photo having the light adjusted to better match the conditions of that night. So, what's the issue? Notice the chimneys on the houses at 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock. I didn't realize that the Evo Lite+ had an x-ray sensor! If it is camera shake, I would have expected to see the light trails all over the image. The other blurry photos were messed up throughout the entire image. I'm not sure what to think about this. I have seen some strange processing on photos from my cell phone over the years -- like the color of a deer in a photo being changed to shades of green, matching the surrounding marsh grasses. So, what do you think? Camera shake or a night mode algorithm that doesn't know that roofs are supposed to be opaque.

 

[herein2021]

I recently purchased a flashing LED drone beacon so that I could legally do some night flight testing. Overall, I was pleased with the photos and videos shot in night mode, even in my poorly lit rural neighborhood. It was quite dark and a little windy, so I did get some images ruined by camera shake on the long nighttime exposures. That may be the reason for the strange 'artifacts' in my attached image -- or -- perhaps it was the night mode processing algorithm getting a little too eager to fill in the missing pieces of the image. Both images attached are the same photo resized to 50%, with the 2nd photo having the light adjusted to better match the conditions of that night. So, what's the issue? Notice the chimneys on the houses at 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock. I didn't realize that the Evo Lite+ had an x-ray sensor! If it is camera shake, I would have expected to see the light trails all over the image. The other blurry photos were messed up throughout the entire image. I'm not sure what to think about this. I have seen some strange processing on photos from my cell phone over the years -- like the color of a deer in a photo being changed to shades of green, matching the surrounding marsh grasses. So, what do you think? Camera shake or a night mode algorithm that doesn't know that roofs are supposed to be opaque.

What was your shutter speed? You really don't want to drop below 1/20s for drones if you want sharp, artifact free images; night photos should be dark, many people try to turn night into day by increasing the ISO or lowering the shutter speed.

A much more natural looking photo at night is with the blacks crushed, the ISO around ISO 800 and the shutter speed around 1/20s. If it is too dark with those settings then the scene will need more light; either by shooting earlier in the day or by shooting something like a cityscape that provides additional artificial lighting.

With the EVO II Pro my night settings are

Photos
Aperture: F2.8
Shutter: 1/20s
ISO: 800
WB: 3600K

Video
Aperture: F2.8
Shutter: 1/30s
ISO: 800
WB: 3600K
Framerate: 30FPS


Here is a sample image with those settings, I used the city lights to make up for the "high" shutter speed and to me the image looks much more natural because blacks are black vs. shades of grey which reduces contrast and washes out the image.

 

[LoneDrone]

What was your shutter speed? You really don't want to drop below 1/20s for drones if you want sharp, artifact free images; night photos should be dark, many people try to turn night into day by increasing the ISO or lowering the shutter speed.

A much more natural looking photo at night is with the blacks crushed, the ISO around ISO 800 and the shutter speed around 1/20s. If it is too dark with those settings then the scene will need more light; either by shooting earlier in the day or by shooting something like a cityscape that provides additional artificial lighting.

With the EVO II Pro my night settings are

Photos
Aperture: F2.8
Shutter: 1/20s
ISO: 800
WB: 3600K

Video
Aperture: F2.8
Shutter: 1/30s
ISO: 800
WB: 3600K
Framerate: 30FPS


Here is a sample image with those settings, I used the city lights to make up for the "high" shutter speed and to me the image looks much more natural because blacks are black vs. shades of grey which reduces contrast and washes out the image.

View attachment 15795

Nice photo! As this was my 1st night flight I was just letting the night mode defaults be the settings. With no obstacle avoidance at night I was just trying to make sure I stayed out of the trees. Looking at the Exif data of this shot it looks like the exposure was a full second. That could explain some artifacts in the image. Next time I will try some manual settings as you suggested.

 

[herein2021]

Nice photo! As this was my 1st night flight I was just letting the night mode defaults be the settings. With no obstacle avoidance at night I was just trying to make sure I stayed out of the trees. Looking at the Exif data of this shot it looks like the exposure was a full second. That could explain some artifacts in the image. Next time I will try some manual settings as you suggested. View attachment 15796

Those settings are definitely all over the place with auto mode. Auto tends to try to turn night into day. Since your particular scene has no city lighting you might have to push the ISO to 1600 and maybe try 1/15s just to get some sort of success, but I think the Lite+ does better in low light vs the EVO II so you might be able to get away with my settings even in a scene with less light. You could also try getting closer to the houses to get every bit of light possible.

The 1s exposure isn't useable in any drone I've flown which as you said probably explains the artifacts.

 

[NewFlyingBus]

It looks to me like the drone was able to keep still for "most" of the exposure, then the camera view drifted up, causing the streaks... weird how they are inline with the buildings though. Nice pic all the same