Dear All,
I was using Cannon S100 previously for mapping purpose with CHDK, 1/2000 shutter speed, IS turned off and focus set to Infinity but still get around 50% blurry image.
Now I will use Sony Nex 5n camera on Flatmap1 gimbal with 16mm stock fixed lens and IR triggered from APM for more ground coverage and quality image (hope so..)
Please share your Nex 5n camera setting (Auto or manual or shutter priority?) and any experiences, pros & cons using Nex 5n for mapping purpose.
Let me start from what I was reading from some forum (forgot the link):
Sony Nex 5 series Camera Setting for Mapping:
- Mode: Aperture Priority (by Krajst)
- ISO: 400 or 800 (by Krajst) (if you want faster shutter speeds, you'll have to increase your ISO) check: http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Your-Digital-Camera%27s-ISO-Setting
- White balance: Daily/Sunny or Cloudy (by Krajst)
- Sharpness: infinity (but it is tricky with 16mm lens so I use auto (by Krajst)
Recommendations:
- IR Shutter from Hobbyking (by iskess)
- Use high speed SD: SANDISK EXTREME PRO SDHC SD 16GB, 95MB/s (by iskess)
Pros:
- More pixel compare with S100 = More ground coverage
- Fixed lens 16mm = less blurry image result
- ??
Cons:
- Heavier compare with S100
- No GPS onboard
- Nex 5n Time between shutter > 2 sec = S100 faster < 2 sec (if you need to fly really fast)
- ??
I will update first page regularly that may be useful for others.
Many thanks in advance for your contribution.
Waladi
Replies
Hi iskess. How do you trigger the a5100? I don't think it has IR
Hi Darryl,
I've just checked my last log and don't miss a single shot (363 pics).
My cable is a Gentle IR trigger.
Here my setup
CAM_DURATION,10
CAM_TRIGG_DIST,20
CAM_TRIGG_TYPE,0
speed: 12-18m/s
Did you check the log of your RCOUT trigger channel? Matches the
trigger/pics count?
Wolfgang R.
How quickly (seconds) are your pictures being taken? There are two issues I can see.
1. You're in auto iso mode - your camera has a limit to how fast it can refocus and take a picture (~2 seconds)
2. The IR trigger sending signals while your camera is still taking the last picture.
We had this issue - you can decrease overlap or fly higher.
Great to see a lot of different setups being used for geo-mapping :) thumbs up!
![3702072764?profile=original](https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3702072764?profile=original)
As I see most of you guys are working with Sony MULTI equipped cameras. Would like to share a great trigger solution for your aerial photography, ''Plug & Play'' solution with ON/OFF function (great to save battery life and for landing plane type crafts) and features multiple trigger modes. Super small and light weight with an option to chose ANGLED connector to fit your design best. We have a 10% discount coupon: DIYDRONES @ www.seagulluav.com
Hope you found this helpful guys!
My setup for fixed wing use S100
Thanks for your input Gents. I believe the common size lens would be 15- 20mm wide angle for mapping? I like the Sony Cams because there seems to be more trigger options for them.
What is the quality of Image like with the NEX5? I ask because i have been offered two cameras at more or less the same price. One being a Sony A6000 with out a lens and a Sony NEX-5R with 2 lenses. Not sure which to go for.
You will get more mapping coverage area compare with Nex5 series.
In my experience, having more resolution is great but useless if your mapping area is large as you will dealing with gigabytes of data that took up to several days on large computer to process. The processing time can be speed up by lowering the resolution that makes utilising very high res camera become useless. Somehow i found 20Mp is more than enough. The next thing to consider is the weight and camera's sensor size. Sony nex3, nex5, A5000 and A6000 using an exactly same sensor size but has different resolution. Nex3 and A5000 is the lightest while A6000 is slightly heavier.