Drones and Camera

Drones and Camera Settings: How to Adjust for Different Environments

Posted on : February 4, 2025

One of the most satisfying parts of drone flying is flying a drone and taking awesome aerial photographs, or videography. But capturing spectacular shots is not only about having proper equipment. Still with the settings of your drone camera, that is another big part of knowing how to fly in different environments. Whether that be sunny, cloudy, etc. conditions, knowing the correct settings will improve how your footage looks across various places.

Now, let’s take a look at the basic camera settings with how to change them to adapt to different lighting conditions, weather, and landscapes.

1. Lighting Conditions: How to Tackle Bright or Low Light

Lighting is probably one of the biggest things that you need to take into account with changing your drone camera settings. Good exposure for the difference between a boring washed-out image and an alive one!

Bright, Sunny Days

On sunny days, the light is harsh, which can cause overexposure or unwanted highlights in your footage. To avoid this, you’ll need to:

  • ISO: Set your ISO as low as you can (100 or 200ish; keep away from grain and overexposure.)
  • Employ ND Filters—Aspect of the Light for Bright Conditions These filters mean less light reaching your camera’s sensor, which can permit you to rely on slower shutter speeds without blowing highlights in your footage.
  • Adjust Shutter Speed: For video, the rule of thumb is to use a shutter speed which is double your frame rate. Example: If shooting at 24 fps, then set your shutter speed to 1/50. This allows you to shoot with natural motion blur without overexposing.

Cloudy or Overcast Days

The lighting on overcast or cloudy days is diffused, which gives you softer shadows and a more even exposure. But, as the light is less, you may have to adjust your settings:

  • ISO: Boost it up from ISO 200-400 to 800 to brighten the image, but set it not too high so that you can avoid noise.
  • White Balance: Cloudy days can mean your images are taking on a cool or blue tint; put the white balance dial on manually to prevent this.
  • TUNE ND Filters and Shutter Speeds: You might not need as many ND Filters but tune the shutter speed depending on the scene and your frame rate.

Low-Light/Dusk

Scoping drone footage at night or golden hour is for the most part impossible perhaps as there is simply not that much light accessible. In this light, we simply have to get our settings close enough to let as much light in as possible but not so far over the edge we are in a noise minefield.

  • ISO Bracketing: you will have to bump up the ISO (800 to 1600, sometimes more!) to get enough light. Warning: higher ISO also means more noise in the resulting image, so bear that in mind as well.
  • Bigger Aperture: if your drone can be put in F mode (or similar), go big and let the Light through
  • Decrease Shutter Speed: This will capture more Light, but be careful about motion blur if there is any movement to your scene.

2. The weather: How to Prepare for Windy/Moody & Foggy days

One of the biggest problems when flying drones is, as a general rule, the weather, especially bad on windy or rainy days. The settings to get the best shot in every situation while maintaining the safety of your drone.

Windy Conditions

The wind is not wanted on the camera, as this causes the camera to shake, and with it, your video will not be as smooth. Here’s how to keep things steady:

  • Stabilization: Take advantage of your drone gimbal stabilization setting to get the smoothest footage possible. Many drones come with internal software that can lessen those effects wind-induced to your camera.
  • Faster Shutter Speed: Simply shooting at a higher shutter speed, such as 1/500 or faster helps separate fast-moving subjects and eliminate wind-induced camera shake.
  • ND Filters: Using ND filters against the wind comes in handy in case you are overexposing or underexposing too much (i.e., shooting bright sunlight).

Rainy or Wet Conditions

Flying drones in the rain can be risky, but if you have no choice, then utilize best practices to ensure your gear and settings stay safe.

  • Ensure your drone is rated for the weather. The first thing to remember, before getting your drone wet with rain is that it should be weather-rated. Consumer drones are not waterproof either, so be very careful.
  • Use lower ISO: when shooting overcast, rainy conditions—you have to maintain the ISO down to reduce noise because it becomes more visible when foggy or misty conditions.
  • White balance adjustment: Overcast and rainy weather tends to give the footage a “blue” impression, so adjust the white balance to as little blue as possible for your video. White balance your footage to correct this, and you will see you are making grain much less noticeable on the final product.

Foggy Conditions

Fog can make for moody, cinematic shots, but it also comes with its headaches. Here’s how to tackle it:

  • Increase ISO: Because fog—its blurry, dark friend whose avowed purpose in life is to make something NOT clear by turning you into an incredibly expensive DSLR flashlight—makes everything hard to see and photograph well. You might get away with 400 to 800
  • Use Wider Aperture: Shooting as wide open the aperture helps you to intake more light.
  • Shutter Speed: Slower shutter speed to let more light on the sensor, but bear in mind this can cause camera movement blur if anything other than a static subject is in your frame.

3. Nature Photography: Tackling terrain of Different Kinds

If you’re flying above forests, mountains, or cities, every kind of terrain landscape has its landscapes with different settings that will yield ideal images from the camera.

Mountainous or Rocky Terrain

Mountains often have bright snow-covered peaks and dark valleys, making exposure tricky. To compensate:

  • Spot Metering: Spot metering lets you expose for something like bright snow and make sure you don’t overexpose the highlights.
  • Include ND Filters: If you’re shooting out in the daylight, ND filters are essential to even out exposure between pinnacles of snow and shadow valleys.
  • White Balance: When shooting snow or snowy rocky terrain, white balance will serve you right in keeping an eye on your footage.

Forests or Greenery

In lush, green environments, your camera settings will need to handle deep shadows and vibrant highlights.

  • Exposure Compensation: The sunlight is slanting through the trees, so you might want to use exposure compensation to not blow out those bright areas on purpose.
  • Adjust White Balance: There can be some very slight greenishness from the greenery. Shoot with white balance adjusted to a warmer setting (around the 5000K range) to correct it.
  • Shutter Speed: Ensure your shutter speed is quick enough to minimize camera movement and blur in the trees and clutter, with wind being a contributor too.

Urban or Cityscapes

Sometimes when you are over cities or urbanites, there is a lot of bright light and some shadows flying right over. City life is also hard to freeze because city life is always running quickly. Here are some tips for better cityscape photography and drone experience.

  • Use a Faster Shutter Speed: For cityscapes, where there may be fast-moving cars or people, you’ll want to use a faster shutter speed (e.g., 1/1000 or higher) to freeze motion.
  • Adjust for Artificial Lighting: City lights can introduce unusual color casts, so adjust your white balance to avoid a yellowish tint from streetlights.
  • ND comes into play: Cities are full of bright reflection (daytime), and especially reflective ND filters will come in handy.

Drone Camera Settings for Various Environments: A Quick Reference

Environment/ConditionISOShutter SpeedND FilterWhite BalanceAdditional Tips
Bright, Sunny Day100-2001/50 (for 24 fps)ND16 or ND325500KLower ISO to prevent overexposure; use ND filters to reduce light
Cloudy/Overcast Day400-8001/50 (for 24 fps)ND8 or ND165500K-6500KUse manual white balance to avoid blue hue; slightly higher ISO
Low Light (Golden Hour/Dusk)800-16001/50 (for 24 fps) or slowerND4 or none (if very dark)4500K-6000KIncrease ISO, use a wide aperture, and consider a slow shutter for light
Windy Conditions100-4001/500 or fasterND16 or ND325500KStabilization and faster shutter to reduce shake
Rainy/Wet Conditions400-8001/50 (for 24 fps)ND8 or ND165000K-5500KEnsure your drone is rated for wet conditions; reduce ISO for noise
Foggy Conditions400-8001/50 or slowerND8 or ND165000K-5500KIncrease ISO to compensate for reduced light; watch for motion blur
Mountainous Terrain (Snow/High Altitude)100-4001/50 (for 24 fps)ND16 or ND325500K-6500KUse spot metering for snow; avoid overexposure to highlights
Forests/Greenery200-6001/50 (for 24 fps)ND8 or ND165000K-5500KUse exposure compensation for sunlight through trees
Urban Cityscapes100-4001/1000 or fasterND8 or ND165000K-5500KUse a faster shutter to freeze movement; adjust for artificial lighting

Key Considerations:

  • ISO: Lower ISO for bright conditions to avoid overexposure; increase ISO in low light to compensate for reduced light.
  • Shutter Speed: Adjust based on frame rate (e.g., 1/50 for 24 fps for smooth motion). Faster shutter speeds for action or windy conditions.
  • ND Filters: Use ND filters to reduce the amount of light hitting the sensor, allowing for better exposure control and smooth footage.
  • White Balance: Adjust manually based on the environment to ensure accurate colors, particularly in cloudy or urban settings with artificial lighting.

Some Tips for Drones and Camera Settings in a Nutshell :

1. Shoot in manual mode for full control over exposure settings.

2. Keep your drone’s firmware updated for optimal camera performance.

3. Use grid lines for better composition and horizon alignment.

4. Shoot in RAW for more flexibility in post-processing.

5. Leverage white balance presets for quick color adjustments.

6. Avoid overexposure by checking bright areas and adjusting compensation.

7. Calibrate your camera before each flight for sharper focus.

8. Use the intervalometer for smooth time-lapse sequences.

9. Monitor exposure with the histogram for a balanced image.

10. Use polarizer filters to reduce reflections and boost colors.

11. Plan for golden hour lighting to capture stunning, soft tones.

End Note

You see, mastering drone photography or videography is not necessarily about owning the best drone but how you tweak your camera settings to match each environment. Sunny Beach, Misty Mountains, and City Streets will all require adjusting ISO, shutter speed, ND filters, and white balance, but with the right settings, figure out your perfect shot every time.

Knowing these base settings and how they behave with various lighting and weather conditions will give you the tools to fly your drone the best way no matter where your adventures take!

Also Read: Video Marketing Tools: Vyond vs Renderforest

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