DJI Mini 5 Pro Video Settings - Control

In gain and expose settings, we can

control the movement of the aircraft and

the camera. We can set the values

independently for each of the three

speed modes, sena, normal, and sport.

Max horizontal, ascend, and descend

speed are self-explanatory.

Max angular velocity is the speed of the

camera's rotation when panning using the

left stick of the remote control.

I suggest setting it to a low value.

Your smoothness controls the behavior

when releasing the stick after panning.

I prefer a value just above the midpoint

for a smoother release. Brake

sensitivity control the distance

traveled after releasing the right

stick. Further down, we can control the

gimbal movement. Max control speeds

determines how fast the gimbal will tilt

up or down. I like to set a low value

for precise moves.

Tilt smoothness controls how quickly the

gimbals come to a halt after I move. I

prefer a value slightly above the

midpoint.

In Expo, there are three sliders to

adjust the sensitivity of the control

sticks. I like to set them at very low

values for a smoother response.

The last two sliders of Gyn Expo

settings control the behavior of a new

feature, the gimbal roll.

Max roll speed affects the rotation

speed when using the gimbal dial. Roll

smoothness should be set at a high value

for a smoother rotation.

Further down in the control menu, we

access the bottom customization window

to assign specific actions through the

two buttons at the back of the

controller, to the scroll wheel, or to a

combination of wheel and button.

I like to set the C1 button to recenter

tilt down gimbal

and the C2 to cruise control.

In cruise control, we can start the

movement. In this case, advancing

diagonally. When we tap the bottom, the

aircraft will continue to fly in the

same direction at the same speed. And we

can concentrate on adding other

movements like ascending and descending

and tilting or rotating the gimbal. The

scroll wheel can be used to tilt the

gimbal up and down.

While the combination of the button and

wheel can control the gimbal rotation.

In the camera tab of settings, the menu

is contest sensitive. Since we have

selected video in the video photo menu,

all the items in the camera tab will

relate to filming.

The histogram is the only tool I use for

exposure. Therefore, I have it on all

the time. I always leave some space

between the last bar to the right and

the right edge of the histogram to

prevent burning the highlights.

If the bars are bunched up against the

left edge and there is plenty of space

to the right, the image is underexposed

and we should increase the luminosity.

However, there is more tolerance for

underexposed shadows as they can be

recovered while editing while

overexposing highlight should be avoided

at all costs.

If bar touch both the left and right

edge, we are in a high dynamic range

situation.

Further down, we can overlay grid lines.

I find it useful to add the one in the

middle to apply the rule of thirds.

When filming with drones, we often have

the horizon line in the frame. Rather

than having it in the middle, it is more

interesting to divide the scene into

thirds and have it either on the upper

or the lower third.

On other occasions, especially for top-

down shots, we might want a symmetric

framing, in which case the same overlay

helps position this object.

The option style presents two sliders to

adjust sharpness and noise. I set them

to minus one or minus two as I find the

standard setting to oversharpen the

image and apply too much noise

reduction.

To reduce noise, I use the excellent

noiser nit video when needed. You will

find info about it in the description

below. You can watch my video about me

video by clicking on the link above.

The window for exposure is at the bottom

right of the screen. The icon to the

right toggles between auto and manual

labeled pro. The aperture is fixed so we

have only two values to set when

exposing ISO and shutter speed.

In auto mode, the only control on

exposure is through the overall exposure

value, EV, the first icon to the right.

I find that this model tends to

overexpose, so I prefer to lower the EV

value by about 0.3 or 0.7.

With all other drones or camera, I avoid

filming with auto exposure as the

software compensate for the difference

in luminosity with a small lag.

A clear indicator of amateur footage.

But with the Mini 5 Pro, it can be worth

using it in a specific situation as we

will see later.

In manual exposure mode, we can set the

ISO value and shutter speed

independently for more control.

The mm value at the bottom cannot be

modified. It displays the luminosity

resulting from the values chosen above

compared to the optimal exposure

computed by the software.

With an X icon, we can set resolution

and frame rate. There are two resolution

option 4K and 1080p. 4K is nowadays the

standard and one I suggest using

although 1080p can still be used for

social media if file size is an issue.

Below the resolution there are option

for different frame rates. The most

widely used are 24 and 30. It is

recommended to use a consistent frame

rate across all clips in the same

project. Higher frame rates like 48 and

60 frame pers can be used to apply some

slow motion while editing.

In videography, the 180° rule is widely

applied. The idea is to set the shutter

speed at a value double the frame rate

to achieve the correct amount of motion

blur. With a frame rate of 24 frame per

second, the ideal shutter speed is 150th

of a second. at 30 frame per second,

160th of a second and so on. This rule

is particularly important when flying

close to the ground or when the scene

contains moving element.

However, when flying at a high altitude,

there is more tolerance. Although very

high shutter speed values should always

be avoided.

To control the shutter speed in low

light condition, a set of ND filter is

needed. I use the Freewell All Day

six-pack with values from ND16 to

ND1000,

suitable for all light conditions, not

only for video, but also for hyperlapses

and long exposure photography.

You will find a link with prices and

info in the description of this video.

It is an affiliate link, so in case of

purchase, I receive a small commission,

which helps the channel.

As I said earlier, there is a situation

when auto exposure can be a good choice.

The specs of the Mini 5 Pro claim a

whopping 14 stops of dynamic range using

the dual ISO Fusion.

This technique can only be applied when

filming in auto exposure.

Another possibility is to use manual

exposure, setting the ISO value to auto.

I do find that in high dynamic range

situation, it is worth using this

technique for improved results.

In the same window, we can click on the

icon on the bottom left to access other

video settings. At the top, we select

the white balance value expressed in

Kelvin. Auto white balance should be

avoided as it leads to unwanted color

shift when the luminosity changes.

A quick way to find the correct value is

to tap the auto button on the left to

get the app's suggested value. Then tap

it again to switch back to manual mode

and adjust it to your test if needed.

Below the resolution frame rate areas,

we can select one of the three color

profiles, normal, hrg, or the log M.

Normal mode is the most widely used. It

is a pre-processed profile and can be

used just out of the camera. Although a

touch of extra contrast and saturation

is often beneficial.

Normal has constantly improved over the

years. It is now a true 10 bit mode

capable of displaying over 1 million

colors with excellent quality in most

like conditions. It is an excellent

choice for users who don't relies on

computer proprocessing or when editing

is not an option.

The log M is a flat profile widely used

by professionals for two reasons.

It performs better in a dynamic range

situations

and it responds extremely well to

postprocessing to adapt a clip to the

color scheme of a specific project.

We access video mode via the icon above

the shutter. A menu on the left offers a

slow motion option.

It is meant for extreme slow motion at a

frame rate of 120 fps. Very interesting

for scene with moving elements.

With this mode, there is no need to slow

down the footage while editing as the

slow motion is automatically applied.

To the left of the shutter, an icon

toggles between horizontal and vertical

camera orientation to take footage in

portrait mode.

To the left of the shutter, we find

another important new feature of the

Mini 5 Pro, the metal mode.

By tapping on the icon 2, we get a two

times zoom with image quality close to a

true 48 optical lens. It works by

cropping the central part of the image,

taking advantage of the higher

resolution of the 1 in sensor.

I find this feature extremely useful for

filming subject that we cannot reach or

increasing the parallax effect in scene

with elements on different layers.

By sliding on the icon we get variable

zoom levels up to three times, but in

this case there is a noticeable loss of

resolution.

Click on this link to watch my video

about photography with the Mini5 Pro.

And don't forget to hit the like button

if you find this video interesting.

Thank you.