Taking pictures without the "prop effect"

RyanB

RyanB

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Anyone know how to get pictures off the nose of say a 172 without getting the prop effect? Im using an iphone and a dslr, any ideas?
 
put a small piece of neutral density filter over the lens
 
Last edited:
Use a camera with film.

Or fly a twin or a pusher or a glider.

With your comstraints, you WILL have a prop effect.
 
What kind of DSLR? Prop effect is caused by the rolling shutters in iPhones and consumer grade cameras. True DSLR's don't have rolling shutters and therefore won't give you prop effect. Just use a neutral density filter and a slower shutter speed to blur the prop.
 
colojo said:
What kind of DSLR? Prop effect is caused by the rolling shutters in iPhones and consumer grade cameras. True DSLR's don't have rolling shutters and therefore won't give you prop effect. Just use a neutral density filter and a slower shutter speed to blur the prop.
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His is it... My gs3 and iPad have this prop effect... Not much to look at. But my Olympus penn is an ok dslr (and small). The prop looks like just an arc throughout the pic- much mor natural...
 
colojo said:
Just use a neutral density filter and a slower shutter speed to blur the prop.
Click to expand...

Pardon a silly question (from an older guy with new technology) but is it possible to change the shutter speed, direction or any other settings on a smart phone or iPad? Or is the smart phone too dumb for that? :)
 
BigBadLou said:
Pardon a silly question (from an older guy with new technology) but is it possible to change the shutter speed, direction or any other settings on a smart phone or iPad? Or is the smart phone too dumb for that? :)
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No - that isn't the way the technology works. The DLSRs are designed to work more like film, but the mobile technology works more like a tv video camera ...
 
Ryanb said:
Anyone know how to get pictures off the nose of say a 172 without getting the prop effect? Im using an iphone and a dslr, any ideas?
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Use a real camera, these were taken with my Canon Rebel XS (DSLR)
 

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midlifeflyer said:
Which filter? I tried it with a 0.12 filter with no effect.
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I put an ND4 on my video cam and it made a huge difference.
It reduces the light in the video but the trade off is worth it on my camera. Also I can lighten the video after.

For photos you could probably get the same effect by increasing the F stop. Just guessing.
 
Thanks everyone, i will try our DSLR next time. Just needed a solution to this issue when trying to get good pictures!
 
peerlesscowboy said:
Use a real camera, these were taken with my Canon Rebel XS (DSLR)
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Might be the technology used by all recent Canon cameras, because my small Canon Powershot ELPH 115 IS also gets similar picturea and videos with the prop producing an expected blurred arc rather than a ghost scimitar effect.

Video taken with default settings, where I shoot through the prop about half way through; prop doesn't show scimitar effect:
http://vimeo.com/80165318

Attached is typical photo shot through the prop when it has swung into view when the shot is take . On occasion I get no prop showing at all.
 

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...and this is why I bought a camera that lives in my flight bag. Cell phone cameras are convenient, but I need more control in cases like this.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I put an ND4 on my video cam and it made a huge difference.
It reduces the light in the video but the trade off is worth it on my camera. Also I can lighten the video after.

For photos you could probably get the same effect by increasing the F stop. Just guessing.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I also came across this video comparing different settings. Looks like I needed to move my decimal point.
http://youtu.be/mnwG-oSna0I
 
The cheesy methods for things with limited control like phones and go pros is to tape an adhoc neutral density filter on it. This causes the auto-exposure software to compensate by lengthening the collection time (essentially the computer equivalent of slower shutter speed) which often lessens these artifacts.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Which filter? I tried it with a 0.12 filter with no effect.
Click to expand...

You need at least one stop of density to have a measurable effect, so you are looking for a .5 in that scale unless it also is labeled with an f, then you want a 1.
 
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