Original Mobius night recording with 4mm ~ F1.2 lens (!)

dirkzelf

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So, I bought me this:

https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/Star...ard-Lens-F1-2-Aperture-1-2-5/32667902637.html

for my original Mobius, just for the heck of it, to see what an F1.2 (!) aperture IR blocked lens would do to my recordings at night, and I must say, I'm really pleasantly surprised.....

Oh yeah,the mount wasn't very stable, cause I had 3 camera's together, so it may be a little shaky at times, but the idea was to find out, and show you guys, how muh more light comes into the shot.... I hope you like it.

Its about 30 minutes, but there is nice soothing music, and a few very nice low fog segments....


It is still no match for the A119S (which I also did simultaneously), but compare this with the original A lens recording I made a few monts back, same route, same camera, and roughly same darkness:

 
That looks good! That's nice clean looking footage for a Mobius in those lighting conditions and the shadows open up nicely.

I'd be interested in see some daytime footage too when you have time to post some and perhaps some other conditions like twilight or overcast weather.
 
Wow. I can't believe that's a Mobius in low light.

IMG_0254.PNG IMG_0255.PNG
 
OK, here's a viewing angle comparison to the A119S at parking lot , just to remind you that the f1.2 lens is 4mm, that's prettty narrow....

vlcsnap-2017-10-14-23h16m24s497.png

vlcsnap-2017-10-14-23h16m31s975.png

Now, you should also be noted that due to the narrower FOV you have less image cover, but you can easier read license plates, and also it would seem like there's more light in the image, and of course it's absolutely true because of the larger aperture, but the effect is even more imminent due to the narrower FOV, i.e. the car's lights cover much more of the actual view, because the view is smaller..... I hope you understand.

I recorded the "trip" with the A119S the same time, so I'll put that up hereafter as well for you to compare, and see how tech has evolved, but I sure like the results with my "old Mobius a LOT!

(It was recorded in 60p, but Moviemaker dropped the thing to 30, d@mnit.... (($%$%###(*))

 
That looks good! That's nice clean looking footage for a Mobius in those lighting conditions and the shadows open up nicely.

I'd be interested in see some daytime footage too when you have time to post some and perhaps some other conditions like twilight or overcast weather.

Coming later today.....
 
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Those screengrabs came from two videos where a guy did a comparo between a Mobius with an original lens vs one with a F1.2 aperture IR blocked lens. Looks like a pretty good mod that will likely be copied by many.

The videos can be found here (around the 22:00 and 23:00 marks): https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/original-mobius-night-recording-with-4mm-f1-2-lens.31145/

Wow, I really didn't expect a move on that question of mine, but I'll bite....

So, they're mine he said sarcastically.... hahahahahaha

:D
 
PS I changed the video link for the A119S comparison I posted here ealier, it's now 60 fps, I produced again in Moviemaker, but now with keeping the original 60fps......

 
That looks good! That's nice clean looking footage for a Mobius in those lighting conditions and the shadows open up nicely.

I'd be interested in see some daytime footage too when you have time to post some and perhaps some other conditions like twilight or overcast weather.

here's one where the misses did some groceries..... and another random video. Again sorry for the jumpy footage, I REALLY need to get that mount sorted.... :(



I also need to work on that dashboard glare ..... anyone have a link to a 2014 Fiat Punto EVO dash mat?
 
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@dirkzelf Thanks for the great vids :D That lens does wonders for Mobuis at night, but daytime seems like it may be in focus too close in. Distant objects look grainy then as you get closer become very clear. I'm still waiting for BG to deliver my new lens so I can join in the fun :whistle:

Phil
 
Mobius (original and mod) vs A119s. Fascinating.

IMG_0263.PNG
IMG_0264.PNG
IMG_0267.PNG
 
here's one where the misses did some groceries..... and another random video. Again sorry for the jumpy footage, I REALLY need to get that mount sorted.... :(



I also need to work on that dashboard glare ..... anyone have a link to a 2014 Fiat Punto EVO dash mat?

@dirkzelf, I see on the comment you posted on YouTube along with these videos that you said, "Because the lens has a larger aperture, and seems to have a washed out effect on the colors, I have set WB to "WARMER" to get a more vivid color scheme."

This was one of the reasons I was curious to see what results you might get with this fast ƒ1.2 lens during the daytime as I suspected there might be an exposure issue.

Please allow me to give you some "photography tips" here so that you can possibly achieve better results. Changing the WB (White Balance) or color option to WARMER has nothing to do with what you are seeing in the daytime video and won't address or cure the problem in any way.

This is an EXPOSURE issue - over-exposure. As you know, the larger ƒ1.2 aperture is allowing much more light to reach the sensor and is over-exposing the image beyond what the sensor and normal settings can tolerate. To fix an 0ver-exposure issue, you need to change (lower - ie: darken) the EXPOSURE setting on the camera via mSetup, not the White Balance. If you want the image to be more intense, you need to adjust the SATURATION level. You might even want to adjust (increase) the CONTRAST levels too. If you really want the image colors to be more "vivid" there is also a dedicated setting that will achieve that. Not surprisingly, that setting is designated "VIVID" and is in the color options slider right below the "warmer" setting. Changing the WHITE BALANCE to "warmer"will only make the image more yellow but won't have any effect on how "vivid" the image appears or on the exposure.

Also, I would recommend that you consider increasing the sharpness setting in mSetup anywhere from +10 to +20. (Everyone reading this who owns a Mobius 1 should give this a try.)

The challenge with using an ultra fast "starlight" lens like this is that you can't really have it both ways. You either can get ultimate low light performance and tolerate over-exposure on a bright day or you need to find a good compromise. I'm thinking that the best use of a lens like this might be on a dedicated camera that is used only at night but we need to see more results, maybe after some exposure settings tweaking.

settings.jpg
 
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@dirkzelf Thanks for the great vids :D That lens does wonders for Mobuis at night, but daytime seems like it may be in focus too close in. Distant objects look grainy then as you get closer become very clear. I'm still waiting for BG to deliver my new lens so I can join in the fun :whistle:

Phil

well, we want to read license plates as the close in, right? For far away we have to little resolution.... but maybe you're right, I'll have a look into it.
 
@dirkzelf, I see on the comment you posted on YouTube along with these videos that you said, "Because the lens has a larger aperture, and seems to have a washed out effect on the colors, I have set WB to "WARMER" to get a more vivid color scheme."

This was one of the reasons I was curious to see what results you might get with this fast ƒ1.4 lens during the daytime as I suspected there might be an exposure issue.

Please allow me to give you a little photography lesson here so that you can possibly achieve some better results. Changing the WB (White Balance) or color option to WARMER has nothing to do with what you are seeing in the daytime video and won't address or cure the problem in any way.

This is an EXPOSURE issue - over-exposure. As you know, the larger ƒ1.4 aperture is allowing much more light to reach the sensor and is over-exposing the image beyond what the sensor and normal settings can tolerate. To fix an 0ver-exposure issue, you need to change (lower - ie: darken) the EXPOSURE setting on the camera via mSetup, not the White Balance. If you want the image to be more intense, you need to adjust the SATURATION level. You might even want to adjust (increase) the CONTRAST levels too. If you really want the image colors to be more "vivid" there is also a dedicated setting that will achieve that. Not surprisingly, that setting is designated "VIVID" and is in the color options slider right below the "warmer" setting. Changing the WHITE BALANCE to "warmer"will only make the image more yellow but won't have any effect on how "vivid" the image appears or on the exposure.

Also, I would recommend that you consider increasing the sharpness setting in mSetup anywhere from +10 to +20. (Everyone reading this who owns a Mobius 1 should give this a try.)

The challenge with using an ultra fast "starlight" lens like this is that you can't really have it both ways. You either can get ultimate low light performance and tolerate over-exposure on a bright day or you need to find a good compromise. I'm thinking that the best use of a lens like this might be on a dedicated camera that is used only at night but we need to see more results, maybe after some exposure settings tweaking.

View attachment 33768

OK, here are the settings I have right now, and they are also the settings I did the video's further down this post. Tell me what I may need to change.

Schermopname (1517).png

Schermopname (1516).png

Schermopname (1515).png

I noticed that license plates are difficult to read, don't know if it's movement blur, out of focus (@SawMaster ~ Phil), overexposure or something with contrast, or maybe the flippies (YES THEY'RE BACK!! (y) check here: https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/give-your-mobius-some-shades-anti-glare-filter.17674/), I don't know, any and all ideas welcome!

 
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