Xiaomi Yi Z23L really poor night video

Gabriel

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Hi all,
Am new here and tried searching on the threads for a similar issue didn't quite get an answer.
Now I recently got a xiaomi yi 23L from aliexpress. I like it and seems good enough.
I have one issue though, I get good clear daytime videos and am good with the quality, however, night time video is really really poor and I can barely see any detail especially outside even with the streets lit. Light sources also seem green in color and not their actual color.
Please advise what I may be doing wrong as I have tinkered with all the settings but still get poor video.
Thanks.
 
try low light setting via app...you have to know no light is bad for every actioncam, more light more quality!
Therefore flashlights in cameras for making pictures.
 
Thanks gente... I have tried that setting as well. Improvement isn't much.
I have been trying to record on lit areas with street lights but the quality is just too bad.
I have seen night videos on youtube and that is good quality. Mine is nowhere near that am afraid.

An example is this:

That is what I expected from mine but its not the case.

Heeeelp :-(
 
One more thing...all the light sources at night seem green in color :(
And not their actual color...
 
i do not understand: is that your video you show or in your opinion a good one?
for this video i find:
...the green colour i can not see to much, but you have to refocus your cam is set to near focus.
You can see it at the rearview mirror who is in focus (sharp) and the cars before you out of focus.
How you can do that read here in forum and look for youtube videos, it is not to difficult.
Open case with your finger nails, remove glue and focus via hdmi cable on TV (object about 5 meters), clockwise about 5 minutes on my xiaomi.
Or without cable mark lens with tape and switch fotos of object far away and look what adjustment of lens are for you the best and sharpest one.
If you are ready fasten lens with glue and close the housing.
All things you should do with daylight.
What version of Xiaomi yi you have?
The 23L seems momentan best from focussing via manufacturer but not perfect!


lg gente
 
That is NOT my video. This is just video I found on YouTube as I was expecting mine to be like this.
But as I was saying mine is really dark even with auto-light "on" and can barely see anything. Light sources are green in color.
I have a 23L but I haven't done the manual focus. Would that be the issue my video is so dark?
I shall try that see if it helps.

Update: I have managed to upload one of my videos of me testing the camera the other night on my balcony.
Here's the link:

Is this acceptable quality really? And note that we have street lights on the driveway so its not as dark as it seems here. :-(
 
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Also I tried to make a custom script and am new to this so didn't seem to be working.
Do you have a 23L custom one that works on 1.2.13 firmware :)
 
could not watch video because it is private!
 
...i mean it is because you are filming from a dark place into the far, so for me it is normal. From where should the light come? Try to make a recording on the street (lighter background) or as dashcam from your car or bike.
the green colur could be from wrong whitebalance because of low light.
The example video has much better light conditions.
 
OK. I shall post a video of night drive.
There is no way of rectifying the white balance to just be dull image and not green color. Its kinda annoying :-(
 
...you do not need to make a night drive. Go on the mainstreet where enough light is and make a footage. I mean the whitebalance must be better on that conditions and no green lights. Test it, i never heard about that problems of xiaomi before.
 
OK. Thanks. I shall test this and let you guys know. Happy holidays :)
 
Here are some picutres of my new Z23L FW1.2.13 Lens fix no fw mod.
Actually just screenshots. So you get an ideea of the light captured by xiaomi yi. In video it actually looks a better. Perhabst I will upload them later.

Bild1 und Bild2 are at sunset from my copter. I think this is the minimum light you need for a video.

Bild3 is at nigth. You dont see anything in video, even if you can still easily see.
 

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Thanks for this CosmoHill...
I see night video is not good in these cameras. But I was more worried why my light sources all seem "green" at low light and gente said it may be due white balance.
I will make another test on well lit streets and see if its better.
 
Quick one guys....any white balance or brightness/contrast setting I can play with on a script to try and make the video brighter or to get rid of the "greenish" look on them? That's the biggest pain I have about this camera! :mad:
 
Hi guys,
So I decided to do a small test the other day to compare low-light recording on my phone - iPhone 5S vs the Xiaomi Yi 23L.
I was using the front facing camera of the iPhone since there is no flash so as to have the conditions as close to similar as possible.
See links to the videos below:

iPhone:


Xiaomi Yi 23L: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwQbsltIJKcxWE5VMkk1QzFJUnM


Can anyone pleeeeease advise me why my xiaomi videos on low light are so poor! I just want them to be as natural colored as the iPhone footage at the least. The green color & lack of natural lighting is really annoying me.
Other cheaper cameras seem to do better than this. And also all videos I have seen online about night video on xiaomi are way better than this...even with less light conditions.
Please tell me I didnt get a faulty camera or fake one! :( I bought it from aliexpress and had read reviews of the seller and the item too.

Heeeeeelp please!!

Thanks.
 
Anyone with any help here please?

@gente!?
 
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Hi Gabriel,

from afar, we can't exactly judge the light available on your video, but it seems really low.
Like Gente said, the lower the light, the worse the quality and the light on yours seem quite a bit lower than on the external motorbike video you linked to.
You should remember that the image sensors in those small cameras (like in most phones) are very small and their video quality degrades with low light quite a bit more than on cameras with bigger sensors.
Also street lights come in very different flavours. They are chosen for energy efficiency rather than for high quality light and some have a worse spectrum (eg. yours) than others (in the linked video). While your eyes adapt quite well to them, cameras can (more or less) struggle.
When you want to test your camera against your iphone, its better to have them side by side to make sure they record under the same conditions.

All the best,
Frank
 
Thanks Frank.
I guess the light sources seem to be the issue here and not necessarily the camera.
I appreciate the feedback. Kinda makes some sense now.
I shall try footage in different light conditions elsewhere and see how it performs.
I will not give up!! :)
 
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