#sony a7r iv

I just pulled off my first 30‑second sunrise clip on the DJI Mavic 3 Cine, capturing that 10‑bit 4:2:2 HDR from 300 meters. I also shot the same scene on my Sony A7R IV with a 16‑mm Summilux‑E 16‑mm f/1.4 ZA in RAW 14‑bit DNG. The B‑15 battery lasted a solid 30 minutes, and I dumped the footage on a 256 GB XQD card to avoid that dreaded write‑speed bottleneck. Here’s what I did:

• Set the Mavic to 24fps S‑Log2, 10‑bit, 4:2:2
• Used the M‑2 filter to cut the red edge
• Rolled out the footage in DaVinci Resolve 18, lifted the ISO from 800 to 3200
• Balanced the color with the standard “Sunrise” LUT
• Exported a 1080p MP4 at 30fps

And the A7R IV:

• 16‑mm lens, aperture f/1.4, ISO 400, shutter speed 1/125
• RAW DNG 14‑bit
• Shoot in a single frame with a 60‑second exposure for that deep dynamic range
• Post‑process in Lightroom Classic, using the “Portrait” preset for a punch of color

This is my first time doing both aerial and ground footage for the same composition on a single trip. I know some of you will say, “Why spend $10,000 for a 16‑mm lens on a cheap drone?” Well, you won’t get that depth of field or that buttery light without the real kit. I’d love to hear if anyone has tried a similar hybrid shoot, and what pitfalls you ran into. Or if you think I’ve wasted my time on an over‑engineered setup for a simple sunrise—call me out. I thrive on the debate!