Freewell ND Filter Test with Hyperlapse

smbishop · Nov 5, 2023

Used my extra hour today to play around with my new Freewell ND Filter All Day Pack shooting multiple hyper lapse shots at a round-about near my home. What I learned:

1. Auto exposure used the same shutter speed for all filters.
2. Reshot in Manual mode with a fixed 100 ISO, auto shutter and manual white balance.
3. Set up a waypoint mission to send the drone to the same point, easy peasy!
4. Never used return to home much, but perfect for this repetitive project.
5. With wind gusts of 25 mph, the gimble was so steady!
6. Received obstacle avoidance sound warnings at 200 ft, due to the wind?
7. I like the added motion blur with the darker filters.

MS Coast · Nov 5, 2023

smbishop said:
6. Received obstacle avoidance sound warnings at 200 ft, due to the wind?

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The OA sensors have no way to react to wind. OA warnings are likely due to sunlight striking the sensors directly.

I've seen that frequently on the Mavic 3 on days with a clear sky. I've not yet noticed it during a couple of hours of flight time with the Mini 4 Pro.

smbishop · Nov 5, 2023

MS Coast said:
The OA sensors have no way to react to wind. OA warnings are likely due to sunlight striking the sensors directly.

I've seen that frequently on the Mavic 3 on days with a clear sky. I've not yet noticed it during a couple of hours of flight time with the Mini 4 Pro.

Thank you, that makes sense!

GFields · Nov 5, 2023

Thanks for sharing.

jonnyweb · Nov 6, 2023

Thanks for the vid!

smbishop · Nov 6, 2023

jonnyweb said:
Thanks for the vid!

It was fun to make, now I want to do the same thing at night.

MS Coast · Nov 6, 2023

smbishop said:
It was fun to make, now I want to do the same thing at night.

Sans filters, I'm guessing.

smbishop · Nov 6, 2023

MS Coast said:
Sans filters, I'm guessing.

With filters. For me, I want to experiment and learn through my own experience, rather than he said, she said...

dmcgrew · Nov 6, 2023

smbishop said:
With filters. For me, I want to experiment and learn through my own experience, rather than he said, she said...

ND filters are pointless at night unless you want a ridiculous shutter speed of like 5 seconds or more which will just look like a mess.

MS Coast · Nov 6, 2023

smbishop said:
With filters. For me, I want to experiment and learn through my own experience, rather than he said, she said...

It's more about light, exposure values, shutter speeds than opinion.

I can't imagine you'll find that you need to reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor at night by using ND filters.

TwoSticks · Nov 7, 2023

You guys should try it. If you shoot moving vehicles at night with an ND filter, you can get a slow enough shutter to control the light trails for the passing cars. ND filters are usable at night and should be experimented with.

Here is just one example from dronexfactor. I know this is a different drone but the concept is the same.

MS Coast · Nov 7, 2023

TwoSticks said:
You guys should try it. If you shoot moving vehicles at night with an ND filter, you can get a slow enough shutter to control the light trails for the passing cars. ND filters are usable at night and should be experimented with.

Here is just one example from dronexfactor. I know this is a different drone but the concept is the same.

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Good point. They can be handy for special effects.

PAW · Nov 7, 2023

Saw in dronexfactor's comments a lot of discussion countering his use of the filters and the requisite increase in ISO. Here is a one commentor's demo of the alternate position (no ND). Be nice to try it both ways using the same drone/location/time.

Seattle Hyperlapse [4K]

smbishop · Nov 7, 2023

Great discussion! Thanks for all the tips!

Digitized Life · Nov 12, 2023

smbishop said:
Used my extra hour today to play around with my new Freewell ND Filter All Day Pack shooting multiple hyper lapse shots at a round-about near my home. What I learned:

1. Auto exposure used the same shutter speed for all filters.
2. Reshot in Manual mode with a fixed 100 ISO, auto shutter and manual white balance.
3. Set up a waypoint mission to send the drone to the same point, easy peasy!
4. Never used return to home much, but perfect for this repetitive project.
5. With wind gusts of 25 mph, the gimble was so steady!
6. Received obstacle avoidance sound warnings at 200 ft, due to the wind?
7. I like the added motion blur with the darker filters.

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Below is an example of using a Freewell ND1000 with the following settings: ISO:100, SHUTTER:1/3 using Mini 4 Pro.

smbishop · Nov 12, 2023

Well, my first try at night with a fixed ISO of 100 did not work with ND filters. I did not experiment with increasing the ISO.

Here it is with no filters, fixed ISO of 100.

MS Coast · Nov 12, 2023

smbishop said:
Well, my first try at night with a fixed ISO of 100 did not work with ND filters. I did not experiment with increasing the ISO.

Here it is with no filters, fixed ISO of 100.

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No need for an ND filter there. It's a bit underexposed, yes? You could bump the ISO up a stop or two or reduce the shutter speed a bit and still get good blurring of the cars. What shutter speed was that shot with?