ND filter use?

[Davidwh]

I am also looking into buying some nd filters however in my case it's not bright sunny days ( I live in the NW of England) it's more the case of reasonably bright but overcast cloudy days. The result is I am finding issues with over exposed sky's and dark scenery (the more I turn down the ev the ground becomes virtually black). Question, would nd filters help me in situations like this.

 

[peros550]

I am also looking into buying some nd filters however in my case it's not bright sunny days ( I live in the NW of England) it's more the case of reasonably bright but overcast cloudy days. The result is I am finding issues with over exposed sky's and dark scenery (the more I turn down the ev the ground becomes virtually black). Question, would nd filters help me in situations like this.

Probably yes , but you would look into ND4 or ND8 filters. Actually, there is an app from polar pro. It works as a calculator for which ND filter you need. All you do is power up the Mavic and read its shutter speed and ISO values . You give these as input to the app and it tells which ND filter you need (if you need one )

 

[Wacker2611]

I am also looking into buying some nd filters however in my case it's not bright sunny days ( I live in the NW of England) it's more the case of reasonably bright but overcast cloudy days. The result is I am finding issues with over exposed sky's and dark scenery (the more I turn down the ev the ground becomes virtually black). Question, would nd filters help me in situations like this.

Well I live in the NE of England which isn't much better, and I can relate to your problem. All ND filters do is starve the sensor of light so you can lower your shutter speeds while keeping the ISO low, kind of like sunglasses fir your Mavic. You're still going to find that you'll have to tinker with it a bit, possibly even while you're flying as it is a moving camera having to cope with scores of different lighting conditions on every flight. Since I moved back to manual I'm always having to fiddle with the shutter/ISO, depending on the direction I'm facing. The only solution is to swap back to auto, which on the Mavic at least, isn't ideal.

 

[regdawg]

As camera man that has been filming for 23 years, herewith my 2 pennies worth on ND filters.

ND 4 for cloudy days
ND 8 for Sunny days
ND 16 for very bright conditions

ND 4 gives -1.5 stops
ND 8 givea -2.8 stops
ND 16 gives -5 stops

U want to try an keep the shutter speed down. In super bright conditions the camera on the mavic will bump the shutter speed up if it cannot close down the iris anymore. In the days of the PH1 and 2 shootng with a gopro we used ND filters to bump down the "shutter" on the gopro to reduce jello.

So I'm still learning how to use these filters. So we have to manually turn down the shutter speed in the app when these filters are on? For example, if I'm using the ND16 filter, what should the shutter speed be at?

 

[alper]

What do u use CP filter for? Couldnt see any video n16 vs CP filter etc

 

[alper]

Basically brightness yes. Unless Im shooting Early morning or late afternoon - I always have a ND on. Keep in mind if youre going to take your footage to post, under exposure is always preferred to over exposure. Because u can up the luma and chroma in the footage but u cannot do it the other way around. Also keep in mind here we are only talking about a few fstops. Using the brightness or zebra indicator on the mavic is also a good idea to see whether the pic is running HOT or not. Also from a filming perspective id rather have footage shot at 100 iso , 400 shutter f2.8 than footage shot at 100 iso, 4000 shutter f2.8. The first will just have a more filmic cinematic feel to it. Also you should have a lot smoother image. The faster the shutter runs the more likely you are to pic up gimbal shudder or vibration

Whats f2.8 here?

 

[ed1nh0]

I bought a set of Taco ND filters for their lightness and quality.

They're made of very good quality material, light weight and sturdy. No gimbal calibration issues.
Just make sure to put them on with both hands, one for holding the camera very steady and the other for the filter. Avoid abrupt moves for not damage the motors.
Not so obvious as many could think but make sure your Mavic is always turned OFF when doing this.

 

[ed1nh0]

Whats f2.8 here?

f/x.x is the lens aperture. The lower the value the bigger the aperture (and more light passing through the lens).

[Edit]
A picture to illustrate the subject.