ND filters are amazing!!!

JoshuaCarlton · Jan 29, 2017

I, like many of you on the forums have seen the numerous posts about poor video quality, (watercolor like video, soft or mushy video. noise). And was starting to think I my have a lemon as well. I was getting bad moire, as well as mushy footage especially with lots of trees. I was also getting grain/noise even in good light. I learned about shooting manually and doubling the shutter speed of my frame rate, I noticed a big difference when I did that but everything was super overexposed. So I ordered ND filters from Taco RC and BAM! Everything looks so crisp and clear now. It's solved all those issues and now I know that it wasn't a bad Mavic but me needing to learn to be a better videographer. Hopefully some of this information can help any of you that might be struggling with similar issues.

JoshuaCarlton · Jan 29, 2017

JoshuaCarlton said:
I, like many of you on the forums have seen the numerous posts about poor video quality, (watercolor like video, soft or mushy video. noise). And was starting to think I my have a lemon as well. I was getting bad moire, as well as mushy footage especially with lots of trees and even grain/noise even in good light. I learned about shooting manually and doubling the shutter speed of my frame rate, I noticed a big difference when I did that but everything was super overexposed. So I ordered ND filters from Taco RC and BAM! Everything looks so crisp and clear now. It's solved all those issues and now I know that it wasn't a bad Mavic but me needing to learn to be a better videographer. Hopefully some of this information can help any of you that might be struggling with similar issues.

Also I realize that some of you unfortunately do have faulty drones, but maybe some of you should try ND filters before sending them back just to check.

Strafe1 · Jan 29, 2017

JoshuaCarlton said:
Also I realize that some of you unfortunately do have faulty drones, but maybe some of you should try ND filters before sending them back just to check.

I too have noticed a nice improvement with the filters. It really doesn't help with aliasing, but the motion blur looks so much smoother.

JoshuaCarlton · Jan 29, 2017

Strafe1 said:
I too have noticed a nice improvement with the filters. It really doesn't help with aliasing, but the motion blur looks so much

Strafe1 said:
I too have noticed a nice improvement with the filters. It really doesn't help with aliasing, but the motion blur looks so much smoother.

I find if I shoot 4k 30 or 24 it cuts out the moire, and noise. So happy to have finally dialed my settings in.

KiterTodd · Jan 29, 2017

Do you use the ND filters all the time now or just in bright light?
Do you use them on a cloudy day?

I'm finding that my video is crystal clear, but the colors are not true.

JoshuaCarlton · Jan 29, 2017

KiterTodd said:
Do you use the ND filters all the time now or just in bright light?
Do you use them on a cloudy day?

I'm finding that my video is crystal clear, but the colors are not true.

I just recieved them today, however I will use them anytime I can't double my frame rate with the correct exposure.

Scsiboy · Jan 29, 2017

JoshuaCarlton said:
I, like many of you on the forums have seen the numerous posts about poor video quality, (watercolor like video, soft or mushy video. noise). And was starting to think I my have a lemon as well. I was getting bad moire, as well as mushy footage especially with lots of trees and even grain/noise even in good light. I learned about shooting manually and doubling the shutter speed of my frame rate, I noticed a big difference when I did that but everything was super overexposed. So I ordered ND filters from Taco RC and BAM! Everything looks so crisp and clear now. It's solved all those issues and now I know that it wasn't a bad Mavic but me needing to learn to be a better videographer. Hopefully some of this information can help any of you that might be struggling with similar issues.

Exactly

Well said, ND filters are turning out to be a "Must Have" for the Mavic. I have experemented and proven this myself. May I ask, Do you still see occasional moire and Aliasing (shimmering around objects in 1080 50p or 60p) when recording on sunny days, blue sky.

JoshuaCarlton · Jan 29, 2017

Scsiboy said:
Exactly

Well said, ND filters are turning out to be a "Must Have" for the Mavic. I have experemented and proven this myself. May I ask, Do you still see occasional moire and Aliasing (shimmering around objects in 1080 50p or 60p) when recording on sunny days, blue sky.

I have not had a chance to check yet. I can edit 4k files on my iPad Pro so I am going to stick with that. I was very surprised just how much ND filters help.

Woody67 · Jan 30, 2017

JoshuaCarlton said:
I have not had a chance to check yet. I can edit 4k files on my iPad Pro so I am going to stick with that. I was very surprised just how much ND filters help.

What program on the pro are you using to edit?

JoshuaCarlton · Jan 30, 2017

Woody67 said:
What program on the pro are you using to edit?

imovie and colorgrade

Logger · Jan 30, 2017

Interestingly the Hangar panorama app specifically says NOT to use lens filters in its instructions. I supppose this might be a still image vs video thing.

Woody67 · Jan 30, 2017

JoshuaCarlton said:
imovie and colorgrade

Thanks for the info! I just it's about time I try it out.

insainflow · Jan 30, 2017

Woody67 said:
Thanks for the info! I just it's about time I try it out.

I couldn't find color grade on iPad. Is that its name?

Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

JoshuaCarlton · Jan 30, 2017

insainflow said:
I couldn't find color grade on iPad. Is that its name?

Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

Sorry I just realized it's called Videograde

JoshuaCarlton · Jan 30, 2017

Also there's an app called filmmaker pro, that can edit 4k and do basic color correction and grading,

networth · Jan 30, 2017

I got the DJI filters and they work well.
Will upload footages soon

bucefalo · Jan 30, 2017

i just saw the price of those filters.. woaw! seems expensive to me ! anyone of you has got a video with 2 footage one with nd filter and one without?

KiterTodd · Jan 30, 2017

JoshuaCarlton said:
I just recieved them today, however I will use them anytime I can't double my frame rate with the correct exposure.

Joshua, can you give an example of that with Mavic menu settings?
I know it may sound natural to you, but I'm typically a "trust the camera with Auto" shooter and want to take advantage of these adjustments with the Mavic. (adjusting frame rate based on exposure) I have seen it mentioned in a video but even then I was going...wait, what? when?

Thanks!

JoshuaCarlton · Jan 30, 2017

KiterTodd said:
Joshua, can you give an example of that with Mavic menu settings?
I know it may sound natural to you, but I'm typically a "trust the camera with Auto" shooter and want to take advantage of these adjustments with the Mavic. (adjusting frame rate based on exposure) I have seen it mentioned in a video but even then I was going...wait, what? when?

Thanks!

Sure, I can tell,you what works for me, please keep in mind, I am not any sort of pro, but I am getting what I consider really nice results. I found my best settings are as follows, 4k 30 frames per second, I set my white balance to cloudy or sunny whichever looks best that day, this also keeps the white balance constant throughout the flight instead of it changing when I transition from ground to sky. I keep the ISO at 100 and use ND filters so I can set my shutter speed double my frame rate, so my shutter speed is set to 1/60th of a second. I shoot with the color style set to none and the profile set to sharpness +1, The rest are set to 0. I have found that instead of tapping to focus I have much better results setting my C1 button to center focus, I line up the shot and pres C1 and gently fly the shot.

JoshuaCarlton · Jan 30, 2017

I shot this this weekend, it is a mixture of Mavic and P4P, the opening shot is Mavic as well as the waterfall. I feel like they look pretty good, maybe a bit dark but that's just style preference.