Hi all - just got a mini 3 pro after switching from the mavic 2. I've got a freewell filter pack that goes up to ND64 and im really suprised how limiting the fixed aperture lens is making it for me with exposures. I'm in the UK so am shooting 25fps, so with a shutter speed of 1/50 the sky is blown out in parts on even a moderately sunny day. I know that as soon as it's brighter i'd have to have crazy dark nd's which aren't sold in any standard pack. Am I missing something here? I have no idea what folks would do without nd filters! (And yup that's on the default 100 ISO)
1.7 fixed aperture & overexposing on Mini 3 Pro
- Thread starter dilby
- Start date
brett8883
Well-Known Member
I would just bump up your shutter speed to account. The 180 degree shutter thing is just a rule of thumb and shouldn’t be thought of as some unbreakable rule. In fact many people prefer the sharper look of a 90 degree shutter (1/100 in your case) on landscapes and drone video and most other people can’t tell the difference.
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That 180 rule is meaningless for most drone videos because most of the time people are flying at a few hundred feet shooting content in the distance. There is no motion blur to try to create hence no need for an ND filter with Auto shutter speed just fine. If you are typically shooting closer to the ground and needing that 180 rule then yeah...you will be living with an ND filter. Period. 
That 180 rule is meaningless for most drone videos because most of the time people are flying at a few hundred feet shooting content in the distance. There is no motion blur to try to create hence no need for an ND filter with Auto shutter speed just fine. If you are typically shooting closer to the ground and needing that 180 rule then yeah...you will be living with an ND filter. Period.
Motion blur is only half the reason why you want to use a ND. If your shutter speed is too fast, movement in the frame becomes very choppy. This is especially noticeable with constant movement like waves, vehicles, or panning the drone.
There is certainly some flexibility with the 1/2X shutter speed rule (for example if you use 1/100 instead of 1/60 for 4K30P footage, nothing bad will happen) but if you set the shutter speed too fast your footage starts to look pretty terrible.
brett8883
Well-Known Member
The main issue is most filter manufacturers got lazy and just released the same old stock filters as other drones without factoring in the faster lens.
Whereas you'd need a ND16 or maybe 32 on other drones, you're going to need 64 - 256s on this one for 180 rule video.
Remember thats a guideline anyway - if theres little rapid motion in a scene you can likely get away with *any* shutter speed. You only want more pleasing blur for rapid motion between frames (ie low and fast or lots of rotation).
This actually has nothing to do with filter manufacturers at all. The ND filter range (I.e. ND4 to ND256 and beyond) is a photographic standard that existed decades before DJI even existed. The filter manufacturers don't know what environments users will be filming in and there are plenty of usage cases for ND4, ND8, ND16 on a M3P.
Another example - say you have a regular mirrorless camera with a F1.8 lens that takes 77mm filters that you want to shoot some video on a beach with. Would you find it strange that the ND filter manufacturers offer ND4 and ND8s in 77mm size? No, because they aren't making filters for one specific scenario or one specific individual.
The ND filter you need is entirely dependent on your shooting conditions and your desired shutter speed. If you are flying the M3P in low light or around dusk, you would either use no filter or a ND4 or ND8 to achieve the most commonly desired shutter speeds. There are still plenty of usage cases for the entire range of ND filters, including the very weak ones even on a M3P.
If you personally never shoot in anything other than bright sunlight, then yeah you would simply buy ND filters 1-2 stops stronger than you would for a F2.8 drone, there is no issue there. It has nothing to do with the ND filter manufacturers though
It's lazy manufacturers.
They know full well which filters are most commonly bought and used for drones but failed to consider the faster lens in this drone and just released the same as always.
16s and 32s are very common on previous models. On the mini that translates to 64s it higher which aren't as easily absolutely.
The just lazily recycled the same filters as always with no real thought into any changes.
DJI at least did think of it with their basic filter offering.
They know full well which filters are most commonly bought and used for drones but failed to consider the faster lens in this drone and just released the same as always.
16s and 32s are very common on previous models. On the mini that translates to 64s it higher which aren't as easily absolutely.
The just lazily recycled the same filters as always with no real thought into any changes.
DJI at least did think of it with their basic filter offering.
It's not. My most used filters for example are ND4 and ND8. Not everyone flies exclusively in bright sunlight. The manufacturers are simply providing customers with options. The rules of exposure didn't suddenly change with the M3P and the manufacturers don't know under what lighting conditions every user will be flying.
There are plenty of filter kits available that include ND128 and ND256 but even in bright sun you will usually only need ND64. ND128 maybe over sun-lit snow or white sand. It's only 1 1/3 stop faster than F2.8 so you are only adjusting your ND by one stop (I.e. if you used ND16 on an F2.8 drone you would use ND32 in the same conditions). You can also easily find kits that are ND16, ND64, ND128 if you know you will never be flying in low light. There are options readily available for every usage case. It's a total non-issue.
It goes the other way too. On my M2P the widest aperture is F2.8 and my weakest ND filter is ND4. Sometimes that is slightly too strong and I wish I had a weaker ND filter without having to drop down to the bare lens. Are the manufacturers being lazy for not catering to my specific needs and offering me a ND2? Of course not.
Like I said, the ND filter range is a photographic standard going back decades. No manufacturer caters to a specific lens and specific shooting condition combination - they need to have options for everyone and it's very easy to find M3P filters from ND4 to ND256 and even ND1000/ND2000. Just buy what you need, simple as that.
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