Best set of ND filter right now ? Should we wait ?

[Lon Denard]

I'll tell y'all one thing, regardless of what filters I end up using, they are going into the DJI case. It's so much nicer than the Freewell, Skyreat, etc case. It's smaller, thinner, the filter positions are labeled and it closes very securely. The Polar Pro case is a close second though.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Either...


Either...I literally just put my drone away and used both. I think the ND16 is going to ride on my drone for the most part. I dropped the ND32 on to check it out but I had to run down to 2.8 and the sweet spot is around 5ish. It's 4 pm and partly cloudy. I think around noon on a sunny day, the ND32 would be perfect. So, I'd carry both.

Just to add to this, the difference between ND16 and ND32 is only one stop, which is the same as going from F2.8 to F4, so the MP2 is going to give you a lot of flexibility there since you can adjust from both sides if needed.

The sweet spot is actually not F5, the image will begin to degrade beyond F4 as diffraction begins to occur, though you may not notice it by F5 unless you are quite picky. This is not a disadvantage of the MP2 specifically, it is simply the physics that apply to the 1" 20MP Sony sensor and would be the same for any product that sensor was used in, including Sony's own RX100 series cameras where that sensor made a name for itself.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I'd agree with this, especially with stills, you've get more results dollar for dollar out of shooting raw and editing in lightroom.

With video, you're more at the mercy of getting the shutter speed right in the first place, depending on the situation.

Exactly the reason I finally joined this forum. Tired of just lurking to find an answer to my problems. I joined to learn a lot more and get the most benefit out of my drone. Especially after shelling $1,500 on a drone that when I bought my Mavic Pro a year ago, I was worried I was spending $800 on a drone saying it was on sale. Never did I know I would sell that drone ($650 with 3 batteries, extra props and a carrying case, a year later), to go for the next one that is way more expensive. I was going with the M2Zoom and almost bought it like 3 times, but I decided to go all out as I really am hoping for some good pictures. So, spending such money and then with accessories and extra batteries, this drone would be more than $2,000 by the time one is done. So, I hope to get the most benefit from it by investing what would make it possible to always get good footage and pics. Plus, I am glad that even after a year of ownership, one can always sell this drone down the road and get back like $800 plus, to put towards a next upgraded one from DJI.

If you aren't taking these shots in RAW and then doing post processing you are essentially wasting your time and not seeing the full picture. I can guarantee you almost every picture you have seen out of a drone is edited in some form even if its the tiniest edit. you MUST do post processing.

That is good to know. I am learning a lot more since I bought this drone and spending a lot of time here researching.

 

[CanadaDrone]

I don't know about that... that's a little sensationalist as well.

I was sent review samples and in no way do I have a relationship with them, nor were there any stipulations put on what my review needed to be. I've already been critical of design flaws, and I'm legitimately testing (to the best of my ability) performance characteristics that I'd wager most will not. I will post the results no matter what they are.

That bias is just not there.

And for what it's worth, Skyreat was not the only company to offer review samples to me, and I had only been a member of this forum and a drone owner for a week or so at that point.

It was a joke, hence the "winky face" emoji. I am only interested in the facts - hence my confusion when my perfectly reasonable questions for them are always met with silence or very unprofessional not to mention offensive accusations.

Someone earlier mentioned they were going to buy their filters anyway but Skyreat sent them some for free to 'review' though. It would be interesting to learn more about that process. I'd take a set of free filters

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Just my personal opinion...

1) I have not tried them all but I bought Polar Pros. They have the reputation and products I was after at a reasonable price with a good warranty and their staff answered my questions rather than accusing me of being an undercover agent for the competition (LOL). I'm sure there are some other similar filters out there but that was the safest bet for me at the time and I have been very happy thus far aside from the fact that for the Mavic Air they have their ND kits precisely set up so that you need to buy two of them to cover the most common scenarios (not uncommon but annoying nonetheless). They do offer custom kits from their store directly, but as a Canadian that is less convenient. My view is that filters (even Polars) are so cheap relative to the cost of the drone and so important to image quality that there is no point cheaping out. I have the same opinion of memory cards. YMMV.

2) It completely depends on your personal usage and the conditions you shoot in. If you live/fly somewhere that is always overcast, you will probably use the ND8 the most. If you live somewhere sunny or tropical, you will probably use ND16 and ND32 the most. If you fly a lot at dawn/dusk you will want a ND4 and if you fly a lot over snow you might want a ND64. Given that the MP2 has a variable aperture you have even more flexibility to combine with various ND filters (note that after F4 image quality will begin to degrade slightly at first and then very significantly as you approach F11).

In my opinion an ideal kit is the ND8, ND16, ND32, ND16PL, ND32PL - that can easily be different depending on what you shoot. I never shoot at dawn/dusk for example.

Thanks for the info. Reading this, I would almost think you work for PolarPro. So here is the package from PolarPro that you use. $99.99. You definitely do not cheapout on filters.

PolarPro $99.99 Limited collection...

 

[kilomikebravo]

The Polar Pro case is a close second though.

Another reason I went with PP.

 

[Elton Hammonds]

I would like to see someone offer a compact sealed rugged box for 12 Mavic Pro filters, given that these little suckers cost so much.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Thanks for the info. Reading this, I would almost think you work for PolarPro. So here is the package from PolarPro that you use. $99.99. You definitely do not cheapout on filters.

PolarPro $99.99 Limited collection...

So if someone buys or recommends a product they must work for the supplier? Dozens of people recommend Polars on this forum - they are not employees. You'll also notice I am not completely happy with their business model but their product is good. I also love my Mavic - do you think I work for DJI too? Kidding of course. You asked for specific recommendations and reasoning so I was trying to help - sorry if it came across as anything else.

At the moment I also only have a Mavic Air, so it is for those filters that both my praise and complaints are directed. I do not own what you linked. I bought a custom 4 pack that came in a convenient case and it cost me $160 CAD or so. I could not buy locally because they set up the kits such that you are forced to buy at least 2 full kits to cover the most common filters which is annoying but not at all an uncommon practice.

 

[fstop.labs]

So if someone buys or recommends a product they must work for the supplier? Dozens of people recommend Polars on this forum - they are not employees. You'll also notice I am not completely happy with their business model but their product is good. I also love my Mavic - do you think I work for DJI too? Kidding of course. You asked for specific recommendations and reasoning so I was trying to help - sorry if it came across as anything else.

At the moment I also only have a Mavic Air, so it is for those filters that both my praise and complaints are directed. I do not own what you linked. I bought a custom 4 pack that came in a convenient case and it cost me $160 CAD or so. I could not buy locally because they set up the kits such that you are forced to buy at least 2 full kits to cover the most common filters which is annoying but not at all an uncommon practice.

We also got these for 50% of the price, ND32, 64, ND32/CPL, ND64/CPL and it works with the gimbal protector!

https://www.amazon.com/Filters-Mavic-Pro-Pack-Accessories/dp/B07GTJLR5Y

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

So if someone buys or recommends a product they must work for the supplier? Dozens of people recommend Polars on this forum - they are not employees. You'll also notice I am not completely happy with their business model but their product is good. I also love my Mavic - do you think I work for DJI too? Kidding of course. You asked for specific recommendations and reasoning so I was trying to help - sorry if it came across as anything else.

At the moment I also only have a Mavic Air, so it is for those filters that both my praise and complaints are directed. I do not own what you linked. I bought a custom 4 pack that came in a convenient case and it cost me $160 CAD or so. I could not buy locally because they set up the kits such that you are forced to buy at least 2 full kits to cover the most common filters which is annoying but not at all an uncommon practice.

Your information that you have shared with me has been valuable and I appreciate it a lot. I was not meaning that you do work for them. And I know us as consumers would always have one or 2 things to complain about products because there is no manufacturer out there that will have 100 sales and have 100 satisfied customers.

DJI sells millions of drones and batteries. Most of the people on forums complain and share problems and solutions. That is the beauty of forums and the main reason why most people come to forums. To learn how to solve common problems, modify their products, and have better experiences with our products. But sadly, there must be some products that would fail prematurely, hence we must also come here and complain a lot about products that fail and do not meet our expectations. That is normal and expected.

Cars for example, would always go to the mechanic whether it is a Toyota Camry or 5 million Bugatti Veyron. And there would always be lemon laws on cars. But forums help us all to share ideas and help point others in the right direction,. They may take your idea or do something else, but ultimately it is really nice when we all share ideas and help each other.

Also, I see we all like to get the best prices, but we must also realize that some of these companies are owned by people like you and me. And they truly depend on profits to stay in business. Whether the markup is 1000% or not. We should know that these companies also have competitors. So, we are free to buy from any company or not buy at all. But these companies have to set a certain price to stay afloat and make money to pay their own bills and live comfortably also. So, some times it is ok for them to charge what they deem their products cost. Now it is left to us to buy it or not. They are taking the risk setting their prices. if we do not buy, they suffer. If we buy, we support them and they stay in business.

So, we should all feel free to buy from any.

 

[Ray Jay]

Polar Pro lets you make custom sets. That's what I've ordered from them.

Mavic 2 | Custom Filter Sets

Yeah, PP is pretty good about that and other customer related stuff.
They once sent me a large case to accommodate two separate sets of filters I bought on Amazon. But TBH, I can’t tell any difference between filters I’ve used from three different vendors - PP, Taco and Skyreat. Maybe there is, but as a non-professional who participates in this hobby for my own pleasure, they all work fine for me.

But what the heck do I know!

Ray Jay

 

[Trees138]

Really, when you look into how much PolarPro charges for ND's for normal lenses for DSLRs etc... the little dronie one's really seem like a bargain, even if they're at the high end of the spectrum.

 

[Trees138]

Yeah, PP is pretty good about that and other customer related stuff.
They once sent me a large case to accommodate two separate sets of filters I bought on Amazon. But TBH, I can’t tell any difference between filters I used from three different vendors - PP, Taco and Skyreat. Maybe there is, by as a non-professional who participates in this hobby for my own pleasure, they all work fine for me.

But what the heck do I know!

Ray Jay

Honestly, I think that's going to be most people's experience. Having researched performance differences in some much higher end threaded filters for my DSLR, really, MOST reputable filters are acceptable and the user must decide what diminishing returns are for themselves.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Really, when you look into how much PolarPro charges for ND's for normal lenses for DSLRs etc... the little dronie one's really seem like a bargain, even if they're at the high end of the spectrum.

As a photographer, this is one reason why I think even the more expensive drone filters are dirt cheap. One good polarizer can easily cost $300. Variable ND/Polarizer combos can be upwards of $600 USD for only a medium thread size. $100 for several drone filters is nothing haha - especially when it works out to less than 10% of the cost of the drone. Same reason I buy good memory cards - they are one of the most important things and the cost is completely insignificant relative to the overall price of the drone, at least in my view.

 

[Lon Denard]

Just to add to this, the difference between ND16 and ND32 is only one stop, which is the same as going from F2.8 to F4, so the MP2 is going to give you a lot of flexibility there since you can adjust from both sides if needed.

The sweet spot is actually not F5, the image will begin to degrade beyond F4 as diffraction begins to occur, though you may not notice it by F5 unless you are quite picky. This is not a disadvantage of the MP2 specifically, it is simply the physics that apply to the 1" 20MP Sony sensor and would be the same for any product that sensor was used in, including Sony's own RX100 series cameras where that sensor made a name for itself.

Oh well, I admit to repeating what I was told in photography class. In any case, if I wanted to stay at 4, or less, then the ND32 would have worked best. I'm actually setting up my new computer to be able to edit H265 and I'll see momentarily. I ran both filters down the same course back to back to test it out for myself. I take advice but I'd rather learn by doing.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Oh well, I admit to repeating what I was told in photography class. In any case, if I wanted to stay at 4, or less, then the ND32 would have worked best. I'm actually setting up my new computer to be able to edit H265 and I'll see momentarily. I ran both filters down the same course back to back to test it out for myself. I take advice but I'd rather learn by doing.

Your photography class likely wasn't wrong, but they also maybe did not assume a pixel density of a 20MP 1" sensor which is the equivalent of a 54MP full frame sensor. The 1" Sony sensor in question begins to smear information intended for a single pixel over adjacent pixels beyond F4, and by F11 it's smearing that same data across an area of approximately 21 pixels which is why it looks so bad. F11 on the MP2 is like shooting a full frame DSLR at F30 which would produce an extremely soft image (very easy to test this if you like to see things for yourself). For best results on the MP2 you will want to be between F2.8 and F4 - I'm sure you could push it a bit and not notice anything too severe, but if you got anywhere near F11 it will look awful if you're at all picky.

 

[Lon Denard]

Your photography class likely wasn't wrong, but they also maybe did not assume a pixel density of a 20MP 1" sensor which is the equivalent of a 54MP full frame sensor. The 1" Sony sensor in question begins to smear information intended for a single pixel over adjacent pixels beyond F4, and by F11 it's smearing that same data across an area of approximately 21 pixels which is why it looks so bad. F11 on the MP2 is like shooting a full frame DSLR at F30 which would produce an extremely soft image (very easy to test this if you like to see things for yourself). For best results on the MP2 you will want to be between F2.8 and F4 - I'm sure you could push it a bit and not notice anything too severe, but if you got anywhere near F11 it will look awful if you're at all picky.

Whoa...So is that in any way part of all this controversy about video quality with the M2P? It can't be that simple, can it?

 

[Trees138]

No, that's not it.

 

[Lon Denard]

So if someone buys or recommends a product they must work for the supplier? Dozens of people recommend Polars on this forum - they are not employees. You'll also notice I am not completely happy with their business model but their product is good. I also love my Mavic - do you think I work for DJI too? Kidding of course. You asked for specific recommendations and reasoning so I was trying to help - sorry if it came across as anything else.

At the moment I also only have a Mavic Air, so it is for those filters that both my praise and complaints are directed. I do not own what you linked. I bought a custom 4 pack that came in a convenient case and it cost me $160 CAD or so. I could not buy locally because they set up the kits such that you are forced to buy at least 2 full kits to cover the most common filters which is annoying but not at all an uncommon practice.

That's another cool thing about Polar Pro, you can pick any 4 filters for $100 or any 6 for $150.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

That's another cool thing about Polar Pro, you can pick any for filters for $100 or any 6 for $150.

I think that is true. So, let me ask for help. I don'tr know maybe this might workout for me.

Besides, does PolarPro offer any discount codes that we can use at checkout?