Mini 3 Experimenting with ND1000 on Mini 3 Pro

[Chrislaf]

Had a chance to finally try out the ND1000 filter I have for my Mini 3 Pro at a waterfall located in Cottage Country in the Muskoka region of Ontario, Canada. The only reason I have the ND1000 filter is so that I can slow the shutter speed enough so that I can get motion blur on the water. It was difficult to accomplish on the top of the falls as the water was moving way too fast at this time of year, but it worked better on the bottom portion where the water was slower.

I launched from the bottom of the falls and had to be careful navigating up through lots of tree twigs just starting to get buds on them. I would have loved to have used my Mavic 3 but deemed it too risky. Even though it has better obstacle avoidance I did not want to chance not seeing some tree twigs and loosing my drone.

The falls is a small slope cascade falls. The first shot is a single shot 48MP, ND1000. The second shot is a 3 frame vertical pano with the ND1000.

I intend to return to the falls again at different times particularly when there is not so much water flowing over the falls.

Chris

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View attachment M3P-0395-Pano-2.jpg

 

[GFields]

Nice!

 

[waynorth]

And even with an ND1000 (10 stops) you did not get slower shutter speed than 1/2 second. The reason is of course the large aperture (f/1.7) that can not be stopped down. I do not like the decision that DJI has done with the latest cheaper drones, with no adjustable aperture.
Sometimes a really slow shutter, like several seconds, could be useful for certain effects.

 

[akdrone]

Had a chance to finally try out the ND1000 filter I have for my Mini 3 Pro at a waterfall located in Cottage Country in the Muskoka region of Ontario, Canada. The only reason I have the ND1000 filter is so that I can slow the shutter speed enough so that I can get motion blur on the water. It was difficult to accomplish on the top of the falls as the water was moving way too fast at this time of year, but it worked better on the bottom portion where the water was slower.

I launched from the bottom of the falls and had to be careful navigating up through lots of tree twigs just starting to get buds on them. I would have loved to have used my Mavic 3 but deemed it too risky. Even though it has better obstacle avoidance I did not want to chance not seeing some tree twigs and loosing my drone.

The falls is a small slope cascade falls. The first shot is a single shot 48MP, ND1000. The second shot is a 3 frame vertical pano with the ND1000.

I intend to return to the falls again at different times particularly when there is not so much water flowing over the falls.

Chris

View attachment 163826

View attachment 163827

Nice!

 

[Chrislaf]

And even with an ND1000 (10 stops) you did not get slower shutter speed than 1/2 second. The reason is of course the large aperture (f/1.7) that can not be stopped down. I do not like the decision that DJI has done with the latest cheaper drones, with no adjustable aperture.
Sometimes a really slow shutter, like several seconds, could be useful for certain effects.

I would have liked to have tried my Mavic 3 which I also have an ND1000 for but deemed it to risky and didn’t want to take a chance loosing it.

I would love to have an adjustable aperture on my Mini 3 Pro and a 3x Tele but one can only dream.

Chris

 

[Ralph thompson]

And even with an ND1000 (10 stops) you did not get slower shutter speed than 1/2 second. The reason is of course the large aperture (f/1.7) that can not be stopped down. I do not like the decision that DJI has done with the latest cheaper drones, with no adjustable aperture.
Sometimes a really slow shutter, like several seconds, could be useful for certain effects.

It’s very nice. You may not get a better photograph with a smaller aperture and slower shutter speed because the drone does not remain stationary. its amazing that you can get away with it down to ½ sec but I expect the rocks and trees are going to get motion blur with a slower shutter. But prove me wrong )

 

[Chrislaf]

It’s very nice. You may not get a better photograph with a smaller aperture and slower shutter speed because the drone does not remain stationary. its amazing that you can get away with it down to ½ sec but I expect the rocks and trees are going to get motion blur with a slower shutter. But prove me wrong )

I wanted to fly my Mavic 3 where I could use a smaller aperture but there were lots of overhanging branches that were hard to see (with no leaves yet) and I did not want to take a chance of loosing my drone. Also, the falls was in a area surrounded by steep cliffs. Although this was not a busy falls, there were other people visiting the falls and the Mini 3 Pro was the best choice to use.

The max gust speed was around 25Km/h that day so with the Mini 3 Pro aperture fixed at f1.7 and the shutter speeds I was getting at around a 1/2 second, there was some motion blur on unintended objects like the trees.

Chris

 

[akdrone]

It’s very nice. You may not get a better photograph with a smaller aperture and slower shutter speed because the drone does not remain stationary. its amazing that you can get away with it down to ½ sec but I expect the rocks and trees are going to get motion blur with a slower shutter. But prove me wrong )

That is exactly the case. If you want to use a long shutterspeed and trees are moving that’s a huge issue but often the water is the only real focus point. Similarly with a hyperlapse of cars moving where a long shutter speed is desired it needs to be done on a day when there is little or no wind or the road and buildings will be blurry.

 

[Ralph thompson]

Fully understand drone nerves, there's lots of opportunity for things to go wrong. Wind gusts, birds, small branches. I'm of the opinion that the drone position holding is better when there's a bit of wind or even small gusts, provided its got good angles of a lot of satellites.

 

[akdrone]

Fully understand drone nerves, there's lots of opportunity for things to go wrong. Wind gusts, birds, small branches. I'm of the opinion that the drone position holding is better when there's a bit of wind or even small gusts, provided its got good angles of a lot of satellites.

I recently showed some video to friends and they were blown away at the stability as they watched trees moving but the scene remained perfectly still. I take it for granted and had to nod my head and agree it’s pretty amazing how stable the video can be even in high winds.

 

[Chrislaf]

The launch point I used was underneath a number of trees. I had to fly under the branches out to the bottom of the falls which still had many overhanging branches and pick my up to a clear spot above the falls. I could do it with my Mavic 3 but I was out with my family and they did not want to spend more time than necessary there. I plan on going back and maybe I will fly my Mavic 3 next time.

The only downside with a crash in a falls is likely going to be a complete loss of the drone with no chance of recovery. My Mavic 3 Care Refresh has expired but I still have Refresh on my Mini 3 Pro.

Chris