Flights in outback Australia using polar pro filters

christangey · Dec 30, 2016

Using my custom camera settings and forcing the Mavik to stay at 1/50th second shutter speed by using filters.

ElGuapo · Dec 30, 2016

Nice video!

wnfaknd · Dec 30, 2016

One of the best videos I've seen and amazing scenery and colors.
Which ND filter did you use to keep the shutter that low?
Did you grade the colors in post production? And what custom settings and film type did you use?

christangey · Dec 30, 2016

wnfaknd said:
One of the best videos I've seen and amazing scenery and colors.
Which ND filter did you use to keep the shutter that low?
Did you grade the colors in post production? And what custom settings and film type did you use?

Thankyou. Unfortunately there is no easy answer to which filters I used in any one shot but the main priority ALWAYS was to keep the shutter at 1/50th, so it was whatever it takes given the light at the time!
I can also say that the main ones used with the daytime cumulus clouds were the PL/ND combos. I'm using the Polar Pro professional pack which comes with circular polarizer, 3 stop, 4 stop and 5 stop NDs, plus 3 stop and 4 stop ND/PL combos.
There is a gimbal overload issue with the early ones, just make sure you order the new lightweight ones due any day now.

In terms of settings I am on "none" and then in custom on, 2, -1, -2. Yes there were some minor tweaks in the color grade which I did in FCPX.

wnfaknd · Dec 30, 2016

Why did you decide to go with 2 -1 -2? Is that what looked best on the screen at the time? Or you read that somewhere...?

Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

christangey · Dec 30, 2016

wnfaknd said:
Why did you decide to go with 2 -1 -2? Is that what looked best on the screen at the time? Or you read that somewhere...?

Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

I use a 65" Panasonic 4KTV to make final judgements on what looks right to me as a Professional and they are my settings entirely. But it also depends on what is important to you.
While these settings are not perfect in some areas, my number one concern was to eliminate the "moire" in the image, secondly to get natural movement rather than a "shuddering shutter" look
and all the rest is further down the list for me.

wnfaknd · Dec 30, 2016

Thank you for the insight. One last question since I'm still a newbie. Shuddering effect is caused by shooting with a too high shutter speed, is that right?
I'm planning on getting me polarized filters next month, which hopefully should help quality videos.

erikgraham · Dec 30, 2016

christangey said:
Using my custom camera settings and forcing the Mavik to stay at 1/50th second shutter speed by using filters.

Well done.

So why 1/50? Are you shooting PAL at 25fps?

christangey · Dec 30, 2016

erikgraham said:
Well done.

So why 1/50? Are you shooting PAL at 25fps?

Yes Erik, I'm in Australia so we use PAL, as does Europe, New Zealand and a couple of Asian countries.

christangey · Dec 30, 2016

wnfaknd said:
Thank you for the insight. One last question since I'm still a newbie. Shuddering effect is caused by shooting with a too high shutter speed, is that right?
I'm planning on getting me polarized filters next month, which hopefully should help quality videos.

High shutter speed can be a reason for a "shudder' effect. In Cinematography we have a thing called the 180 degree rule, which simply means if you want nice movement set your shutter speed number at twice that
of your frames per second, so in this case it is 25fps at 1/50th shutter.

Skyhawk · Dec 30, 2016

Very nice work mate, I too am in Alice but not willing to chance the rain with the Mavic.

erikgraham · Dec 30, 2016

christangey said:
Yes Erik, I'm in Australia so we use PAL, as does Europe, New Zealand and a couple of Asian countries.

That's what I figured. Just my 2 cents, but if your delivering to the web, there is no reason to lock yourself into PAL. I don't want to stir up a PAL vs NTSC debate because it's amazing how some old timers go nuts over that, but it's pretty irrelevant on the web these days. I really loved some of the shots in your video, so I'm not saying there is reason to change, but you could experiment with NTSC frame rates and corresponding shutter speeds - speaking of which, there isn't really a need to lock yourself into the 180 rule either. That's a hold over from the film days. I've been experimenting with a slightly faster shutter. So for example, if I'm shooting NTSC @ 30fps, instead of 1/60, I might do 1/80 or even 1/100. Anyway, some amazing shots in your video. Loved it.

christangey · Dec 30, 2016

erikgraham said:
That's what I figured. Just my 2 cents, but if your delivering to the web, there is no reason to lock yourself into PAL. I don't want to stir up a PAL vs NTSC debate because it's amazing how some old timers go nuts over that, but it's pretty irrelevant on the web these days. I really loved some of the shots in your video, so I'm not saying there is reason to change, but you could experiment with NTSC frame rates and corresponding shutter speeds - speaking of which, there isn't really a need to lock yourself into the 180 rule either. That's a hold over from the film days. I've been experimenting with a slightly faster shutter. So for example, if I'm shooting NTSC @ 30fps, instead of 1/60, I might do 1/80 or even 1/100. Anyway, some amazing shots in your video. Loved it.

Thanks Erik but most of my work is for broadcast clients, and even Getty Images request PAL