Fly in snow + filters

AgustinM · Jun 4, 2018

Hi everyone!
I ve a mavic air and soon i ll go a few days of ski and i was thinking of the filters i ll need and special cares.

First of all, about the filters. Im looking at polarpro products and i think that a ND16 or 32 PL will work ok. Does anyone of you have test them?
Another question is: what about flying in snow? besides not flying during snow, any other suggestion?

Thanks!

Jameslavis · Jun 4, 2018

Filters have both and. Love them. I fly in winter but water and electronics don’t mix so well IMO.

Pilot25dmc · Jun 5, 2018

ND16/PL & ND32/PL is all you will need.

Found myself using the 32 the most.

I have not flown when its been snowing but my brother did on a recent skiing trip and he said it was fine, it was only light snow.

CanadaDrone · Jun 5, 2018

Sun over snow you will probably need the ND32, possibly a ND64 for 30fps/1/60 footage. Also, really keep an eye on your exposure - the drone is going to want to under expose the snow a lot (normally shooting snow you need to add positive exposure compensation which seems counter intuitive, but it's not) so I recommend manual mode for sure.

AgustinM · Jun 5, 2018

CanadaDrone said:
Sun over snow you will probably need the ND32, possibly a ND64 for 30fps/1/60 footage. Also, really keep an eye on your exposure - the drone is going to want to under expose the snow a lot (normally shooting snow you need to add positive exposure compensation which seems counter intuitive, but it's not) so I recommend manual mode for sure.

Thanx! Neutral or polarized ?

AgustinM · Jun 5, 2018

Pilot25dmc said:
ND16/PL & ND32/PL is all you will need.

Found myself using the 32 the most.

I have not flown when its been snowing but my brother did on a recent skiing trip and he said it was fine, it was only light snow.

Thanx!!

CanadaDrone · Jun 5, 2018

AgustinM said:
Thanx! Neutral or polarized ?

It's up to you. You need to keep in mind the limitations of polarization on a drone, as the level of polarization changes constantly with your angle to the sun (strongest at 90 degrees). The effect strength is controlled by the ring on the filter itself, which you obviously cannot manipulate in the air. I don't use PL's as much because I don't like uneven footage, and you really need to plan your flight well to get the most out of a polarizer. They can, however, make a significant positive difference on footage with water or lots of reflections in it. If you have a pair of polarized sunglasses, put them on and tilt your head 90 degrees (or as much as you can lol) to turn the effect on and off - that will give you a rough idea of what your footage will look like in any given scenario. You might want polarized over the snow if there is lots of reflected light, hard to say.

AgustinM · Jun 7, 2018

CanadaDrone said:
It's up to you. You need to keep in mind the limitations of polarization on a drone, as the level of polarization changes constantly with your angle to the sun (strongest at 90 degrees). The effect strength is controlled by the ring on the filter itself, which you obviously cannot manipulate in the air. I don't use PL's as much because I don't like uneven footage, and you really need to plan your flight well to get the most out of a polarizer. They can, however, make a significant positive difference on footage with water or lots of reflections in it. If you have a pair of polarized sunglasses, put them on and tilt your head 90 degrees (or as much as you can lol) to turn the effect on and off - that will give you a rough idea of what your footage will look like in any given scenario. You might want polarized over the snow if there is lots of reflected light, hard to say.

Thank you for the excellent explanation

Jameslavis · Jun 8, 2018

I use PL filters and they do take a little more thought but the results are staggering.

DroneZig · Oct 29, 2018

Hey what did you end up getting? I'm in Switzerland and need some filters for the snow. Curious to hear what worked for you. Thanks

CanadaDrone · Oct 29, 2018

Sunlight over snow you are most likely going to want a ND32 or more likely a ND64 on a Mavic Air - that fixed F2.8 aperture makes more ND's necessary.

DroneZig · Oct 30, 2018

Thanks mate. Do you ever use the Polarised ones? They seem like a pain in the *** with the turning. I think in an ideal world, from I have read I could do with an ND8/16/32/64. I guess I could customise an order unless you guys know of a set.
Thanks for all the feedback, big love

Nickes · Oct 30, 2018

Got me this pack :

Freewell 4 filters bright day pack ND/PL

So far so good.

DroneZig · Oct 30, 2018

Nickes said:
Got me this pack :

Freewell 4 filters bright day pack ND/PL

So far so good.

Looks pretty good but as they're all PL, I would need to rotate the lens and can't see that working too well on video. Do you record video with them? You probably know more on that. Cheers for the feedback.

Nickes · Oct 30, 2018

I do record videos and am no pro, so they perfectly meet my needs. To be honest, if I do detect the PL effect on my gopro, I do not really bother when filming with the Air. As already mentionned above by others, light and reflection evolve a lot when in flight.
What is granted is that the ND/PL filters definitiely smoothen your videos, and that's what I was looking for, especially living in a area where we get a lot of natural light (Caribbean). The amount of light we get can easily be compared to that of a sunny day on a glacier or slopes of the Valais

.
For me, these filters are a no regret purchase.

CanadaDrone · Oct 30, 2018

DroneZig said:
Thanks mate. Do you ever use the Polarised ones? They seem like a pain in the *** with the turning. I think in an ideal world, from I have read I could do with an ND8/16/32/64. I guess I could customise an order unless you guys know of a set.
Thanks for all the feedback, big love

I have one polarized filter (ND32PL) but I rarely use it due to the effort needed to use them successfully on a drone without getting uneven footage. They are a PITA, but polarization is also one of the VERY few effects that cannot be replicated with software, so it's a trade-off.

Polar Pro lets you customize sets (pick 4, pick 6, etc.) and they send you a nice carrying case.

DroneZig · Oct 30, 2018

I guess looking at all your feedback, I would do well to get a mix of PL and normal, and with a range from 8 to 64

It's funny because I can't even edit video yet and I'm thinking about bloody filters

haha

Thanks for all the feedback

CanadaDrone · Oct 30, 2018

DroneZig said:
I guess looking at all your feedback, I would do well to get a mix of PL and normal, and with a range from 8 to 64 It's funny because I can't even edit video yet and I'm thinking about bloody filters haha

Thanks for all the feedback

Haha - it's up to you my friend! I'd get a ND8, ND16, ND32, ND64 (if you fly over sun lit snow) and then pick ND32 or ND64 to be polarized if you want to try one of those. Or you could get both and take advantage of the 6-pack deal. You typically don't need a ND4 unless you fly at dusk/dawn.

Definitely take some time to understand exactly how the filters work if you haven't already. For editing, Divinci Resolve 15 is the best free program for PC, and if you have a newer iPad, LumaFusion is incredibly good.

DroneZig · Oct 31, 2018

CanadaDrone said:
Haha - it's up to you my friend! I'd get a ND8, ND16, ND32, ND64 (if you fly over sun lit snow) and then pick ND32 or ND64 to be polarized if you want to try one of those. Or you could get both and take advantage of the 6-pack deal. You typically don't need a ND4 unless you fly at dusk/dawn.

Definitely take some time to understand exactly how the filters work if you haven't already. For editing, Divinci Resolve 15 is the best free program for PC, and if you have a newer iPad, LumaFusion is incredibly good.

Yeah everyone seems to be loving Divinci Resolve. Will get some practise in.

Frittelli · Jan 10, 2021

Last January, I flew my Mavic air in extremely heavy snow and -3 degree temps when I was visiting Durango Colorado. I was a little concerned, but I'm from Austin and therefore rarely see snow like that, so I couldn't help myself. The Air performed flawlessly. When I landed, I was shocked to see that the drone was completely dry as well... Here is a little vid from that trip....