Gotta pick 3 Polarpro ND filters...which ones??

[efendic12]

I know I don't want to deal with the polarized nd's. I think 3 filters is enough. Convince me otherwise? I'm shooting down in Croatia and Germany during the day or sunset and in cloudy, partly cloudy and sunny conditions. ND8, ND16, ND32 or should I go ND4, ND8, ND16

 

[Thomas B]

For Mavic Zoom:
I’d recommend the 6 pack listed on this page (scroll a little)

Aerial Filters - PolarPro's line of Premium Drone Filters

PolarPro's Premium line of Drone Filters is precision made with the highest quality materials for stunning optical clarity and durability. Each drone filter is backed with a lifetime warranty ensuring your filters last. Choose either ND or ND/PL filters depending on the look and feel you are...

www.polarprofilters.com

Depending on how you set up you camera you may need all of the ones listed. You could add a 16 and 32 polarized in case you want to see into water, etc.
Whatever you do I recommend the Cinema Series. I use them on Spark, MPP, and M2P

 

[hactick]

If you really only want three I’d go with the 8,16,32. 16 works for me on most daytime flights.

 

[brett8883]

I know I don't want to deal with the polarized nd's. I think 3 filters is enough. Convince me otherwise? I'm shooting down in Croatia and Germany during the day or sunset and in cloudy, partly cloudy and sunny conditions. ND8, ND16, ND32 or should I go ND4, ND8, ND16

8, 16, 32 for sure. I feel like you could even throw an ND 64 in there. Even with a 32 there are still times during that day that it will not lower my shutter down to 1/60 even with iso at 100.

For me there's nothing worse than blow highlights in the sky so I would rather my foreground be underexposed then my background over exposed. Theres nothing you can do about too much light other than ND filters but with not enough light you can always bump up the iso for the rare times you need it

 

[WithTheBirds]

For those who remember (cameras didn’t always have light meters) shutter speed could be estimated using what was known as the “sunny 16 rule”. Basically with open sky (little to no cloud) with the sun reasonably high in the sky and subject in the open (not shaded) 1/ISO gives the correct shutter speed for f16. So, a Mavic zoom at f2.8 set on 100ISO aiming for for 1/50s in bright conditions your going to need an effective aperture of f22. The ND 64 will get you there. On the Mavic2 pro ND32 will work well as stopping down to f4 is an option.

 

[brett8883]

For those who remember (cameras didn’t always have light meters) shutter speed could be estimated using what was known as the “sunny 16 rule”. Basically with open sky (little to no cloud) with the sun reasonably high in the sky and subject in the open (not shaded) 1/ISO gives the correct shutter speed for f16. So, a Mavic zoom at f2.8 set on 100ISO aiming for for 1/50s in bright conditions your going to need an effective aperture of f22. The ND 64 will get you there. On the Mavic2 pro ND32 will work well as stopping down to f4 is an option.

I like it! I dont remember there being cameras that didnt have light meters ? but I see what you did there.

 

[WithTheBirds]

I like it! I dont remember there being cameras that didnt have light meters ? but I see what you did there.

I’m not sure I was trying to do anything in particular.

 

[brett8883]

I’m not sure I was trying to do anything in particular.

I was just playing. I just mean I’m not nearly old enough to remember when cameras didn’t have light sensors. I’m sure you aren’t either.

 

[brett8883]

It was good post I mean that

 

[WithTheBirds]

I was just playing. I just mean I’m not nearly old enough to remember when cameras didn’t have light sensors. I’m sure you aren’t either.

I still have a few.... I’m more into collecting vintage glass however.

 

[Wetfun]

Amazon sells them singly, pick one

Amazon.com : PolarPro Filters Mavic 2 ND1000 – Single Filter (Mavic 2 Pro only) : Camera & Photo

Amazon.com : PolarPro Filters Mavic 2 ND1000 – Single Filter (Mavic 2 Pro only) : Camera & Photo

www.amazon.com

 

[efendic12]

For those who remember (cameras didn’t always have light meters) shutter speed could be estimated using what was known as the “sunny 16 rule”. Basically with open sky (little to no cloud) with the sun reasonably high in the sky and subject in the open (not shaded) 1/ISO gives the correct shutter speed for f16. So, a Mavic zoom at f2.8 set on 100ISO aiming for for 1/50s in bright conditions your going to need an effective aperture of f22. The ND 64 will get you there. On the Mavic2 pro ND32 will work well as stopping down to f4 is an option.

Great post I love knowing the technical aspects of it. I was afraid a ND 32 wouldn't be enough and that proves it perfectly. I appreciate all the good feedback, I think I'm going to go with the four pack. That will get me the 6 filter case and down the road I can buy two more if needed and they'll fit nice!

 

[CanadaDrone]

GO 8 / 16 / 32 since you can't adjust the aperture.

Also note because the Zoom drops to F3.8 when you zoom in and does not have an adjustable aperture, you will have to land and swap filters every time you zoom if you want even footage.

You won't need a ND 64 at F2.8 / ISO 100 for 1/60 shutter unless conditions are *extremely* bright, like noon tropical sunlight over water or sunlit snow. You can always add it individually if you end up needing one.

ND4's I find mostly useless and are typically used at dawn/dusk, which doesn't last long and changes quickly.

 

[efendic12]

GO 8 / 16 / 32 since you can't adjust the aperture.

Also note because the Zoom drops to F3.8 when you zoom in and does not have an adjustable aperture, you will have to land and swap filters every time you zoom if you want even footage.

You won't need a ND 64 at F2.8 / ISO 100 for 1/60 shutter unless conditions are *extremely* bright, like noon tropical sunlight over water or sunlit snow. You can always add it individually if you end up needing one.

ND4's I find mostly useless and are typically used at dawn/dusk, which doesn't last long and changes quickly.

So what do you suggest if I do if I want to zoom in during a shot. Just test it out to find a happy medium? Fix in post possibly?

 

[WithTheBirds]

So what do you suggest if I do if I want to zoom in during a shot. Just test it out to find a happy medium? Fix in post possibly?

Assuming your at, say 1/50s for 24fps, you can either live with loosing a stop in exposure (note that the change will be obvious in the raw footage however not overly difficult to correct in post) or increase your ISO to 200. You have nowhere else to go with the fixed aperture.

 

[CanadaDrone]

So what do you suggest if I do if I want to zoom in during a shot. Just test it out to find a happy medium? Fix in post possibly?

There isn't anything you can do that doesn't involve a compromise. Personally I would just not zoom and keep even footage, which I realize somewhat defeats the purpose but that was DJI's decision and one that I will never understand. If you want to get a shot at 48mm instead of 24mm (or vise versa), the only way you're keeping identical footage is by landing and swapping ND filters.

The problem is that DJI took the easy way out and made the aperture variable on the M2Z lens, so you lose almost a full stop of light when you zoom in. To counter this you need to change one element of the exposure triangle (aperture, ISO, shutter) all of which involve undesirable compromises due to the starting points. You can't change aperture because the aperture is not adjustable, you can't change shutter speed if you're already at 1/60 because you would have to drop to 1/30, and you don't want to change ISO because the tiny 1/2.3" sensor in the M2Z is quite poor above ISO100.

You can try fix it in post, but of course that is extra effort and the processing leeway from such a tiny sensor is extremely limited so you may not always like the result, especially since you will be raising the exposure a full stop which is asking a lot of that sensor and will likely introduce extra noise.

Another thing you can do is just use a lighter ND that allows a faster shutter speed of 1/120 or so, and then drop it to 1/60 when you zoom in so you don't have the change ND's. That way you won't have to change the ISO, and you probably won't notice much of a difference with the 1/120 shutter other than your footage in general being a little sharper. This is probably the easiest compromise.

I guess it would have added cost, but if they had just kept it a constant aperture or made the aperture adjustable (so you could, say, leave it at F4 or something) this would not be an issue at all.