ND filters for bright daylight

[mobby_6kl]

I got my Air last year and due to covid only really had a few opportunities to fly it, but the fast shutter speed was definitely an issue in my videos.

Looking to buy some ND filters, I saw that the kits usually go ND 8/16/32, some kits have 64 but also useless polarizing and UV filters. Sadly no one seems to make variable filters. Would 32 be enough to get 1/60 shutter in bright daylight? Or 64, or even higher is necessary?

Theoretically if my normal shutter speed would be 1/1000 in broad daylight (just guessing as it's been cloudy for weeks here) with a 5-stop filter (ND32) the resulting speed would be 1/32 (base shutter speed x 2^n) which should be plenty for motion blur if not for blurring waterfalls in long exposure photos. But I'm curious what's the reality and which filters you're using most often.

 

[slup]

You usually aim for a shutter that is around 2 times the chosen FPS for a natural motion blur ... 30FPS --> 1/60sec.

Here a simple chart to start out with ...

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I expect you'd mostly use the ND4, 8, and 16 . . . 32 if flying middle of bright sunny day.
The 64 would be handy if you ever had the chance to fly sunny days with snow or pure white beach sand.

I don't have a lot of use for the C-PL (too fiddly setting up correctly) I got with my NISI kit, but I do use the MC-UV a lot when taking photos.

 

[Severian]

Just got my A2S Bright Day filters from Freewell. They work well. I'm always impressed with Freewell's filters.

 

[mobby_6kl]

Thanks. I think I'll go with the 8/16/32 kit for now then.

Freewell filters are available here but strangly only for the Air 2. It's really weird, the Air 1 was discontinued only fairly recently and there's already hardly anything you can buy for it.

 

[JMMath]

You usually aim for a shutter that is around 2 times the chosen FPS for a natural motion blur ... 30FPS --> 1/60sec.

Here a simple chart to start out with ...

View attachment 129457

Filters…….just sunglasses for your camera
brighter the sun, darker the sunglasses(higher the ND number)

 

[slup]

Filters…….just sunglasses for your camera...

When it comes to ND... yes. A tool needed if you want to regulate the shutter speed for the purpose of inducing motion blur in bright conditions.

 

[mobby_6kl]

I ended up getting a 8/16/32 set of filters from aliexpress for like $15 because there was nothing else available anyway. They don't seem to mess up the color or sharpness, the only concern is that they don't screw on, but have some sort of foamy ring that's the only thing holding them to the lens.

The max 32 filter is just barely enough for maintaining 1/60 shutter on a very bright day, but in worst case bumping up to 1/80 isn't going to be the end of the world. Having a fixed aperture really sucks though because there's nothing else to adjust once you're up in the air, so if the lighting changes or you just discover that things are brighter than they looked from the ground, you just have to land and change the filter.

 

[4006448]

I've also been looking at filters. I live near the coastline and looking to fly close to or over water quite often. We have very bright conditions where I am, so was looking for polarising to help with glare. Researched numerous YouTube videos on the subject and then found these online (here in Aust). https://www.ja-gps.com.au/PolarPro/mavic-air-standard-series-6-pack/#accs Will be picking them up this week and looking forward to seeing what difference.

 

[Meta4]

We have very bright conditions where I am, so was looking for polarising to help with glare.

If you want to eliminate glare in your over-water images, the best thing you can do is to be careful with your camera placement.
Shoot towards the sun and the glare reflects back into your lens.
Move the drone to keep the sun behind the camera and you get rid of glare easily.Like this:

By just moving the drone to change the viewing angle, the glare is gone.

Polarising filters are easy to use on a regular camera, but on a drone they are much more trouble than they are worth.
To work properly you have to rotate the filter to properly align it relative to where the sun is, but if you turn your drone to another direction, you're filter isn't doing what you want it to.

If you are shooting stills, those ND filters are no use at all on the drone unless you have a particular reason to force a slower shutter speed than otherwise available.

 

[mobby_6kl]

Yeah, I shoot with a polarizer on my SLR all the time but on a drone I think it's going to be a huge pain unless you really carefully plan out your shots.

ND on the other hand is a must-have for video. Although I should revise the previous post, my darkest filter is 16 and as I mentioned isn't enough to go down to 1/50th in very bright sunlight if there are light-colored objects like sand or even buildings in the shot. Going to 1/60 or even 1/80 isn't a tragedy but if you're buying filters, I'd get ones at least up to ND32.