There is a interesting post over at autelpilots forum about ND filters. The OP claims to be a professional and has no problem giving advice.
Some good info and some I question.
I see a lot of posts regarding ND filters for people's drone cameras and each time I ask myself why; why are people buying ND filters for their drone cameras, risking their gimbal motors, potentially damaging their camera lens, etc. etc. for an almost imperceptible amount of additional motion...
autelpilots.com
Just read that post, and while there are some good points, a lot of it is a little (or maybe a little more than a little) off target.
To start with I've NEVER heard of NDs burning out the gimbal on modern drones. Actually, the drones are designed to accommodate them. Good quality ones don't practically reduce image quality or damage your lens either. On the contrary, I've had NDs save my camera lens in a crash. (ND broke, lens survived)
As far as motion blur being irrelevant for drones, yes, if you stick to 400 feet, it's not a huge deal. But if you like to fly close the ground or other objects (which I do a lot), the motion blur created by 180-degree shutter absolutely does make a big difference. And yes, you CAN add motion blur in post (and I do it quite a bit), but it doesn't always look natural (especially with fast motion, when you really need it), has a tendency to have weird artifacts, and takes quite a bit of processing power, so it's far from a perfect solution.
As far as shutter speed not causing "stutter", depends how you define stutter, but 24 fps with a high shutter speed will definitely look "not smooth". 30fps is a lot more forgiving with shutter speed because there is less time between frames, making the video smoother to start with. I actually shoot 30fps most of the time for that exact reason.
Anyway, just some thoughts on the post. He's got a point, but I think he pushes it a bit too far. I definitely don't use NDs for everything, but they are a very useful (essential??) tool in the kit of an aerial filmmaker.