ND Filters realistically how many should I get?

[1gratedulflyingdawg]

Again I am here asking questions. So let’s talk ND filters, I live in Arizona, I don’t want to buy more than I need but I want to have enough. I envision taking sunrise and sunset photos and videos as we are in a great location in the center of Phoenix. Durning the day until I get confident with being a pilot it will just be around our property .75 acre and desert next to our property. I might play these videos on my AppleTV as screen savers from the photo library or airplay them.

As you may recall I am new to drones and have not yet pulled the trigger on a Mini 4 Pro. Probably next week.

The photos or videos are just for fun and enjoyment , although it appears learning editing software is also in my future, cause I do like them to look good.

So what are your recommendations and as always I appreciate your time.

 

[Mrktn]

Again I am here asking questions. So let’s talk ND filters, I live in Arizona, I don’t want to buy more than I need but I want to have enough. I envision taking sunrise and sunset photos and videos View attachment 182537as we are in a great location in the center of Phoenix. Durning the day until I get confident with being a pilot it will just be around our property .75 acre and desert next to our property. I might play these videos on my AppleTV as screen savers from the photo library or airplay them.

As you may recall I am new to drones and have not yet pulled the trigger on a Mini 4 Pro. Probably next week.

The photos or videos are just for fun and enjoyment , although it appears learning editing software is also in my future, cause I do like them to look good.

So what are your recommendations and as always I appreciate your time.

Probably ND8, 16 and 32 for sunrise and sunsets is all you need. I’m a big fan of Freewell. Excellent filters for a relatively cheap price

 

[GadgetGuy]

You won't need any ND filters for your use. They will just increase the noise.

 

[mavic3usa]

In my experience, I've only needed one filter, maybe two; the rest were nice-to-haves. If they come in a set or included with your purchase, that's fine but I'm finding just the one is fine and one other just in case; so 16 and 32.

 

[Meta4]

ND filters aren't essential.
Better to fly without them till you learn more and find out if you really need them.

 

[1gratedulflyingdawg]

Probably ND8, 16 and 32 for sunrise and sunsets is all you need. I’m a big fan of Freewell. Excellent filters for a relatively cheap price

Thanks I had looked at that brand

 

[1gratedulflyingdawg]

Surprised at the not needed that’s good to know. How do you control the over exposure with the 1.7 aperture. I thought you want an approximate 1/60 of a shutter speed.

 

[BenThe]

I was in this dilemma about 1 month ago. I had acquired a new-to-me Mini 4K and a new-to-me Air3S, but I foresee flying the Air3S for pictures and videos more once I have the licence to fly it properly.

I ended purchasing a UV filter from a generic brand for the Mini 4K, simply because the stock gimble looks like regular glass with no protection, so this really was meant as an additional, sacrificial glass to protect the lens.

For the Air 3S, I went with the Freewell Bright day pack with split ND/PL 4, 16, 32, 64, in addition to the split ND 8, 32, 128 that comes with the FMC. I may have purchased more than i ever needed..........

 

[1gratedulflyingdawg]

I was in this dilemma about 1 month ago. I had acquired a new-to-me Mini 4K and a new-to-me Air3S, but I foresee flying the Air3S for pictures and videos more once I have the licence to fly it properly.

I ended purchasing a UV filter from a generic brand for the Mini 4K, simply because the stock gimble looks like regular glass with no protection, so this really was meant as an additional, sacrificial glass to protect the lens.

For the Air 3S, I went with the Freewell Bright day pack with split ND/PL 4, 16, 32, 64, in addition to the split ND 8, 32, 128 that comes with the FMC. I may have purchased more than i ever needed..........

Thanks I’ve got a too much is just enough personality which I am trying to control.

 

[BenThe]

Thanks I’ve got a too much is just enough personality which I am trying to control.

Love it, same here. I know I got this phrase from the internet, but "I can leave it un-used, but I feel comfortable knowing it's there when i need it".

 

[Felix le Chat]

The mini 3/4 pro's f/1.7 aperture tends towards over exposure in strong light even with the higher shutter speeds and at some point or another you'll get curious about long exposure times during daylight (s f/x shots for moving water, for example).

I carry 6 ND's (16-1000) and a cpl for planned shots where it's been adjusted appropriately for the light just before I send the bird up. They are all K&F Concepts except for the ND1000, which is Freewell

There's also a good quality K&F Concepts UV filter constantly in place when an ND isn't necessary.

 

[Dale D]

Again I am here asking questions. So let’s talk ND filters, I live in Arizona, I don’t want to buy more than I need but I want to have enough. I envision taking sunrise and sunset photos and videos View attachment 182537as we are in a great location in the center of Phoenix. Durning the day until I get confident with being a pilot it will just be around our property .75 acre and desert next to our property. I might play these videos on my AppleTV as screen savers from the photo library or airplay them.

As you may recall I am new to drones and have not yet pulled the trigger on a Mini 4 Pro. Probably next week.

The photos or videos are just for fun and enjoyment , although it appears learning editing software is also in my future, cause I do like them to look good.

So what are your recommendations and as always I appreciate your time.

I have the Mini 4 Pro with Freewell kit of 8-16-32. I leave the 16 on most of the time since it is very sunny here in Miami. When you get more experienced, you could consider a higher ND filter to slow down things like waterfalls, waves, using it for still shots.

 

[hank970]

Surprised at the not needed that’s good to know. How do you control the over exposure with the 1.7 aperture. I thought you want an approximate 1/60 of a shutter speed.

Several ways: 1) Set shutter speed manually by tapping on the "S" setting in the lower right corner of your controller display. 2) Adjust overall exposure values by tapping "EV" (minus-values will make exposures darker, plus-values will make them lighter). 3) Lower the "ISO" setting to force a slower shutter speed. 4) Shoot in RAW and adjust exposure and contrast when you edit the image during post-processing.

If you want to increase the saturation of sunset and sunrise scenes, I'd recommend changing your EV setting to minus 1 or 2 stops. Digital "film" is cheap. Experiment!

If your shutter is set for "Auto" operation, adding an NDF shouldn't alter exposures significantly. The camera just compensates automatically for the filter by changing shutter speed to achieve, like all cameras, a preferred average scene reflectance of 18%. You'll get basically the same exposure with or without the filter.

For videos, attaching an NDF filter may result in slower shutter speeds to yield so-called cinematic blur, if that's the effect you want. The "blur" supposedly helps mitigate jittery looking video, Personally, I prefer shooting video at 60 frames per second to mitigate jitter. I bought a full set of NDF filters soon after buying my drone, and I've never felt the need to use them.

 

[hank970]

Edit: You might also opt to try the AEB (auto exposure bracketing) setting. It takes multiple exposures at different exposure levels and merges them digitally to create an HDR (high dynamic range) image. As regards the photo you posted, it would have the effect of lightening and bringing out more detail in your foreground while maintaining the rich colors of the sky.