ND Filters vs. variable apertures

[Avocet]

My apologies if this has already been discussed - as a practiced color grader, I was wondering if the new variable apertures on the Mavic 3 camera platform render ND filters not terribly useful?

Thanks for your ideas ..

 

[Skybuyer]

ND filters with variable aperture drones are useful... to a point. I tend to use PolarPro GRADIENT ND filters on my Mavic 2 pro rather than regular ND's. Since getting the gradients I have yet to use a standard ND, though I have had them for quite awhile. The benefit to ND's on something like a Mavic 3 is that it is easier to keep the aperture in the sweet spot for sharpness, usually somewhere between f4 and f5.6.

Freewell is now making the gradients for M3 Classics drones. Just yesterday I got a set of Freewell gradients for my Mini 3 Pro, but haven't tested them yet as it's been yucky weather all day today. The PolarPro's gradients were much more gradual, so I'm interested to see the look they produce.
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[Dave Maine]

Variable aperture would be my first choice for 2 reasons.

1. By stopping the lens down you will be working closer to the optimal performance point.
2. The lens will have a greater depth of field.

 

[Jake Fortune]

Because of the way the shutters work, ND filters can reduce "rolling shutter" effect and give you more motion blur. ND filters also allow you to open the aperture up so you can put your subject in focus, while blurring the background.

 

[Ralph thompson]

On a sunny day, f11 would not be small enough aperture with cinematic shutter. Also if yr using the drone as a dolly and shooting fairly close to the subject, it’s nice to open up to full aperture to reduce the depth of field. Makes for a much more elegant image.
i also like to use the filters that incorporate circular polarization, this gives darker sky and water, enhances texture in snow and makes sharp greenery especially when you photograph into the sun.

 

[Skybuyer]

Variable aperture would be my first choice for 2 reasons.

1. By stopping the lens down you will be working closer to the optimal performance point.
2. The lens will have a greater depth of field.

Yes. To me variable aperture is invaluable. However it is important to know that there is a sweet spot for optimal sharpness in the aperture setting. With the Mavic 2 Pro the sweet spot lies between f4 and f5.6. Even so, having another stop below and 2 stops above those optimal settings provides huge options for shutter speed, which helps get to that cinematic 1:2 FPS/shutter speed ratio.