ND Filters

[Downunder]

When I was playing around with Hyperlapse the other day it was partly sunny, f/4 at ISO-100 with 1/25 shutter and ND16 seemed a little overexposed.

Why do you use ND filters for photos?

 

[noosaguy]

Why do you use ND filters for photos?

I can see the benefit of ND with Hyperlapse to introduce motion blur for a more cinematic finished video. Also on a windless day over moving water to get that silky smooth effect with slow shutter speeds.

 

[Chopstix Kid]

Why do you use ND filters for photos?

I typically try to avoid using them for stills.

 

[Chopstix Kid]

The hyperlapse I referenced earlier in this thread is here...

SKYREAT ND filter Hyperlapse

I think the exposure would’ve been much better with an ND32.

 

[SteveCA]

Why do you use ND filters for photos?

ND's for photos allows you to use a shutter speed appropriate for the scene. For example, if there is moving water such as a waterfall, photos look much nicer when there is some blur in the moving water. If you shoot a waterfall at 1/500 sec, the water droplets will be frozen by the fast shutter and it will not look natural. I shot a waterfall two weeks ago in Big Sur without filters (on order from Polarpro). The waterfall looks horrible and totally unnatural due to the high shutter speed. It was bright sun and the correct exposure at F8 was 1/500 sec. Look at the water fall in the photo. The optimal shutter speed would be 1/30 sec or slower for the fall to look good. That means you need a ND32 at F5.6 or or maybe a ND64 at F4. If you are shooting a static scene with no moving water, you can do it without filters, but be aware that our lens on the MP 2 pro is not as sharp above 5.6 or below 4.0. I've found 7.1 acceptable, 8 iffy and anything above that simply unacceptable. YMMV...

 

[SteveCA]

This is how I want my waterfalls to look. I shot this in Oregon several years ago at 1/4 or 1/2 second shutter speed to give the water a more natural look.

 

[SteveCA]

here is the MP 2 pro photo at 1/500 sec

 

[supergimp]

There is another thread that discusses sharpness vs aperture. Given diffraction effects for the optics/sensor of the M2P the sweet spot for aperture seems to be right around f/4 and softness can be clearly demonstrated under certain conditions at very small apertures.

ND filters give you much better control of your exposure triangle to get the best ISO/Shutter Speed/Aperture combination.

 

[noosaguy]

This is how I want my waterfalls to look. I shot this in Oregon several years ago at 1/4 or 1/2 second shutter speed to give the water a more natural look.View attachment 46948

Was that shot with a drone? Woulda needed a raincoat

 

[SteveCA]

Was that shot with a drone? Woulda needed a raincoat

No, the Oregon waterfall shot was with a DSLR combined with ND filters to get very slow shutter speeds. I've done 1/2 second shots with my Mavic Pro at night and the photo came out pretty sharp despite the slow shutter so the Mavic 2 pro should be equally capable

 

[SteveCA]

Yes I agree, that's kind of my point although I lack the experience to articulate it as well as you have. I'm anticipating leaving a ND8 on the drone and only swapping it in low light or extremely bright/winter conditions.

Thanks for the reply!

on my Mavic Pro the ND 16 was used 90% of the time and that was a fixed F2.2 lens. I shoot at F4-4.5 on the Mavic 2 pro which is almost two stops less light compared to F2.2. I think the ND 8 will get the most use going forward for me. Just waiting for my polarpro cinemas filters to arrive later this month

 

[noosaguy]

Why would you be at stuck at a 1/25 shutter for photos, Raise the shutter speed and your problem goes away.

With timelapse sequences, if you raise the shutter speed beyond (say) 1/15th second you can't get nice motion blur. So the answer to his question is go to an ND32, not increase his shutter speed IMO.

 

[parkgt]

My testing indicates that in bright conditions it may take a ND64 to give you 1/4 second ss at low f-stops.

 

[mct308]

here is the MP 2 pro photo at 1/500 sec View attachment 46949

I thought that is a no drone zone?

 

[noosaguy]

My testing indicates that in bright conditions it may take a ND64 to give you 1/4 second ss at low f-stops.

I'm sure you're right but I've found nice motion blur at 1/15 and 1/8.

 

[kilomikebravo]

Just waiting for my polarpro cinemas filters to arrive later this month

Same here, Lon and it's killing me not to be able to get down to those wider stops with the intense sun of South Texas. Hopefully this week or next. Come on PP!

KB

 

[SteveCA]

I thought that is a no drone zone?

It is not a no drone zone. If you care to research it you will find out and agree. BTW, to aid in your research, the drone was over land, not water in this shot.

 

[Aerial West]

From my tests it appears that the sharpest apertures are f4 and f 5.6 on the Mavic 2 Pro. To use a shutter speed of 1/50 in bright sunlight with these apertures you would need a ND 32 filter. Does that sound correct?

I live on nd8 and nd16 for almost everything i shoot. nd32 is aggressive.

 

[SteveCA]

I live on nd8 and nd16 for almost everything i shoot. nd32 is aggressive.

That has been my experience as well. The only thing I would need ND32 and higher is for slow shutter speed photos such as those where I would want to blur stuff like water. Based on my tests, I would never use F2.8 except in very low light situations for video. 2.8 is simply not sharp while F4.0-4.5 appears to be the sharpest.