Just got my drone. My combo includes three nd filters. I'm new to this so I would like any advice on the use of these filters when I get ready to fly in different situations.
Neutral Density Filters for dummies?
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JustAGuy
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The camera on your drone isn't anymore special regarding filters then any other camera ... the only difference is that the drone camera is somewhat inaccessible & not so stationary once you're airborne.
You have in general a couple of filter groups to consider.
ND: (Drone use yes, ND4,8,16,32 can be good to have, mainly for video)
Mainly sunshades which sole purpose is to let in less light to make your shutter slower.
For stills:
In very bright conditions were the camera shutter can't be faster (think it's 1/8000sec in general).
Make the shutter enough slow during daylight condition to make for instance running water become buttery smooth.
For video:
To achieve settings according to the "180 degree rule" --> CINEMATIC MOTION BLUR – 180° RULE
For drone filming this should/could be considered below approx 30 meters altitude, higher then that the motion blur factor is of less importance & you can skip the ND for this purpose.
Graduated ND:
It's filters like ordinary ND but they are not equal dark through out ... usually the transition between a lighter bottom to a darker top goes in the middle of the filter. This is used to average out big light differences in the picture, for instance between a bright sky & a dark ground. Usually a motif like this will either get an overexposed sky for not getting the ground completely black ... or the opposite. Drone use ... ah, a bit fiddly & the horizon needs to be in the middle always so you can't pitch the camera down.
Circular Polarizing filters: (Drone use yes, but can be fiddly, mainly for stills or video if maintaining same angle towards sun)
These filters make clouds seemingly pop out from darkened blue skies, saturating colors and eliminating glare and reflections from the surfaces of water, glass and other polished surfaces. That they are called circular have to do with that the Polarizing filters are mounted in a secondary ring that you manually rotate while viewing your subject through the viewfinder until you dial in the desired level of Polarization. The specific rotation angle is unique for each angle between your camera pointing direction & the sun ... so for drone use they can be fiddly as you can't adjust once airborne. Would say that they are mostly for stills as it there you can pre-plan the camera direction & make adjustments before you fly.
The "group" of different effect filters:
This group include various filters that introduce adjustments to your still or video directly when you shoot ... for instance star filters which gives a starshape around every bright spot, or color correction filters that enhance certain colors. All of these is nowadays better to do in post.
Simone L
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The ND filter helps by darkening the 'sky' portion while the lower portion remains basically unchanged. This helps when flying with high contrast sky lighting. Sometimes white cloud glare can really create a mess with images or video. With Lightroom you can fix photographs shot in RAW. But it's easier if you use the ND filters. So...the lighter one use on a day without high sky contrast lighting. The middle on a a bit more contrast and the darkest ND filter use when the sky is really too bright. If you shoot RAW and adjust the aperture and shutter speed while safely hovering you can see on your controller screen the difference changing these settings makes. I only shoot RAW...but then I have been a photographer for many years shooting in places that require more post production (underwater especially). RAW gives you more digital information and that helps in post production. Also, a JPG file compresses every single time you open it. RAW doesn't. With jpg files you lose data with every opening. Sorry for the RAW tangent....hope this helps.
Within photography, the use of ND filters and RAW settings is quite beneficial. RAW allows one to tweak with finesse in post production. Really great for giving you an opportunity to produce a much more vivid appearance to your photos. ND filters reduce the amount of light entering the lens. They do NOT change the hue. ND filters are great giving shots of seemingly stop motion on water objects. This is because the lens is open for a bit longer. A CPL can be used, but you have to play too much with it!
