New Flyer Question regarding ND Filters

[skiboy]

Most of the kits I see from Freewell etc all start at ND16 thru 1k I bought a set of daylight and a set of PL filters.
I don't even see ND4 or ND8 for the mini pro.
I plan on visiting Costa Rica soon and want to be prepared.
Will I need less that ND16, ever?
Very new at this, thanks for any advice on normal flying and proper ND choices.

 

[Starz]

Some information possibly here?

Search results for query: ND filters

mavicpilots.com

 

[akdrone]

Probably not. The goal of an ND filter is to allow you to set your FPS and Shutter speed so you can create motion blur - at least that is their main use with videography. Typical shutter speeds are so high in normal lighting that ND 4 and 8 would rarely be needed. Certainly my experience bears that out. You'll want to read a bit on PL filters for video. They are pretty unusual to use (helpful when they are...) because shooting the sky with them with a typical wide angle is not a good idea.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I've never used 4 or 8 on the mini 4p or air 3, and rarely use 16. Most used are 64 and 256, for bright cloudy and full noon-sun video.

There's more to consider than just cinematic motion blur. I do use 4 and 8 occasionally on the Avata 2... It has a noisy sensor, so I shoot manual with ISO 100 and even then sometimes I need a little ND to get the shutter where I want it.

 

[Kilboar]

So would you guys think leaving a ND 8 or 16 filter always on your mini 4 pro or Mavic 3 Pro during sunny flights would be beneficial for a hobbyist?

I tend to not put a ton of thought into my video settings.

I guess my question is also, will the drone camera auto adjust with the ND filter to take some of the glare out of the shots?

 

[Droning on and on...]

So would you guys think leaving a ND 8 or 16 filter always on your mini 4 pro or Mavic 3 Pro during sunny flights would be beneficial for a hobbyist?

It's not going to hurt in any meaningful way, and may help prevent overexposure, but that would be confined to superbright scenes like snow.

For a rule of thumb, try to keep the ISO as low as possible to minimize noise in shadows. Stills or video. Many of us shoot in "aperture priotity" mode, putting the camera in PRO, fixing ISO at 100, and letting the shutter speed float to let auto exposure get the EV right.

I'll then use ND filters, as necessary, to get SS in the range I want.

 

[Kilboar]

It's not going to hurt in any meaningful way, and may help prevent overexposure, but that would be confined to superbright scenes like snow.

For a rule of thumb, try to keep the ISO as low as possible to minimize noise in shadows. Stills or video. Many of us shoot in "aperture priotity" mode, putting the camera in PRO, fixing ISO at 100, and letting the shutter speed float to let auto exposure get the EV right.

I'll then use ND filters, as necessary, to get SS in the range I want.

Thank you.

Are you shooting in RAW then?

 

[Meta4]

I guess my question is also, will the drone camera auto adjust with the ND filter to take some of the glare out of the shots?

No .. an ND filter will only uniformly reduce the light getting through to the sensor.
It won't reduce glare.