Polar Pro VND filter 2-5 stops for Air 2

[Foxadriano]

Hi, I have just bougth a Polar Pro VND filter for Air 2. Could you tell me which aperture does it correspond to number 1 and number 2 on the lens? Could you look the pic please?
I'm satisfied with the quality of the filter but a little less with its manageability.
Thank you!

 

[Ty Pilot]

Those PolarPro VND filters are a 2-5, or 6-9 stop filters - the one in your photo is the 2 - 5 VND. Stop refers to 'stops' of light and each of the white 'tic' marks on the barrel corresponds to the next stop. In your photo, I am assuming the filter is shown on the '2' stop mark which is essentially an ND4, and your indicators (1 and 2) are essentially the 3rd and 4th stop while the remaining tic mark is the 5th stop. The corresponding ND filter numbers are; ND 4, 8, 16 and 32. Therefore your arrows are pointing at the ND 8 and ND 16 settings.

 

[Foxadriano]

I thank you for your precious news.
I was wrong. In fact, I thought that the first white "tic" was "0" (zero), the second white "tic" was "4" and the third white "tic" was "8".

In summary:
* The first white "tic" is "4 stops".
Then I have to turn the filter ring to the left (anti-clockwise)
*The second white "tic", where I put the red arrow with the number 1 corresponds to "8 stops"
* The third white "tic" where I put the red arrow with the number 2 corresponds to "8 stops".
Is it right?
I thank you again.

PS: I'm not an expert. Can you tell me if on sunny days "8 stops" is usually the aperture that is used the most if the shutter speed is "Automatic"?

 

[nedcook]

ND filters are almost exclusively used for reducing shutter speed to achieve correct motion blur in video, not for shooting stills.

 

[Foxadriano]

I never shoot stills.

 

[Ty Pilot]

I thank you for your precious news.
I was wrong. In fact, I thought that the first white "tic" was "0" (zero), the second white "tic" was "4" and the third white "tic" was "8".

In summary:
* The first white "tic" is "4 stops".
Then I have to turn the filter ring to the left (anti-clockwise)
*The second white "tic", where I put the red arrow with the number 1 corresponds to "8 stops"
* The third white "tic" where I put the red arrow with the number 2 corresponds to "8 stops".
Is it right?
I thank you again.

PS: I'm not an expert. Can you tell me if on sunny days "8 stops" is usually the aperture that is used the most if the shutter speed is "Automatic"?

Make sure not to confuse 'Stop' numbers with the corresponding 'ND' number,

The VND in your photo goes from 2 to 5 stops and cannot be made to go lower or higher so at its lowest setting it is reducing the light by 2 stops. Then the remaining tic marks indicate the next 'stops'. Here is a chart that will show how stops correspond to the more typical 'ND' number. As the stops get higher, the density (or darkness) of the filter increases.

The amount of stops one needs in any given circumstance can and will change based on many factors but it is unlikely you would need an 8 stop filter on a typical consumer drone camera even on a sunny day.

 

[Foxadriano]

I don't know how to thank you for your information.
But as my English is not good, I am afraid of making mistakes.
So you are telling me that if I choose the first white tic position (4 stops), I can do most of the shots even in sunlight.
Did I get it right? Could you confirm it?
Thanks again.

 

[Ty Pilot]

You're welcome. As far as mistakes, its all digital now so really no worries there . I have made the diagram a little easier to understand - hope this helps.

In the mean time, if you get a chance there is an abundance of very informative videos regarding the exposure triangle and so forth in places like Youtube and Vimeo that I would highly suggest you check out,

 

[Foxadriano]

Wonderful diagram, I don't know how to thank you for the valuable news. I watched some videos on youtube but not on Vimeo, but I didn't understand much. Unfortunately I don't speak good English.

One last question please. In your opinion, which is the position of the filter that is used the most on sunny days? Is it 2 stops (ND4)?
I like to use the shutter speed on AUTO.
I thank you again.

 

[Ty Pilot]

It's a little more complicated than that but I'll try to make it simple. If your going to use ND filters you need to take control of the other factors that make up the exposure.

Note that the following assumes you're flying a drone with a fixed aperture.

If you're shooting video, the shutter should be twice the FPS or frame rate. If you're on the PAL standard the rate will likely be 25 and that would cause you to select a shutter speed 1/50th of a second.

Next, set the ISO to it's lowest setting.

Finally, dial the ND filter until the exposure is correct. You may sometimes find, that one of the settings is in between the stops - in this case I go for slightly underexposed and then go back into the ISO and raise slightly, on the Mavic 2 Pro I try not to go over 400 and as I mentioned the ideal ISO is the lowest.

So a typical drone setup on a sunny day would be -

Fixed aperture at 2.8
Shutter at 1/50th (twice frame rate if on PAL standard)
ISO at 100 or lowest
ND 16 (4 STOPs) as a starting point.

These setting are just an example of where you could start.

Good Luck

 

[pescobar61]

I like to use the shutter speed on AUTO.

ND filters are for Manual aka PRO use.