What are the best value ND filters?

[Pebblebuoy]

I am trying to figure out what are the best value and quality ND filters for a mini 2, using in the UK.

I was close the buying the standard day Freewell pack costing about £55 and including ND4,8,16 and CPL filters, as everyone seems to be saying Freewell are great. However, I'm unsure how needed an ND4. Furthermore, more crucially, do I not need a darker filter (ND32 or even ND64) for very bright days. Or perhaps it's rarely bright enough in the UK for needing those?

I was also considering therefore the 5 pack of skyreats as they include ND4,8,16,32,64 filters which seems better value for around £60.

Just wondering people's thoughts?

Or perhaps the budget Sunnylife ones are better value with 6 ND filters coming to around £35. Does anyone know about them?

 

[GadgetGuy]

Why do you need ND filters at all? They are of no use for still photography, and unless you are insistent upon motion blur in your videos, which means all frame grabs will be blurry instead of sharp, they are unnecessary for anyone flying a Mini 2. They are a hassle to use and you are still unlikely to get the necessary shutter speed of twice the frame rate without aperture control. Shoot later in the day, when there is better lighting anyway, and they won't be necessary at all!

 

[tlswift58]

I am trying to figure out what are the best value and quality ND filters for a mini 2, using in the UK.

I was close the buying the standard day Freewell pack costing about £55 and including ND4,8,16 and CPL filters, as everyone seems to be saying Freewell are great. However, I'm unsure how needed an ND4. Furthermore, more crucially, do I not need a darker filter (ND32 or even ND64) for very bright days. Or perhaps it's rarely bright enough in the UK for needing those?

I was also considering therefore the 5 pack of skyreats as they include ND4,8,16,32,64 filters which seems better value for around £60.

Just wondering people's thoughts?

Or perhaps the budget Sunnylife ones are better value with 6 ND filters coming to around £35. Does anyone know about them?

The ND4 is a good everyday filter. I typically leave my DJI one on almost all the time, except at night / dark conditions. The ND 32 / 64 will come in handy on super bright sunny / no cloud / beach type days / flying.

The CPL / PL (since you won't be able to spin the PL wheel in flight) is a very good basic filter and lens protector. It's more suited to glare / reflection of bright light - like sunlight off water or some other reflective object.

ND's are a very personal choice. Some photographers (land and drone) poo-poo them (which is their opine) and others use them as needed. Most pilots adjust their manual camera / video settings to achieve proper balance across the gamut - but sometimes that is even hard to do in very bright sun conditions and should the drone ever turn towards the sun or highly reflective surface - those manual settings typically won't help much - where a filter can. A fine balancing act in the photo world - both for land and drone based photography.

 

[tlswift58]

Why do you need ND filters at all? They are of no use for still photography, and unless you are insistent upon motion blur in your videos, which means all frame grabs will be blurry instead of sharp, they are unnecessary for anyone flying a Mini 2. They are a hassle to use and you are still unlikely to get the necessary shutter speed of twice the frame rate without aperture control. Shoot later in the day, when there is better lighting anyway, and they won't be necessary at all!

It's called personal opinion and the ND's and other filters do help less advanced photographers on both land and drone. No hassle either - they simply pop on or off - very easy to do.

I use for both pictures and video with very good results. Some pilots need help, esp if they fly in auto mode much of the time as they don't want to fiddle with all the manual settings and in certain conditions - like the drone turning into the sun or high reflection - simple manual settings aren't going to help unless you are quick to make changes on the fly.

If you can multitask like that while flying the drone, keeping VLOS, making camera setting changes on the fly - good for you, but most of us can't.

 

[Geani66]

I am trying to figure out what are the best value and quality ND filters for a mini 2, using in the UK.

I was close the buying the standard day Freewell pack costing about £55 and including ND4,8,16 and CPL filters, as everyone seems to be saying Freewell are great. However, I'm unsure how needed an ND4. Furthermore, more crucially, do I not need a darker filter (ND32 or even ND64) for very bright days. Or perhaps it's rarely bright enough in the UK for needing those?

I was also considering therefore the 5 pack of skyreats as they include ND4,8,16,32,64 filters which seems better value for around £60.

Just wondering people's thoughts?

Or perhaps the budget Sunnylife ones are better value with 6 ND filters coming to around £35. Does anyone know about them?

I have all the possible ND’s in the world but I stopped using them….the footage was blurry and choppy and I didn’t like it…..I just started to hate the Mini 2 and using my old Mavic Air because the footage was beautiful.But then I saw somebody saying that if you fly against the sun you don’t need ND’s and he was right…..the footage looks beautiful right now.Maybe the gimbal gets some micro jitters or something…..I don’t know but I don’t use them anymore.

 

[GadgetGuy]

It's called personal opinion and the ND's and other filters do help less advanced photographers on both land and drone. No hassle either - they simply pop on or off - very easy to do.

I use for both pictures and video with very good results. Some pilots need help, esp if they fly in auto mode much of the time as they don't want to fiddle with all the manual settings and in certain conditions - like the drone turning into the sun or high reflection - simple manual settings aren't going to help unless you are quick to make changes on the fly.

If you can multitask like that while flying the drone, keeping VLOS, making camera setting changes on the fly - good for you, but most of us can't.

The OP specifically asked only about ND filters, which is all I addressed.
For what possible purpose would you need an ND filter for drone pictures?
ND filters were never designed to alter exposure. The only purpose of ND filters is to create motion blur. Why are you creating blurry pictures on the take, which you can also easily do in post, from a sharp image? In Auto Exposure, with a fixed f/2.8 aperture on the Mini 2, no ND filter is going to do anything other than lengthen the shutter speed. It can't change the exposure. Turning into the sun or a reflection will be unchanged by any ND filter. If you truly need to change exposure, simply use exposure compensation with Auto exposure. That's what everyone else does!

The ONLY purpose of ND filters on drone cameras is for video, to lengthen the shutter speed to twice the reciprocal of the frame rate, to create motion blur between the frames, which supposedly makes it more "cinematic." However, without aperture control (Mini 2 has no aperture control), unless your exposure never changes during the shoot, any time the exposure changes, so will the shutter speed, preventing you from achieving a continuous cinematic shutter speed with a fixed ND filter, and, you can't change ND filters remotely, so you have to reply repeatedly land and change ND filters. "No hassle either - they simply pop on or off - very easy to do." Right.

 

[Deleted member 119987]

Why do you need ND filters at all? They are of no use for still photography, and unless you are insistent upon motion blur in your videos, which means all frame grabs will be blurry instead of sharp, they are unnecessary for anyone flying a Mini 2. They are a hassle to use and you are still unlikely to get the necessary shutter speed of twice the frame rate without aperture control. Shoot later in the day, when there is better lighting anyway, and they won't be necessary at all!

Have you ever tried to shoot a waterfall or a flowing river? ND Filters are going to be necessary if you want that silky motion with still photography.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Have you ever tried to shoot a waterfall or a flowing river? ND Filters are going to be necessary if you want that silky motion with still photography.

As I already explained above in great detail. However, if it is for still photography, you can easily create motion blur after the fact in Photoshop. ND filters for amateurs are completely unnecessary, and one of the most misunderstood aspects of drone photography, solely because Mark Cuban's company, Polar Pro, has been so good at convincing everyone they are essential. They aren't. Don't drink the Koolaide!

 

[goldensky]

ND4 is as far as i go..

 

[Pastek]

Why do you need ND filters at all? They are of no use for still photography, and unless you are insistent upon motion blur in your videos, which means all frame grabs will be blurry instead of sharp, they are unnecessary for anyone flying a Mini 2. They are a hassle to use and you are still unlikely to get the necessary shutter speed of twice the frame rate without aperture control. Shoot later in the day, when there is better lighting anyway, and they won't be necessary at all!

Hi there ! What if I have a saling race to shoot, I can't ask them to start later, can I ? ;-)

I bought those bloody Freewell filters, and I get a stuck gimble error whenever I try them on. :'(

 

[Pastek]

Why do you need ND filters at all? They are of no use for still photography, and unless you are insistent upon motion blur in your videos, which means all frame grabs will be blurry instead of sharp, they are unnecessary for anyone flying a Mini 2. They are a hassle to use and you are still unlikely to get the necessary shutter speed of twice the frame rate without aperture control. Shoot later in the day, when there is better lighting anyway, and they won't be necessary at all!

Hi there ! What if I have a saling race to shoot, I can't ask them to start later, can I ? ;-)

I bought those bloody Freewell filters, and I get a stuck gimble error whenever I try them on. :'(

 

[GadgetGuy]

Hi there ! What if I have a saling race to shoot, I can't ask them to start later, can I ? ;-)

I bought those bloody Freewell filters, and I get a stuck gimble error whenever I try them on. :'(

Exactly! Filters are unnecessary for 99% of drone owners. The only ones who might be able to justify the hassle are those deliberately seeking motion blur, trying to replicate a cinematic look in their video. Sounds like the error message is telling you the filter is too heavy for the gimbal, risking breaking it! That is yet another problem with filters that add weight.

 

[RogerDH]

Exactly! Filters are unnecessary for 99% of drone owners. The only ones who might be able to justify the hassle are those deliberately seeking motion blur, trying to replicate a cinematic look in their video. Sounds like the error message is telling you the filter is too heavy for the gimbal, risking breaking it! That is yet another problem with filters that add weight.

The smoothing effect of motion blur is most apparent in cases where you have a fast moving object against a stationary background, whereas most drone videography involves sedately floating over the landscape at some altitude. But if you're flying fast and close to stationary objects -- like drone racing, say -- the motion blur would make the motion look smoother. That said, I have no use for filters myself, and I have no idea why someone would use one to shoot a sailboat race unless you intended to buzz them.

 

[ThatBeardedDroneGuy]

@Pastek how do you install the filters? I go bottom to top and have never had an issue. I see a lot of people instructing to go top (clips) to bottom but I've also heard of issues like you've described.

I like ND filters because I like long-exposure shots and not having to do much in post. ymmv.