Filters or Stock Phantom 4

[Rob1962]

The question is for leisure use,To Filter or not.

 

[MacCool]

Yeah, I think a set of neutral density filters is important. On bright days, you may well get overexposure and you'll be faced with getting the shutter speed high enough to cause flicker/jello, or you'll have to adjust the EV downward, or both. IMHO, better to screw on an ND filter so you can keep the shutter speed around 1/120th second with a 0 EV. Even in appropriate lighting, a polarizing filter can add some very nice sky saturation. It would be nice if someone made stackable filters, but so far all I've found only allows one filter at a time. One reason for that, I suspect, might be the added weight on the front of the gimbal.

 

[Rob1962]

Thank you so much.

 

[MacCool]

The goal is to keep the exposure values in the sweet spot for the camera's sensor performance. Generally, the lower the ISO you have set the lower the noise potential in your images. The cameras in DJI drones have a fixed aperture, so there's no way physically stop down the amount of light coming in through the lens. The only manipulations left are ISO (wants to be as low as possible=less noise), shutter speed (faster = less light coming in but too fast tends to induce flicker/jello and "rolling shutter" effects), and Exposure value. So, that sweet spot is going to be lowest ISO possible, EV=0, and a shutter speed that's about twice the frame rate you have set. You often have to make compromises because the lighting conditions from a flying camera can vary widely, but those are the goals. I often shoot with an iPad rather than an iPhone just so I can better monitor the exposure as seen on the device and adjust the various settings on the fly. You can still get fooled, though. I flew a video yesterday that was perfectly exposed going away from the sun, but when I turned back toward it, the shutter speed went so high that I got a little rolling shutter effect. I probably should have used an ND8 instead of an ND4 and bumped the EV for the down-sun leg. I hate to adjust the lighting in post-editing, but if you don't get too far off, Premiere actually does a pretty good job.

 

[Rob1962]

The goal is to keep the exposure values in the sweet spot for the camera's sensor performance. Generally, the lower the ISO you have set the lower the noise potential in your images. The cameras in DJI drones have a fixed aperture, so there's no way physically stop down the amount of light coming in through the lens. The only manipulations left are ISO (wants to be as low as possible=less noise), shutter speed (faster = less light coming in but too fast tends to induce flicker/jello and "rolling shutter" effects), and Exposure value. So, that sweet spot is going to be lowest ISO possible, EV=0, and a shutter speed that's about twice the frame rate you have set. You often have to make compromises because the lighting conditions from a flying camera can vary widely, but those are the goals. I often shoot with an iPad rather than an iPhone just so I can better monitor the exposure as seen on the device and adjust the various settings on the fly. You can still get fooled, though. I flew a video yesterday that was perfectly exposed going away from the sun, but when I turned back toward it, the shutter speed went so high that I got a little rolling shutter effect. I probably should have used an ND8 instead of an ND4 and bumped the EV for the down-sun leg. I hate to adjust the lighting in post-editing, but if you don't get too far off, Premiere actually does a pretty good job.

Thank you for this info i am still learning very useful info you provided me.

 

[msinger]

Check out this post for some good info on ND filters.

 

[drone33]

The goal is to keep the exposure values in the sweet spot for the camera's sensor performance. Generally, the lower the ISO you have set the lower the noise potential in your images. The cameras in DJI drones have a fixed aperture, so there's no way physically stop down the amount of light coming in through the lens. The only manipulations left are ISO (wants to be as low as possible=less noise), shutter speed (faster = less light coming in but too fast tends to induce flicker/jello and "rolling shutter" effects), and Exposure value. So, that sweet spot is going to be lowest ISO possible, EV=0, and a shutter speed that's about twice the frame rate you have set. You often have to make compromises because the lighting conditions from a flying camera can vary widely, but those are the goals. I often shoot with an iPad rather than an iPhone just so I can better monitor the exposure as seen on the device and adjust the various settings on the fly. You can still get fooled, though. I flew a video yesterday that was perfectly exposed going away from the sun, but when I turned back toward it, the shutter speed went so high that I got a little rolling shutter effect. I probably should have used an ND8 instead of an ND4 and bumped the EV for the down-sun leg. I hate to adjust the lighting in post-editing, but if you don't get too far off, Premiere actually does a pretty good job.

I need to buy a set of filters, what brand do you recommend?


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[MacCool]

I've been pleased with the set of 4 I bought from Taco RC. They're glass, and nice and light...same weight as the UV filter that came on my Phantom 4...so no worries about overheating the gimbal motors. The screw on rather than press on, which I like, and they come with a nice convenient case and 4 O-rings. Taco R/C ND filters . Also available from Amazon. I don't have experience with the Polar Pro but I hear that they are good, although quite a bit more expensive.

 

[drone33]

Thanks


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[msinger]

I need to buy a set of filters, what brand do you recommend?

I compared many of the commonly used brands in this thread.