I have tried many and I finally just ordered the rainbowers set, it is nice and I love that it has graduated filters too and you can use 2 filters at the same time.
ND filter
- Thread starter NepenthesLucas
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Hi all, from your experience how valuable are these filters? I have always used just clear filters on my DSLR and edit in Lightroom if I don't like the light and am able to do this to some extent in FCP-X for video, are you primarily using filters for stills or video (or both)?
I mainly focus on video with the ND filters. It allows me to get the shutter speed to 2x the frame rate (or as close as I can get) which produces a more cinematic effect, including some really nice motion blur. Graduated NDs are great for reducing the brightness of the sky while leaving the landscape unaffected or, depending on the GND, with less of a reduction.
There is a lot of confusion about why people need ND filters. I use an ND16 filter for bright sunny days around the coast and water. This reduces the amount of light entering the lens as the P3 camera has a fixed f/2.8 lens.
Why do I want to reduce the amount of light entering the lens?
So that my shutter speeds (the only way the camera has to adjust exposure apart from ISO) can be slowed down to around 1/100 sec. Otherwise it would around 1/800 or 1/1000 sec.
Why do I want my shutter speed to be so slow?
To introduce a little motion blur, to give a smoother rendition to my video. As stated by others on here the golden rule is that your shutter speed should be 2X your frame rate. so if my frame rate is 60fps then my shutter speed should be around 1/120 sec. This allows the footage to appear smoother and not "jerky" . I know it appears counter-intuitive to deliberately introduce blur. However a small amount of blur allows each individual frame to gradually merge with the next to give the appearance of smoothness to the human eye which cannot discern individual frames at 30 or 60 per second. This can be blur due to the subject moving or blur due to the camera panning or moving. A more "cinematic" feel is produced to your video as the 2x shutter speed rule or 180 degree shutter rule is/was used in cinema for many years.
An ND filter reduces the overall brightness of the scene and cannot "make skies darker" while "leaving the landscape unaffected". For that you would need a graduated filter which is stronger at the top and weaker down the bottom.
I guess mine was more of the abridged version [emoji6]
Here's a link that some might find helpful:
How to use an ND filter
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The trick for me was to grip the lens at the very edge and unscrew. Grip as close to the edge as possible!
UK
stupid question here but i have the advanced and not the pro,i was told the advanced has interchangeable filters?
is this true?
is this true?
msinger
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Recently I ordered the Polar Pro 3 pack, then realized their was a 6 pack set. Took a bit to locate it too. Now I'm going to have 2 PL's and 2 ND 8's. Guess I'll sell them. Really wanted the ND 4. Reason I didn't cancel the 3 pack order.
My set of Polar Pro filters will be here tomorrow. After reading about a lot of people that could not get their stock filter off, I decided to see how tight mine was today.. it was.. TIGHT.. I could not budge it with my hands. I put a rubber-band around it for better grip.. still could not budge it.. Very carefully tried with channel-locks.. STILL could not budge it! But after trying with the channel-locks, then trying again by hand with the rubberband, it finally came loose.
I was reading about the need to counterweight your filters - is this something you guys do? I too need to buy a ND filter (have one for my GoPro on my P2 and don't counterbalance it) but I want to make sure I'm not going to damage the gimbal in any way!
That's what I'm worried about too, as I'm looking at the snake river prototyping filters which are quite a bit heavier than the rest. To be honest, I personally wouldn't bother counter weighting with the Polar Pro ones if I go that route, as they're not as significantly heavier than the stock filter.
Also I have a feeling they will be more of a hassle to get on and off rather than the replacement filters (apart from getting the tight stock filter off).
Also the coins method looks ugly imo
I think I've decided I'm either going to get the DJI ND filters 4/8/16 or the polar pro filters.
I'm wondering if the stock Phantom gimbal lock works with the DJI ND filters attached.
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Yes it will balance itself, however the motors will be working harder than they are configured for and potentially designed for
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The SRP ND8 CP is my favorite filter. Their graduated ND16-8 is also very nice.
Yes, at 7 grams, they are heavy but no counterweight is needed on an Advanced or the Pro. I usually remove the stock UV filter when using the slip-on SRP, so only adding 5 grams. Another thing I do is put a silver sharpie dot on the filter housing indicating the top for proper orientation of the filter. Here's a quick video with the ND8 CP in the sun and snow.
removing the stock lens was pretty easy if you get a pair of rubber gloves for gardening or dishes. Key as mentioned before, don't squeeze... think of it as a finger trap, the more you squeeze, the harder it will be to remove
I also went with the polar pro 6 pack. I think I'm going to also order the ND4. On amazon they have suggested items to go with your order and I bought a new gimble lock that is slightly larger to fit the ND PL filters in travel.
I also went with the polar pro 6 pack. I think I'm going to also order the ND4. On amazon they have suggested items to go with your order and I bought a new gimble lock that is slightly larger to fit the ND PL filters in travel.
A good trick to remove lens is to use the tool what come with drone to hold motors for fitting and removal, it has a nice soft rubber in it and grips great not sure if they always supplied same tool or just on the newer motors
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Do you have any comparison footage? I shoot in 4k often. I bought the phantomfilters gel pack and haven't had a chance to use them yet. I tried looking for reviews on them but most people seeed happy and there wasn't much said about em.I tried the gel filter was not happy with them
they add a haze to the video that was very evident.
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