ND Filters

[Geoelectro]

I guess I'm not getting this. I put the ND16 on and set it to auto and it was better, but not as focused as without. A lot of youtube stuff talks about using these filters in manual mode.

I've always just used auto with no filters and the videos are great. Recently, I've started diving into more editing including playing with contrast, saturation, and exposure etc. I thought the filters were going to give the video a richer look, or bring the exposure down so that more detail is saved which can be brought out in post.

For now, I'm sticking with no filter so not to sacrifice focus until I figure this out.

Geo.

 

[With The Birds]

I guess I'm not getting this. I put the ND16 on and set it to auto and it was better, but not as focused as without. A lot of youtube stuff talks about using these filters in manual mode.

I've always just used auto with no filters and the videos are great. Recently, I've started diving into more editing including playing with contrast, saturation, and exposure etc. I thought the filters were going to give the video a richer look, or bring the exposure down so that more detail is saved which can be brought out in post.

For now, I'm sticking with no filter so not to sacrifice focus until I figure this out.

Geo.

You can reduce your exposure without ND filters, it will be unlikely to improve your footage though. Your best exposing to the right to maximise the dynamic range and get cleaner shadow detail- you will have more options in grading also..

ND filters will help to avoid rolling shutter artifacts and jello.

 

[SoundByte]

I guess I'm not getting this. I put the ND16 on and set it to auto and it was better, but not as focused as without. A lot of youtube stuff talks about using these filters in manual mode.

I've always just used auto with no filters and the videos are great. Recently, I've started diving into more editing including playing with contrast, saturation, and exposure etc. I thought the filters were going to give the video a richer look, or bring the exposure down so that more detail is saved which can be brought out in post.

For now, I'm sticking with no filter so not to sacrifice focus until I figure this out.

Geo.

If you use a ND16 on a cloudy day or in lower light conditions, the autoexposure setting could increase the ISO and introduce some grain into the shot. Conversely if the shutter speed is low you will get excessive motion blur. Both conditions will degrade your video unless done for effect.

 

[With The Birds]

If you use a ND16 on a cloudy day or in lower light conditions, the autoexposure setting could increase the ISO and introduce some grain into the shot. Conversely if the shutter speed is low you will get excessive motion blur. Both conditions will degrade your video unless done for effect.

You have identified a very plausible explanation here. On the first occasion the OP had issues it was likely due to underexposure. The second test the factors were likley as you have proposed. The ND 16 provides four stops of attenuation. In bright sunlight, assuming a shutter speed of 1/60 as the minimum acceotable (30 FPS) the aperture at 100ISO would be just under f5.6. Cloud cover and several hours either side of midday could see the camera employing ISO400 or higher at f2.8 to obtain correct exposure.

Would be interesting to learn what the conditions and auto settings were.

 

[SoundByte]

You have identified a very plausible explanation here. On the first occasion the OP had issues it was likely due to underexposure. The second test the factors were likley as you have proposed. The ND 16 provides four stops of attenuation. In bright sunlight, assuming a shutter speed of 1/60 as the minimum acceotable (30 FPS) the aperture at 100ISO would be just under f5.6. Cloud cover and several hours either side of midday could see the camera employing ISO400 or higher at f2.8 to obtain correct exposure.

Would be interesting to learn what the conditions and auto settings were.

The OP didn't say what type of phantom so I'm assuming a legacy P4 like mine. When I use auto in video mode it maintains shutter priority. Because it has a fixed aperture, the only way for it to control exposure is by gain(ISO) adjustments on the output of the CCD. In a low light situation with a ND filter in place that can really introduce a lot of noise.