Polar Pro ND and Polarizer build Impression

[fhagan02]

I know of a dealer who will have some of SRP's ND8 and ND8/CP P3 filters on Monday!

I spoke with SRP today. ND8 and ND8/CP to start with. They will also be producing an ND16/CP for the P3 within the next couple weeks. So they'll be available to everyone soon enough!

Bring on the sun!

 

[gfredrone]

I spoke with SRP today. ND8 and ND8/CP to start with. They will also be producing an ND16/CP for the P3 within the next couple weeks. So they'll be available to everyone soon enough!

Bring on the sun!

Thoughts on counterbalancing. What is 7.5 grams that we can stick on the back of the camera besides 3 pennies?

 

[fhagan02]

Thoughts on counterbalancing. What is 7.5 grams that we can stick on the back of the camera besides 3 pennies?

One quarter and a dime if necessary. Still testing but this is a good point.

Nothing ND wise coming out is the same weight as the UV lens. Yes they're all small, yes their custom made for the P3, BUT they're all are too heavy IMHO. The gimbal motors are also much smaller and delicate than say the H3-3D/4D for P2.

And man don't get me wrong. I hate junking up my equipment with goofy home-made remedies but I won't fly with the PP or SRP filters without something on the back of the camera and centered under the vertical arm of the gimbal. That's just me. With either brand of filter the "tiny extra weight" is obvious with the copter powered off. Again IMHO. With the stock UV on and P3 powered off you can tilt, move and turn the camera and it stays where your hand leaves it. Because its perfectly balanced.

I did the same trick with my P2/GoPro Hero 4/SRP ND's. Yep I had/have coins stuck on the appropriate places BUT hundreds of flights later that gimbal and it's motors are still as strong and dependable as the day I installed it. I believe keeping it balanced (albeit home-made balancing) is the reason for this.

Perhaps DJI will come out with and ND set, with good glass, that sits in the same light aluminum ring as the current UV filter?
If they haven't thought of this and don't already have it in the works.... somebody really needs a slap. Thats also IMHO.

 

[gfredrone]

Perhaps DJI will come out with and ND set, with good glass, that sits in the same light aluminum ring as the current UV filter?
If they haven't thought of this and don't already have it in the works.... somebody really needs a slap. Thats also IMHO.

MHO as well. I took the UV glass out of the DJI cap yesterday to clean. It would be easy to cut some black glass to fit, but quality is the key.

 

[Makawao]

Finally got my UV filter off today by wearing a rubber glove and a three finger approach.

 

[fhagan02]

Did some fiddling with counter weight for the Polar Pro ND's. 1 Dime on top left arm. 3 Dimes on back of camera. See pics with copter powered off. This works.... It's balanced....but the more I think about it....the angrier I get.

If I'm in the field and the sun's going down an ND isn't needed. Moreover, it'll create too much noise as the ISO will have to ramp up for correct exposure. BUT to remove the heavier ND and put on the UV I'm gonna have to pull dimes off and place somewhere safe - where the double sided tape won't get stuff on it - so the can be stuck back on when needed... blah blah blah.

ND's that weight anything more than the stock UV are flat-out impractical.

Yes I'd like some cheese with my whine. Thanks for listening.

 

[Nannerz]

I agree....totally not worth it in my opinion. Plus the guy at Polar Pros was a jerk when I talked to him.

I'm going with the other solution mentioned on this board.

http://www.phantompilots.com/thread...-weight-updated-with-comparison-photos.42196/

 

[Chagall]

fhagen02, thanks for the report. I ordered some of these directly from Polar Pro a week ago/2 day shipping and my credit card was charged, but no luck getting them or confirmation they've been sent. I wrote Polar Pro asking when they would be sent and they said "in a couple of days" and that a confirmation email would be sent. That was four days ago. I wrote again earlier today but no response. Looks like I'm going fishin'..... I'll give this a few more days before I reverse the CC charges but I thought I'd let others know my experience with Polar Pro. I've got a diamond-coated hole saw and a water dam suction cup arriving tomorrow to DIY some HighTech ND gel filters I have on hand.

 

[Nannerz]

Looks like SR just released theirs today as well.....something to consider?

http://www.snakeriverprototyping.com/Products/p3-series-nd8-filter.aspx
http://www.snakeriverprototyping.com/Products/p3-series-nd8cp-filter.aspx

 

[Mad_angler1]

Thoughts on counterbalancing. What is 7.5 grams that we can stick on the back of the camera besides 3 pennies?

i have found a lump of blu tack works well and can be fitted and removed in seconds, moved and adjusted.

 

[fhagan02]

fhagen02, thanks for the report. I ordered some of these directly from Polar Pro a week ago/2 day shipping and my credit card was charged, but no luck getting them or confirmation they've been sent. I wrote Polar Pro asking when they would be sent and they said "in a couple of days" and that a confirmation email would be sent. That was four days ago. I wrote again earlier today but no response. Looks like I'm going fishin'..... I'll give this a few more days before I reverse the CC charges but I thought I'd let others know my experience with Polar Pro. I've got a diamond-coated hole saw and a water dam suction cup arriving tomorrow to DIY some HighTech ND gel filters I have on hand.

I hear you. If you pay for something, and it says it's in stock, and your money is debited, or if you're told it'll ship in two days.... they should fallow through toot-sweet. However and for what it's worth, I think Polar Pro got an unexpected kick in the gut with all the orders for P3 NDs. I don't think they had any idea about the demand until after the news hit the street/web. Does that make it ok? Of course not. But to be honest, I've had my set for 5 days now. Since I can' get them all the way threaded on because of the piss-poor engineering overlooking the black anodizing process that makes the threads a little fatter AND the counter balance issue...I've used them one time. Waiting on the full SPR set to come in.... but I believe they're heavier than the PP ND. Yay.

I'm leaning toward what others have discussed. Something to convert a stock UV to an ND. Real fed up actually. How many years now with P1, P2, P2V+, P2-V2, P3's has having an ND for aerial filming been proven as a flat out necessity?! There's only 10 million videos on YouTube showing what a ND does for your footage while shooting with a Phantom. Hats off to the PP's and SRP's of the world. But when designing their new NDs they should've been handed the stock UV filter not the camera. Then a very smart person should've said, "This is it. The ND has to fit in a ring just like this and it can't weigh any more than this." Just sayin'.

I've got my whine but I can't find my cheese.

 

[Bluesmaster]

I cant agree with you here at all. Every ND filter will of course create the motion blur effect, everything get less sharp because of the slow shutter speed. Its like you want a handheld shot with your camera in a dark room, it will be shaky and blurred. For still photos in the air the ND filters are a no go because you will need that fast shutter speed because the Phantom3 is always moving a bit, not like a tripod. With an ND filter you will get blurred images. still images with a multicopter are always better without a ND filter.

I completely agree. The shutter speed slows down to 1/60 or slower on a sunny day and blur is the result. I used the ND filters from Dataway as a test for this. Now a CP filter is a good idea as long as there is plenty of light.

 

[fhagan02]

I completely agree. The shutter speed slows down to 1/60 or slower on a sunny day and blur is the result. I used the ND filters from Dataway as a test for this.

This is true but this only pertains to Photography. The basic 101 golden rule shooting video - and this goes for all video cameras not just the Phantom 3 - is your shutter speed should be set to about double your frame rate. So if you're shooting at 24/25 frames per second, your shutter speed is 1/50th. You leave it there regardless of lighting changes and adjust exposure with ISO speed and f-stop changes. (Can't change the P3's f-stop as the camera shoots at a constant f2.8 so ISO and shutter speed are the only parameters you can tweak for exposure compensation.)

The "motion blur" is what makes it look movie "cinematic" vs reality show "video". Higher shutter speeds on video give a choppy, jittery, strobe effect that's not pleasing to most viewers eyes. But If you fallow the golden rule your video with be more natural and organic.

NOTE: Nothing gets "less sharp" at a slower shutter speed with video or photos. The camera's sharpness is the same with a shutter speed of 50 or 800. But In the end it boils down to personal preference. I say if you like what you're doing and are happy that's all the counts.

 

[2nd2non]

So you can still take good photos with the ND filter, just need to switch to manual and adjust ISO and exposure to dial it in, correct? I typically take video and photos while in the air, so need flexibility

 

[fhagan02]

So you can still take good photos with the ND filter, just need to switch to manual and adjust ISO and exposure to dial it in, correct? I typically take video and photos while in the air, so need flexibility

Absolutely. Nothing gets "less sharp" regarding the camera at a slower shutter speed with video or photos. The camera's sharpness is the same with a shutter speed of 50 or 800 - with or without an ND. This is why you need good glass in an ND. Cheap ND's won't be crisp and clean. Not because it's an ND but because of what the ND is made of. All things said and done, a good ND filter will ONLY restrict the amount of light coming in the camera. It shouldn't change anything else regarding sharpness or color cast.

NOTE: Just make sure when you shoot photos use a higher shutter speed. Like 125 or above. At a shutter speed of say 50-60 the shutter is open longer. So if the quad drifts or jerks a little the image will smear or blur due to the movement while the shutter was open taking the picture.

 

[Daninho]

Absolutely. Nothing gets "less sharp" regarding the camera at a slower shutter speed with video or photos. The camera's sharpness is the same with a shutter speed of 50 or 800 - with or without an ND. This is why you need good glass in an ND. Cheap ND's won't be crisp and clean. Not because it's an ND but because of what the ND is made of. All things said and done, a good ND filter will ONLY restrict the amount of light coming in the camera. It shouldn't change anything else regarding sharpness or color cast.

NOTE: Just make sure when you shoot photos use a higher shutter speed. Like 125 or above. At a shutter speed of say 50-60 the shutter is open longer. So if the quad drifts or jerks a little the image will smear or blur due to the movement while the shutter was open taking the picture.

well of course the still picture will get less sharp with slower shutter speeds, you make one mistake here and that is dont remember that the quad is moving and its not on a tripod. In case of a tripod it wont affect sharpness but the Phantom3 is constantly moving even with GPS and that slow shutter speeds will result in more blurry pictures compared to pictures taken with super fast shutter speeds. Its the same as when you want to take a handheld photo with shaky hands. With ultrafast shutter speeds it will compensate that. i would never use ND filters for making still pictures in the air.

 

[Daninho]

I have blurfix filters for my gopro 5.4mm and the Phantom2s. It seems those new blurfix filters are disappointing because they slip over and add weight. Im also highly sceptical in case of balancing small gimbals. The original P3 camera isnt even balanced and when you add weight because you add filters and extra weights for balancing you will add to much weight in general. The PIDs are programmed for a certain amount of weight and with too much weight the gimbal will twitch from time to time. My H3-3D also twitches with the blurfix filter.

Dont know why manufactors cant offer ND filters for the P3 with exactly the same weight as the original threaded UV filter, it cant be that hard to do. The rage cam and blurfix solutions have no threads which is bad and the polar pro versions is kind of heavy. The safest solution is just put a Kodak wratten gel inside the original UV Filter but its definately not the best solution.


When you use automatic camera settings and just put an ND filter on you cant be sure what shutterspeeds and ISO the Phantom camera will choose, so thats not a good idea

 

[Abe]

Today the Polar Pro ND4, ND8 Filters and Polarizer are available for the general public and I got mine in the mail today. I've been doing professional photography for 12 years and have been a Director of Photography for roughly the same amount of time and CPL's and ND Filters have been an essential tools in my bag.
View attachment 21286 View attachment 21287
So as you can tell from the photos you receive 3 filters to help achieve a desirable shutter speed to get a cinematic look. In the packaging you receive 3 small bags to carry each filter in separately so you don't damage them in transit.

The first thing you will notice is the quality of the glass which in my opinion is on par with the filters I use on my DSLR's and Matte Boxes, you will also notice that the filters are threaded. (Heads up on taking off the DJI UV Filter it is very fragile and could possibly crack as mine did when I thought I was smart and used a blow dryer to heat up the filter, dumb $38 mistake). Once I got the stock UV filter off I then weighed the stock filter which was 2 grams compared to the Polar Pro ND8 and ND4 which were 7 grams each.View attachment 21289View attachment 21290
I put the Polar Por filter on which does thread all the way to the back like the OEM and fits firmly without any play, when you turn the Phantom on and the gimbal will calibrate and work prefectly.
View attachment 21291
View attachment 21292
Over the next week I will put together a video review with comparisons and give my impressions of the video quality but for now at the price is $69 this is suitable to get a slower shutter speed and help take away the dreaded "jello" or moire a lot of us have been getting on the phantom 3.

Here's a great way to safely remove the P3's stock UV filter. Mine was on so tight I thought it was glued on, but this worked perfectly:

http://forum.dji.com/thread-14931-1-1.html

 

[Chagall]

"Dont know why manufactors cant offer ND filters for the P3 with exactly the same weight as the original threaded UV filter, it cant be that hard to do."

Yes, you would think that with the tiny, delicate gimbal on the P3 that add on companies would understand that the primary goal would be to keep weight down to not throw the balance out of whack. I think they do actually, and this is more a reflection of the general decline in the US economy/manufacturing/technology capability. That part is likely cast and finish machined, and at a very small tolerance. The add on people would do that it they could, and it was economically feasible, but the sad fact is, they can't. Same reason that if you go into Home Depot or Lowes, about 98% of everything you see is made in China. This is a perilous position to be in, of course, but the collective brain trust in the US hasn't figured that out yet.

 

[Nannerz]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161732103851?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

and...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161732123655?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT