Replacement Lens Cover Glass

Joined
Jul 31, 2022
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Age
46
I unfortunately managed to shatter the the glass cover on the front of the lens. As a newbie, I tend to shoot in auto mode. I seem to be struggling to source a replacement DJI UV filter glass.
2 questions. Will I see any difference in video if I fly without the cover and secondly, I found a ND4 filter by Polar Pro. Would that suffice for general videos in automatic mode?

Many thanks in advance.
 
I found quite a few with a quick search on eBay.

Sorry - forgot to mention, I am based in UK and trying to get one fairly soon.
 
Check with any drone repair companies near you. Probably have several from crashed P4's.
 
The original front cover glass is for protection only. Your photos and videos will be the same with no glass. But this exposes the lens to scratches etc. Other types of covers have different functions. Look into some photography manuals.
ND4 filter is OK. As all ND filters do it tends to reduce the contrast in pictures taken in bright sunlight. Greater the number (ND 8; 16; 32; etc.) more effect you get but you get the darker picture as well, or at auto mode, you get longer exposure times which can be a problem. Usually, 4 and 8 are in use.
 
The original front cover glass is for protection only. Your photos and videos will be the same with no glass. But this exposes the lens to scratches etc. Other types of covers have different functions. Look into some photography manuals.
ND4 filter is OK. As all ND filters do it tends to reduce the contrast in pictures taken in bright sunlight. Greater the number (ND 8; 16; 32; etc.) more effect you get but you get the darker picture as well, or at auto mode, you get longer exposure times which can be a problem. Usually, 4 and 8 are in use.
Just a note Andy- an ND filter does not reduce contrast. It’s a Neutral Density filter, it only reduces the amount of light coming in so you can shoot at either a slower shutter speed or wider open f-stop.
 
You're correct. But overexposed areas in the picture can be corrected with such a filter. Not completely but enough that some details within brighter objects become visible when you put the ND filter on. If this would be a matter of the exposure time and the aperture only, then no ND filter would be needed at all.
 
Beg to differ. The only thing an ND filter does is reduce your exposure. It does not affect the contrast at all.
The reason people use them is when they’re shooting video if you’re trying to get to the proper frame rate for a “cinematic“ look which is shutter speed twice your frame rate. I.e. if you’re shooting 30 frames a second you want exposure of 1/60, if you’re shooting 60 frames per second do you want an shutter speed of one 1/120 of a second

It’s not necessary to do so but it makes the flow of the images smoother especially for objects on the foreground like if you’re flying low to the ground. They’ll be a slight blur which makes the video seems smoother.

If you’re using a camera that has a fixed 2.8 aperture The only way to bring your shutter speed down in daylight is with ND or polorizer filters or use shutter speeds like 1/800-1/1250 or higher.
It’s not always necessary with a camera such as I am the phantom 4 pro or the Mavic two pro.
They have variable aperture‘s but even out of variable aperture of F 11 that would only get you to about 1/250 second at 100 iso and a bright sunny day.
And as we all know the sharpest aperture and those cameras is closer to a 4.5 or 5.0. Beyond that you start getting Defraction and it softens your image.

If I want to shoot video and have it look “cinematic” on a sunny day I will put on an ND8 filter and That allows me to shoot 100 iso, 1/120 second for 60FPS or 1/60 sec for 30FPS anywhere between F4. To F5.6

If a bit cloudy, then an ND4.

Again the ND filter only affects your exposure, not contrast. If something is blowing out in the highlights then you are over exposed.
 
Last edited:
Very nice explanation. But what about still photos? You definitely don't need longer exp. time or wider aperture for landscape photos. Yes, you need high-grade ND for blurring the water flow if you want that but you're not going to shoot such things with a drone.
However, we are now a bit out of topic.
 

Recent Posts

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,352
Members
104,933
Latest member
mactechnic