TACO-RC ND filters set (ND4/8/16/32) for DJI Phantom 3

ocatcr · Jul 1, 2015

spskaya said:
Just ordered the complete set this morning and it was already shipped. Wish they would tell me how long it will take all the way from Hong Kong to Florida. Can't wait to get them.

Today is public holiday in hong kong. your order will be shipped this week for sure. thanks.

ocatcr · Jul 1, 2015

YolevonALLin said:
Normal daytime in NC.. Lots of sun, sometimes at the lake. General rule to use the 8 or 16? Which one to try first to try and avoid having to switch? Thanks!

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Usually we use ND16 or 32 on a sunny day. Which one is chosen depends on your flying style. If you fly very fast and do a lot of panning, probably you need to use ND8 or 16. If you fly slowly, you could use a darker filter to slow down the shutter speed (eg. 1/50 or 1/60 while using 4K 25fps or 30fps).

Vladimir Talijan · Jul 1, 2015

For a typical sunny day ND64 would be perfect for the P3, it gives approximately 1/50 shutter. ND32 and 16 should be ok, and I just don't see the use for a weaker ND than 16, so I don't recommend buying those sets with weak NDs. ND32 and ND64 are the most useful.

Claydoc911 · Jul 1, 2015

Hi Guys,

What filter would u think would work best in this pic?

I had trouble getting a good balance between the sky and the ground.

(And before anyone make a comment about how this pic was taken? It was over the water all the time and never flew close to any buildings / People. )

Thxs Chris

GhostMaster · Jul 1, 2015

Nd/cp would do fine I think... Srp has them but they cost a lot more than the taco rc... But you get the highest quality filters in the market.

Claydoc911 · Jul 1, 2015

GhostMaster said:
Nd/cp would do fine I think... Srp has them but they cost a lot more than the taco rc... But you get the highest quality filters in the market.

Thanks mate...

Question who are SRP?

But I have ordered a set from TACO anyhow.

GhostMaster · Jul 1, 2015

Claydoc911 said:
Thanks mate...

Question who are SRP?

Snake River prototyping.

Claydoc911 · Jul 1, 2015

GhostMaster said:
Snake River prototyping.

Thxs man.

FredzMaxxUAV · Jul 2, 2015

What do you guys think of this http://polarprofilters.com/shop/DJI-Phantom-3-Filter
Is a CP filter handy?

ocatcr · Jul 2, 2015

Fredz said:
What do you guys think of this http://polarprofilters.com/shop/DJI-Phantom-3-Filter
Is a CP filter handy?

Unless you fly your phantom in only one direction. PL filter is not useful and effective while the direction of your phantom is kept changing.

ocatcr · Jul 2, 2015

Claydoc911 said:
Hi Guys,

What filter would u think would work best in this pic?

I had trouble getting a good balance between the sky and the ground.

(And before anyone make a comment about how this pic was taken? It was over the water all the time and never flew close to any buildings / People. )

Thxs Chris

View attachment 23602

I think you are talking about the graduated ND filter. We are planning to produce one.

3TailsMedia · Jul 2, 2015

Vladimir Talijan said:
For a typical sunny day ND64 would be perfect for the P3, it gives approximately 1/50 shutter. ND32 and 16 should be ok, and I just don't see the use for a weaker ND than 16, so I don't recommend buying those sets with weak NDs. ND32 and ND64 are the most useful.

what are recommending then, who's selling nd64?

Vladimir Talijan · Jul 2, 2015

3TailsMedia said:
what are recommending then, who's selling nd64?

There is no ND64 for the Phantom as far as I know. ND32 is the second best and the best for multiple lighting scenarios, so I'm waiting mid july for the standalone filter from TACO.

It's simple, on a typical summer sunny day with 1/50 shutter you have ISO100 and F22, and because your P3 camera is fixed to f2.8, you need 6 stop filter to maintain the shutter. That filter is ND64. If you use ND32, you get 5 stops which is already giving you 1/100 shutter and everything fast is getting stutters. It's not that bad, but if you use ND8, it gives you only 3 stops so you're getting 1/400 shutter and that is really noticable, you want to be bellow 1/100, idealy on 1/50, so ND32 is the brightest one I would use. If there is a cloudy weather and you need eg. 4 stops to kill, it is better to go 1/25 with ND32 or crank up the ISO to 200, than 1/100 with ND8.

You CAN use all the filters in a set, if you have the time to change the filter every time the cloud passes, but I don't think anyone will do that. I'm aiming to do the highest possible production with the P3, and I think that is unnecessary, I will just take off the filter when there is not enough light...

3TailsMedia · Jul 2, 2015

Thank you for the through explanation. Can you explain why "it's better" to go with iso 200 over nd8? as I understand it, the greater the nd the more color shift you have to account for.

Vladimir Talijan said:
There is no ND64 for the Phantom as far as I know. ND32 is the second best and the best for multiple lighting scenarios, so I'm waiting mid july for the standalone filter from TACO.

It's simple, on a typical summer sunny day with 1/50 shutter you have ISO100 and F22, and because your P3 camera is fixed to f2.8, you need 6 stop filter to maintain the shutter. That filter is ND64. If you use ND32, you get 5 stops which is already giving you 1/100 shutter and everything fast is getting stutters. It's not that bad, but if you use ND8, it gives you only 3 stops so you're getting 1/400 shutter and that is really noticable, you want to be bellow 1/100, idealy on 1/50, so ND32 is the brightest one I would use. If there is a cloudy weather and you need eg. 4 stops to kill, it is better to go 1/25 with ND32 or crank up the ISO to 200, than 1/100 with ND8.

You CAN use all the filters in a set, if you have the time to change the filter every time the cloud passes, but I don't think anyone will do that. I'm aiming to do the highest possible production with the P3, and I think that is unnecessary, I will just take off the filter when there is not enough light...

Vladimir Talijan · Jul 2, 2015

3TailsMedia said:
Thank you for the through explanation. Can you explain why "it's better" to go with iso 200 over nd8? as I understand it, the greater the nd the more color shift you have to account for.

You're right, but we have to compromise, the shutter stuttering is much bigger problem, and it is very hard to solve it in post. We (at least I) are flying most of the time on a good day, and that means a bright day, so having a ND8 is not helping too much for the shutter speed, you will still have "gopro stutter" for fast moving/close to camera objects and that is the first clue youre using an amateur camera. ND color cast you can even use in your favour, it gives some depth only large sensors have it, so if you do some testing with white balance presets/kelvins, you can make a very cinematic picture, i use NDs for f1.2 on a DSLR lenses with RAW video, that means killing two more stops and it doesn't make the picture bad at all, just try not to mix ND and nonND footage.

GhostMaster · Jul 4, 2015

I think for the price this filters look awesome. Lets see how users will find them out. Waiting for some to test out.

MattyDread · Jul 4, 2015

Yep about to order these now & also that thing that goes over the stick to control the yaw better - has anyone tried this yet?

MattyDread · Jul 5, 2015

Vladimir Talijan said:
There is no ND64 for the Phantom as far as I know. ND32 is the second best and the best for multiple lighting scenarios, so I'm waiting mid july for the standalone filter from TACO.

It's simple, on a typical summer sunny day with 1/50 shutter you have ISO100 and F22, and because your P3 camera is fixed to f2.8, you need 6 stop filter to maintain the shutter. That filter is ND64. If you use ND32, you get 5 stops which is already giving you 1/100 shutter and everything fast is getting stutters. It's not that bad, but if you use ND8, it gives you only 3 stops so you're getting 1/400 shutter and that is really noticable, you want to be bellow 1/100, idealy on 1/50, so ND32 is the brightest one I would use. If there is a cloudy weather and you need eg. 4 stops to kill, it is better to go 1/25 with ND32 or crank up the ISO to 200, than 1/100 with ND8.

You CAN use all the filters in a set, if you have the time to change the filter every time the cloud passes, but I don't think anyone will do that. I'm aiming to do the highest possible production with the P3, and I think that is unnecessary, I will just take off the filter when there is not enough light...

Useful info - Thanks

3TailsMedia · Jul 5, 2015

MattyDread said:
Yep about to order these now & also that thing that goes over the stick to control the yaw better - has anyone tried this yet?View attachment 23907

What's this product called?