What are ND filters? They’re usually provided up as an add-on accent in your drone. So do you want them?
If you wish to stage up your drone pictures, then sure, ND filters are essential accent in your drone package. Particularly in case you use your drones to take photographs in the course of the day in vivid circumstances (and even in case you’re filming at daybreak or nightfall however wish to experiment with distinctive results), you must understand how — and certain personal – a set of ND filters.
What are ND filters?
An ND filter (brief for Impartial Density filter) is a tiny piece of glass (or generally resin) that you simply pop in your digital camera lens. Usually the ND filter is darkened, meant to cut back the quantity of sunshine getting into the digital camera lens — all of the whereas preserving the colours within the picture. Consider them like sun shades in your digital camera lens.
Impartial density filters have a number of essential features, together with:
- Avoiding blown-out photos: ND filters permit you to management the publicity of your digital camera in vivid circumstances. By decreasing the quantity of sunshine getting into the digital camera lens, you keep away from overexposure, which is commonly widespread when flying drones in open areas on vivid, sunny days. No extra overly-white, too-bright photos.
- Permitting for movement blur: By decreasing the quantity of sunshine getting into the digital camera lens, ND filters additionally permit you to use slower shutter speeds to create movement blur in your photos or movies, even when it’s in any other case vivid out. That means that you can obtain the aesthetic of movement in your photos, notably widespread in pictures similar to waterfalls, athletes or autos. They’re additionally widespread for these cool, long-exposure pictures at night time the place the panorama continues to be however you see mild motion from one thing like a automotive.
- Lowering lens flare: ND filters can even cut back lens flare, which is attributable to mild reflecting off the lens. Whereas generally an intentional aesthetic for dreamy-style photographs, they’ll additionally create an unintended, annoying haze (generally known as ghosting) or glare in your photos. ND filters can cut back the quantity of sunshine getting into the lens, which may also help cut back lens flare and enhance the readability of your photos. With ND filters, you’ve sharper, extra vibrat photos.
- Eliminating jello: For videographers, there’s an identical purpose to make use of ND filters: decreasing “the jello impact.” That is regularly attributable to vibration or motion of the drone, however will be toned down by ND filters, leading to smoother footage.
Right here’s an instance of how the ND filter supplies a sharper, extra vibrant picture:
As you store for ND filters, there are some things drone pilots ought to know:
ND filters come in numerous strengths
ND filters come in numerous strengths or densities, which consult with the quantity of sunshine they block. So for instance, ND4 filters block 25% of the sunshine, whereas ND16 filters block 94% of the sunshine, and so forth.
You may use a ND4 2-stop impartial density filter for filming on gentle days or in the course of the golden hour (the primary and final hour of daylight in a day). It’s additionally helpful in decreasing highlights and lens flare.
The ND8 3-Cease impartial density filter must be used on vivid days to assist stop lens flare and gentle rolling shutter.
The ND16 4-stop filter is without doubt one of the darker shades. It really works properly on very vivid days and creates the smoothest cinematic look to your movies of all of the filters.
Select the proper power of ND filter primarily based on the lighting circumstances and the impact you wish to obtain. Right here’s a reasonably helpful cheat sheet, offered by the parents at ND filter chief Polar Professional:
They bring about their very own challenges, too
Whereas it’s simple to sing the praises of ND filters, understand that they’ll additionally provoke new challenges that may negatively affect your drone pictures. For starters, they usually find yourself interfering with autofocus and picture stabilization, particularly if they don’t seem to be correctly put in or if they’re of poor high quality. Select high-quality ones which can be particularly designed in your drone digital camera (PolarPro merchandise are reliably nice), and comply with the producer’s directions for set up and use.
You usually wish to purchase round filters, as they have a tendency to have the ability to rapidly and seamlessly affix to your drone’s digital camera lens. Sq. filters are usually extra cumbersome, as they normally require a filter holder and adapter ring.
You may discover adjustable ND filters
You may come upon one thing known as a variable ND filter, which implies it’s adjustable so you’ll be able to management the power of the filter and the ensuing publicity.
These optically-transparent filters permit you to modify opacity and cut back brightness of the sunshine between two to eight stops, with out effecting coloration or anything.
ND filters are usually not one-size-fits-all
The commonest shopper drones generally have filters designed particularly to suit them. It’s nearly all the time a good suggestion to purchase filters designed particularly in your drone, as they’re usually designed with exact snap-joints that guarantee a dependable match and lens seal throughout flight.
For $55, you may purchase the DJI Mini 3 Collection ND Filter Set, which comes with ND16/64/256 filters and are appropriate with the DJI Mini 3 Professional and DJI Mini 3. Mavic 3 homeowners should fork over a heftier $129 for a filter set, which incorporates ND8/16/32/64 filters (hey, no less than you get 4 as an alternative of three). These units are designed and manufactured by DJI itself.
A number of the smaller drone firms outsource to different firms to tackle the duty of filter-making, similar to PolarPro. Costa Mesa-based PolarPro makes a wide range of pictures equipment, however is primarily identified for its ND filters. It makes filters for a variety of drones (and sometimes they’re both cheaper or higher high quality than shopping for those instantly from DJI).
PolarPro works instantly with different firms to offer their matching filters, as is the case with Skydio. PolarPro presents a $70 package of ND8, ND16, and ND32 filters that have been engineered particularly for the Skydio 2/2+, and so they affix through a seamless magnetic connection.
Don’t overlook the worth of impartial density filters
ND filters will be probably the most underrated methods to stage up your drone pictures. They’re nearly all the time a further expense on prime of an already-expensive drone.
And plenty of drone photographers fall prey to the false assumption that software program can repair all the things. Whereas post-processing software program can repair some points with publicity, it can not compensate for overexposure or underexposure to the identical diploma that ND filters can. Moreover, software program can not create movement blur or cut back lens flare in the identical approach that ND filters can.
