How and When to Use DJI Mini 3 Pro ND Filters

[@SamuelSotiega]

There have recently been some channels trying to impersonate me asking people to contact them on Telegram with different offers and deals. Please be aware if anyone offering in the comments of any of my videos any kind of deal or offer. I will never ask anyone to speak on telegram or any other platform. If in doubt, please contact me via email or social media (my contact details in the about page of my channel) to verify communication. Please be very careful and aware of scammers.

[@psoon04286]

Thanks for the heads up Samuel. Yours is not the only channel targeted by these lo-life sleazy scammers. KZbin has to come up with a way for us to block them

[@SamuelSotiega]

@@psoon04286 i totally agree!!! They need to do more to protect us and also our viewers!

[@peterevans6086]

Rather than trying to find the correct ND filter by trial and error, you can easily calculate what ND filter you need. Every halving of shutter speed is a reduction of exposure by one 'stop'. Each grade of ND filter reduces exposure by a given number of stops so you just need to match them up. In this example, we start with a shutter speed of 1/3200 but need a shutter speed of 1/50. So: 1/3200 down to 1/1600 = 1 stop (ND2) 1/800 = 2 stops (ND4) 1/400 = 3 stops (ND8) 1/200 = 4 stops (ND16) 1/100 = 5 stops (ND32) 1/50 = 6 stops (ND64). If the starting shutter speed was 1/1600 then that's a 5 stop reduction in exposure, so we'd need an ND32... etc.

[@SamuelSotiega]

That is a very cool and spot-on comment! Can't fault it at all. I also have a pretty good eyeball. Sun = ND64 or 128. Clouds = ND32 or 16, sunset or sunrise, ND16 or 8. Knowing those ranges it is also pretty easy to calculate the ND you'll need before you even pull out the filters.... Thanks for chipping in with that info, I am sure plenty of people will find it very interesting and helpful!

[@iancampbell7684]

Great video as I am new to drones and just bought mini pro 3. I have ordered a basic set of nd filters and will try to see what works best for me. I did laugh a lot at your little giggle moment about interruptions. Keep them coming as I need to learn lots more.

[@SamuelSotiega]

Thanks. I will! Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@seamus_o_ra]

Really appreciated this video. Your style and delivery are both informative and entertaining. Loved the last bit. You were dealing one thing after another. I had a good laugh with you. Thank you for your work 👍🏼

[@SamuelSotiega]

Thanks for the feedback and glad you found it helpful! More drone content coming soon so stay tuned!

[@quasiguy]

Excellent video. "Polishing a turd" is a favorite of mine. I appreciated the talk about the ND vs polarizing ND from Freewell. I just bought a set of each and now I'm thinking the polarizing ones may need to go back. Anyway, thanks for powering through all the interruptions and creating some entertaining, informative content. Much appreciated!

[@SamuelSotiega]

Thanks! Glad you found it helpful!! 😊

[@MartinLeschinski]

Really dig your attitude! Great content as always. Even knowing all of this, I keep watching your videos, as you are a funny guy

[@SamuelSotiega]

Thanks for the feedback! Onwards and upwards!!!

[@captaindavecaptain]

Great insightful info and I loved the bloopers.

[@SamuelSotiega]

Hahaha! Thanks and glad you enjoyed it!

[@psoon04286]

Hello Samuel, I was wondering about the useability of polarisers on the Mini 3. Glad that you cleared the air about the fact that you can't adjust it like we can when used on a regular camera. Great video as always

[@SamuelSotiega]

Thanks buddy! Glad you enjoyed it and found it helpful!

[@toddhildebrand]

Thanx Samuel, great/very informative video! As a photographer since the early 80's I just recently made the leap and bought the DJI mini 3 pro.....and yes I bought the ND/polarizing filters because I love to shoot around water. Oh well, your totally right about the angle of the light changing and making your sky go funky. So guess I'll need to just the regular ND filters. Yea shooting video is a whole new set of do's and don'ts. But I love it. Moving from The States to Vietnam in January and trying to get my drone skills up for first attempt at a vlog. Cheers and thanx!

[@SamuelSotiega]

Amazing! You're gonna have so much fun and you are also apporoachign this the right way. But if you are a photographer to start with, a lot of the basics and fundamentals are the same, just applied to motion. Trust me, it will be easier than you think and a lot more fun that you ever imagined. 💪

[@naznar189]

I was planning to get one for my son thanks for the video

[@SamuelSotiega]

Glad that it was helpful! Worth the investment for sure!!

[@Gem6557]

Very good video with a lot of very good information. Thanks a lot for this video.

[@SamuelSotiega]

Thanks, glad you liked it.

[@AmitGafny]

I wish you explained how to read the histogram .. but the video is very informative. Thanks.

[@SamuelSotiega]

Uhmmm… i might do a short about it, but I hope this helps. A spike to the right over 100 means highlights are too hot and the information is lost, so whatever is white is just white, you are never going to get detail back. Think of a cloudy sky. If the sky is too hot and the spike is all to the right, the sky will be just shiny white no matter what you do. The opposite applies to the left, the darks will be too dark and just pure black so no matter what you try to lift them, you will only see a patch of black. In an ideal world you want a pyramid but that is just not going to happen. You just need to make sure neither end has a spike. Next time you get a camera out, get the histogram out and experiment, you’ll see how what I just told you makes sense and once you see it, you will never be able to film without using the histogram. Think of it as a guardian angel, it is there to make sure you get it right all the time.

[@AmitGafny]

@@SamuelSotiega Very helpful!! Thanks again !!

[@Lowridersdoggs]

Very good video

[@SamuelSotiega]

Thanks! Glad you like it and found it helpful!

[@filmfinland9691]

This Man is not stupid

[@SamuelSotiega]

My wife thinks exactly the same!! 😄😄

[@filmfinland9691]

@@SamuelSotiega Wise Wife

[@PRIME3VILGAMING]

Great informative video.

[@SamuelSotiega]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@regbanks7888]

I agree. A must have.

[@SamuelSotiega]

100% right!

[@TriniWeekes]

Great explanation , thanks for sharing

[@SamuelSotiega]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@TonesDroneVisuals]

I watched to the end and was waiting for an explosion💣

[@SamuelSotiega]

Hahaha!! Point taken for a future video! I have some cool SFX explosions, maybe I can add some drama with a scene like that… 😂😂

[@TonesDroneVisuals]

@@SamuelSotiega Next time for sure

[@TonesDroneVisuals]

@@SamuelSotiega On a serious note, have you heard of ND filters causing video wobble/jello effect?

[@SamuelSotiega]

@@TonesDroneVisuals god quality ND filters causing that? Not really. But I am always keen to learn or see something new. Can you point me in the direction of a video or article about it?

[@TonesDroneVisuals]

@@SamuelSotiega It happened to me with a Polarised filter on an overcast day. I've bought some Freewell ND/CPL since and I'll try them next week

[@dronesdehonduras]

*Gracias. Excelente informacion.*

[@SamuelSotiega]

Me alegro le haya ayudado!

[@MarkMichalowski]

Great video, Samuel! You need a) a lapel mic to cut out the extraneous noise, and b) a cat to keep the pigeons away... But then it might just attract more dogs :)

[@SamuelSotiega]

😂😂 Done on the lav mic, working on the cat front! 😂😂

[@MuhlisErtugrul]

Nice video again, very informative! The hyperlapse shot with ND filter looks very nice! I always curious thinking how can they make it, do they make it on post editing or something.

[@SamuelSotiega]

It's all about the ND and getting the correct exposure (ISO and shutter) settings. But the results are really amazing if you put a little bit of time and effort...

I've been using nd filters with my Mavic Air for 4 years and like them, but the 'motion blur' seems to 'leak' to the main subject, many times. Isn't 1/60 of a sec too slow to get the sharpest image possible without having it look 'artificial'?

[@SamuelSotiega]

It all depends on what you’re doing. If you want motion blur you need to set the shutter speed at double your frame rate, whatever that is. Now, once you know, rules are also there to break them so if a particular shot ot shots require a sharper look or feel, you can then adjust to your liking. Some people find that they prefer a slightly sharper look when going close to the ground. Down to each individual. But if you know the rules, and are aware of them, you can break them at will…

[@marklouieadame]

I tried this double the exposure and my video exposure is so bad. You end up adding more ISO and to make it easier and still get motion blur lower it to 24-25fps and Auto ISO and u are good to go. Manual adjust are for super professionals and has tons of batteries lol

[@SamuelSotiega]

You have a very valid point, in many situations, the auto settings will be just fine. As a matter of fact, sometimes myself too use auto. I put on the correct ND and then set the drone on auto and go into "lazy" mode... But I agree, for many people auto is a good compromise!

[@vonheise]

I like some motion blur, not not the amount you suggest. I don't sell anything, I fly to have fun and make video I like, and only hope others will like it. I have ND 4 thru 32, and a Polaroid filter so I fly with ND 32 and don't mind what I get out of the camera, however, I will play with the Pl filter when I fly more in the spring

[@SamuelSotiega]

Sounds like you have a clear idea of what you like and don’t like. That’s already more than the average person! 👍

[@CitizenMike]

So which filters do you actually use?

[@SamuelSotiega]

I use the freewell and they are really nice. But there is a small caveat with them, which means for many people, the skyreat ones amzn.to/3PY4SmT might be a better option. What it is is that if you want the 128ND in your ND set (I totally recommend that filter for bright day light) well, the freewell has their All Day set with 4-64ND and then 1000ND. If you want the 128ND you woild need to buy the Long exposure set, which gives you the 128 and 256ND which is also helpful. The skyreat set gives you 8-128ND in their set which means you don’t need to buy 2 sets as you need with freewell. Now, if you do hyperlapses it makes more sense to buy the freewell as you get thr correct filters for lkng exposure. If you like their brand and ecosystem, then the freewell are amazing. But if you are into best cost-value ratio, the skyreat will probably give you all you need in a single set. I hope this makes sense… i might do a short about this actually…

[@paulcalkin7960]

I have been watching you but I would like to ask where are you from. I am a kiwi living in Sweden and have brought my first mini pro

[@SamuelSotiega]

Spanish living in the UK. Flying in London where I live is a bit of a challenge as all the good spots fall within red high restrictive zones, so it is a bit of a pain to get permits through the correct channels... If you live in a remote or not heavily populated area, it is so much easier, and the views, oh my, the views are usually pretty nice the moment you get out of a big city...

[@mjklein]

Have you noticed much of a disparity between video and still shooting?

[@SamuelSotiega]

No. The quality is phenomenal. But I am mostly a video person so I might not be the most qualified…

[@JoshConnectMedia]

Birds and pigeons where birds are pigeons and pigeons are birds .

[@SamuelSotiega]

Birds will always be birds…

[@MuhlisErtugrul]

Samuel is recording _Meanwhile_ Gov't: Hey let's fly our Air Force One there lol

[@SamuelSotiega]

True!! hahaha Honestly, what the heck was going on?! haha

[@africanhistory]

there is no way anyone wants to use this drone is going to stick to 120m. 400 m is my ceiling for a quick shot and then I come back. It is good you showed the difference because not everyone gets it. Some of us use drones for photoshoots and we are very close to the subject.

[@SamuelSotiega]

People can obviously do a lot of things in different ways but I have to stick to legality when making videos. For most people, 120m is more than enough. If anyone wants to go above 120m to 400m, well, they better make sure they are ok in terms of wind speeds, don't break the law, etc, etc. But it would be so wrong of me to be making a video providing any kind of advice in which I am flying illegally, especially in a congested city centre...

[@宇條]

I feel the ND filter makes ur example video looks darker than it should be. I’m not professional it is just my personal feeling.

[@SamuelSotiega]

That is totally down to personal taste. I can easily brighten up the footage but 8 like the slightly dArker look. But it’s all down to the grade. But NDs are all about shooting with the correct exposure and getting motion blur. The final “look” is down to the grade. Thanks for chipping in and sharing your view.

[@thomza]

I agree with you. The comparison between ND and no ND filter would have been better if he had brightened the ND footage to the same brightness as the non ND footage. I also don't like how ND filters warm up the white balance. I realize that can be corrected in post but without correction I prefer no ND filters. Too much hassle and the regular viewer doesn't give a crap about drone motion blur when high up.

[@WanderingHighlander]

Голубь хотел предложить услуги по тренировке как нужно летать, а ты его прогнал. У него ведь больше опыта, всю жизнь летает!

[@SamuelSotiega]

Я не говорю по-русски, я боюсь...

[@WanderingHighlander]

@@SamuelSotiega я тоже боюсь, но к сожалению другого языка не знаю )