Why I STOPPED using ND filters on my Drone

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About:
Do you really need ND filters for a drone? For the longest time I've been using ND filters but after a recent trip to Australia I'm not so sure you need them anymore. In this video Jonathan Richey compares drone video samples with and without ND filters to help you make up your ow mind.
*This video is not sponsored. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

[@JonathanRichey]

What do you think? Are ND filters a necessity or a nice-to-have accessory?

[@Teflonfilmare]

U're truly second my assignment on the topic. Thnx. There's a bizarre movement advocating stuff w/o any whatsoever understanding of optics, fixed aperture wide angle lens camera behavior.

[@Michal_Kosakowski]

For me an accessory I use in specific cases. Mainly for long exposure photos. Even the expensive ones can reduce quality or mess with your drone's auto focus system. I ended up few times with blurry shots using them. Also, (wave of film conservatives' hate incoming) we should remember that everyone's obsession with the buzzword "cinematic" is a stylistic choice not a must. To be fair I've seen some drone footage in Hollywood productions where in my opinion was too much motion blur. Yes, we see it naturally, but maybe if you are doing a crazy unnatural shots with flips and spining gimbal, "natural" is not always the right choice?

[@mattmaddox9367]

The point of the 180 shutter speed is to give consistent motion from shot to shot. Whether mixing with traditonal footage on the ground, or cutting together multiple drone orbits you will notice the shutter speed changes when sequenced.

[@Seticzech]

Yes, it really depends on what you're recording. If it's beach from 70 meters, ND filters are useless or even contra productive. If it's i.e. follow mode recording someone on the bike, motorcycle, car, and other fast moving objects, ND filters can be necessary.

[@gekoldronevideos]

I nearly always use a ND 16 or 32 from Freewell. Set all to auto and use exposure lock in the direction I fly. I set the color profile to D-log M and edit the output with a suitable Lut. This way I get great results in my opionion. With ND 16 and 32 I am covered in most lightning situations. In very sunny situations I use a ND 64. This is my personal opinion. Greetings from a new subscriber 🇳🇱

[@Cleo_and_Mark]

We use a K&F Concepts variable ND filter on our mini 3 pro. Not only does this give good motion blur when filming things like waterfalls, but it helps reduce some bad reflections (since a variable ND filter is basically two polarizing filters). Using the variable filter allows us to 'dial it in' before taking off without having to fiddle around with changing filters.

[@panoramic_life38]

Agreed! I only use those when I am flying FPV because I am always really close to the ground and fast

[@joeykahng6219]

Just got a mini 3 last week. I did a test flight, did not like the sharpness level. Just ordered ND filters, definitely gonna run some tests you've showed. Cheers bro... New Sub.

[@JonathanRichey]

Awesome! The mini 3 is a great drone. Have fun!

[@Shooting-Up]

I prefer to use a stronger nd filter and let auto iso control the exposure That may result in lower quality details but I find overall video looks better

[@DroseMr]

Real nice!🎉Thank You

[@GAVINHR]

Brilliant video, tried to make this point for years

[@soundbeast4957]

Was the protective coating taken off?

[@jacekpasternak]

I think when there is no perfect match for ND (eg. 40) it's better to choose stronger one (64) and set ISO to auto. There will be less work in post and difference in quality between ISO 100 and 200 is not much visible as blownout highlights.

[@jaredcollins-photo]

Awesome stuff! I've never understood the ND Number system on the drone ND filters. This makes sense now and I can stop guessing!

[@briantierney6992]

My experience is that when filming something with parallax, then a slower shutter speed (ie.use ND filter) gives nice motion blur in stead of choppiness.

[@rcouchh]

Pretty sure your 1st beach clip with the ND filter was just out of focus. Happens fairly often for me, gotta tap the subject to be safe when using AF. The filters definitely make the focus act up a bit though. As I shoot mostly cars, I have to use NDPL filters. But I'm often not that happy with the colors on the Neweer or whatever cheap filters.

[@JonathanRichey]

@@rcouchh Thanks for sharing. I definitely thought about it being out of focus as well. I’ll do some additional testing to confirm though. Thanks for contributing to the conversation!

[@davidjaypeterson644]

I started laughing, same as said by others you were out of focus! I fly all thetime for 10 years and still make the mistake of just tapping to focus, you have great info and watching your video now..

[@davidjaypeterson644]

Total click bait, but great video.

[@maxime.ayotte]

That is what i though initially as well, but it could also be that the nd filter is dirty or bad quality. Extra glass will reduce the quality no matter the quality.

[@jaco_oosthuizen]

I have never used ND filters with my Air 2S. Auto works well enough for me.

[@micahwilgus]

I use ND/PL Filters the most. This has the benefits of the ND and also helps with reflections especially with water

[@tommy5770]

I left this video when the math class started😂

[@programR3]

What do I think? Great Job! Great Video! I liked and subscribed. Question: My plans are to purchase a DJI mini 3. That said I take pause because I just heard that soon DJI will be banned. Is that true? If so what are a few alternatives in your opinion. Thanks

[@JonathanRichey]

Thanks for watching. The ban on DJI is still up in the air. The bill was passed in the House but not in the Senate. However, according to the DJI IG account, the fight is not over yet. Sorry, I don't know of any good alternatives right now because DJI pretty much owns the market.

[@leviconnelly79]

Great video! thank you for creating and sharing it. I personally don't use filters, I control the exposure and the edit the rest into the videos. I agree with everything you said 😉

[@JonathanRichey]

Thanks for watching!

[@electriclifedownunder9570]

Firstly, glad you picked Australia to visit and the Gold Coast is perfect for aerial photography. But on the date you released this video and your reference of recently visiting, it was mid Winter I'm guessing (still stunning weather) but that is also when the light is on the most shallowest angle upon the Australian continent. During this time, I would use a much lower Filter if at all (but most cases I do use filters) During the harsh summer months, the light can be 10x as bright and flying during the same time of day would require a much higher filter number to compensate that extreme light. Because you elected to use a ND 128 during low angle light regardless it was midday, you effectively gave motion blur to fast moving objects like the ocean waves. In your sampled video, you had both Ocean waves and Buildings, the buildings looked better with the ND128 then without, because the buildings are moving if the drone is flying towards them and you cut down on the sharpness blur that solid objects can produce without a filter. In summary, Filters work best based on the overall strength of the light, the subject and the type of video you wish to make. Appreciate your video for the honesty based on you own knowledge.. look forward to the next one..

[@JonathanRichey]

Thanks for watching mate! ha! Wow, great insight, thanks for sharing. I'm not an expert but love to just try things out and share what I'm learning. The great thing about KZbin is we can all learn from each other and get better at our craft.

[@scottsikes1849]

I'm a photographer and learning video. In your example, have you considered putting on the darker ND filter, setting frame rate to 24fps, shutter speed to 1/50, and auto ISO? Would the quality still be acceptable if the ISO went up to 400, 800, or 1000? Also, I'm wondering if the image quality in the beach example was reduced because of the optical clarity of the ND filter and nothing to do with the shutter speed. Great video, thank you.

[@JonathanRichey]

Hey thanks for watching and thanks for the ideas! Interesting points you bring up - what happens if we just increase the ISO? That sounds like a good idea for a future video to test out that theory.

[@moonpost]

higher ISO is basically just making the sensor amped up so it is more sensitive to light - but doing this makes it noisier/grainier. whether or not that is acceptable is up to you. you will probably find that several ISO settings are good, but there will be a limit that you do not like and you won't find usable.

[@JonathanRichey]

@@moonpost good point! thanks for joining the conversation. it's all a learning process as we try and get the best possible footage from the camera.

[@JourneyBeyondBorder]

Very good explanation of ND filters. I was exactly at same place last month flying drone in Gold coast.

[@IslandCreek]

I actually just recently came to the same conclusion... nice video

[@FlydreamMedia]

That was either a smudge on lens or filter. Or a bad version of the nd filter.

[@MarceldeGraaffotografie]

I can see it in the waves without, Maybe us 64 or 32 to make the waves better.

[@user-ug1dn8zy5w]

Using a 128, really. Drop to 4 or 8 to get a bit darker and have a higher shutter speed.

[@ryancox2955]

If you want to slow it down. It’s when you have the issue.

[@Backcountryhiker]

Thank you and from now on I will carry my cheap little calculator right in my drone bag!! 😊👍👍

[@JarekPawlak]

Simply use nd filter and switch to auto😊

[@johnnymac26]

Exactly..also acts as a dust shield

[@arianedays]

I realized this is best. The software is so good she’ll steadily adjust

[@LouisLuzuka]

Same 😅

[@stevenharper6888]

Same 👍

[@karpinski65]

Agree completely. When the sun is bright no amount of messing with pro settings without an ND filter will shield the glare of the sun. Neither will a fixed value in pro settings compensate for a drone spinning 360⁰ through different lightness/darkness. The science may say I'm wrong but a 64 ND filter in bright sunshine in auto after tweaking the EV value works great.

[@randyscottslavin]

Bad advice

[@JonathanRichey]

Thanks for joining the conversation. Can you expand on what you mean by that?

[@randyscottslavin]

@@JonathanRichey As a professional aerial cinematographer the ND is an integral part of getting a beautiful image. Those that are interested in the depths of the ND's power should watch the many videos on YT that exist on the topic. That being said, the title of this video is very click-baity and only "right" in a very specific situation: When you're using a tiny sensor drone while shooting super wide scenes with little to no motion of any sort. Do we need a tutorial video to explain this? This is akin to saying to making a video called "Why I stopped shooting manual." Sure, there might be a tiny instance where there is a use case but nobody needs a tutorial video for throwing it in auto. I know very well that making videos takes lots of time and generally the intension of teaching others comes from a good place... that being said IMHO you should focus your energy on giving people information that can help them learn and move forward with their hobby and careers.

[@karpiofil_marcin]

​@@randyscottslavinI think similar. I am user dji mini 3 and as a amator see difference betwen use ND or not. When I use ND video looks more cinematic. When I d'not use looks like from smartphone.

[@veganwarrior4559]

I believe you are using digital boom therefore you will lose detail especially at x 4 so not a true comparison

[@JeffBourke]

The 180° is not relevant at all anymore even for non drone videography but for some reason, all KZbinr creators seem to think it is this amazing camera feature missing from certain mirrorless bodies. It’s utterly irrelivant.

[@ryancox2955]

If you are not wanting to show down the footage it’s fine. When you slow it down the choppiness is well visible

[@navibarra]

its your eyes....

[@Rollerlife]

Yeah, I'll add another con... Recently I made a newbie mistake, for my channel I'm usually filming in a hurry and on the run... Started shooting during the day ended the shoot at night... Forgot to change the ND64. 🤦 The mini4pro has Great low light so, I saw it was a bit dark but thought it was cause of the place had very bad lighting. 😂

[@jean-evrardbilodeau2662]

Neewer ND filters are crap. Try again with quality ND filters.