Will the PolarPro or any other available filters void the Spark warranty?

I'm a little worried 'cause I farted near my spark and I know it's going to show up in my flight log and cause my warranty to be voided.

I'm in need of filters, but don't want to annoyoff the Lords on here. You know the ones who have their nose right up DJI's butt by calling anyone having issues a dimwit newb.

But it's ok...cause I am a dimwit newb

JonBon, we don't have official light filter, if you have a crash with the filter, we will still analyze the flight data for you. Personally, I think light filter will not cause a crash.

Polar Pro recently introduced a cinema series of filters for the Spark - shutter and vivid collections. I bought the vivid collection as wanted a polariser with the neutral density in one. The filters weigh 0.78g - about as heavy as an ant LOL and they do not affect the gimbal on start up. I used them yesterday for the first time with no major issues. I did notice a slight 'micro shake' when descending and when flying in Sport mode but the filters aren't really designed for the that mode nor is filming video but good to test it. The filters are expensive (£80 for the set of 3) but the image quality is noticeably better in bright conditions with limited sun flare and glare from reflective surfaces, enhanced saturation and contrast which makes the blues in the sky really pop - whilst also keeping the shutter speed to 1/60th to double the fixed frame rate at 30p and achieve the 180 degree rule to control the motion blur without overexposing the image. This enables you to use manual camera controls to create the image you want and stop the exposure from adjusting itself during the flight which makes editing video almost impossible. With such a diverse dynamic range that all drones produce given how quickly the light changes by just tilting the gimbal or yawing the quad to and from the sun, these filters are essential IMO. Some consider filters on the Spark to be OTT but they either dont know what filters are/how to use them or dont own a Spark and see it as a high tech toy drone - rather than a quad which, in my experience, produces better image quality than my Mavic @ 1080p FHD! I'd highly recommend these filters and am disappointed that DJI do not have filters for their own product which has a fixed aperture!

ACW Posted at 2017-9-27 00:40
Polar Pro recently introduced a cinema series of filters for the Spark - shutter and vivid collections. I bought the vivid collection as wanted a polariser with the neutral density in one. The filters weigh 0.78g - about as heavy as an ant LOL and they do not affect the gimbal on start up. I used them yesterday for the first time with no major issues. I did notice a slight 'micro shake' when descending and when flying in Sport mode but the filters aren't really designed for the that mode nor is filming video but good to test it. The filters are expensive (£80 for the set of 3) but the image quality is noticeably better in bright conditions with limited sun flare and glare from reflective surfaces, enhanced saturation and contrast which makes the blues in the sky really pop - whilst also keeping the shutter speed to 1/60th to double the fixed frame rate at 30p and achieve the 180 degree rule to control the motion blur without overexposing the image. This enables you to use manual camera controls to create the image you want and stop the exposure from adjusting itself during the flight which makes editing video almost impossible. With such a diverse dynamic range that all drones produce given how quickly the light changes by just tilting the gimbal or yawing the quad to and from the sun, these filters are essential IMO. Some consider filters on the Spark to be OTT but they either dont know what filters are/how to use them or dont own a Spark and see it as a high tech toy drone - rather than a quad which, in my experience, produces better image quality than my Mavic @ 1080p FHD! I'd highly recommend these filters and am disappointed that DJI do not have filters for their own product which has a fixed aperture!

Wow. Thank you for that very informative reply!
I come from a photography background, not videography, so this is kinda new to me.
For landscape photography, there are gradient filters you can use so as to get the ground properly exposed without blowing out the sky. I'm finding it nearly impossible to find a happy median with the Spark. I was hoping these filters would allow me to balance things out. Especially during sunsets.
I have a beautiful orange sky, and a pitch black landscape...or a lightly exposed landscape and a drab, slightly orange sky, with zero detail.

El Diablo Posted at 2017-9-27 06:02
I can confirm the micro shakes (vibrations) on descent, using the Cinema Pro version. Had the same issue with the recalled initial filters and thought it was solved with the new version but... nope.
I weighted the old version at 0.72 grams and the new ones at 0.71 so they weight the same. Also the mount is identical, I don’t know what has supposedly changed on them. Shame for the shaky footage. Nevertheless PolarPro has a great customer service, DJI could learn a thing or two on how to issue a formal recall...

I believe the issue with the pro version of the ND's wasn't micro shakes but the gimbal falling 90 degrees in flight. The cinema series definitely prevent this and the optics are superior + the vivid filters have rotatable bezels to find the polarised 'sweet spot' but yes, the vibration is noticeable when the gimbal is stressed with the filter on. They are ideal for slow, cinematic flight but not for aggressive moves.

JonBon Posted at 2017-9-27 04:30
Wow. Thank you for that very informative reply!
I come from a photography background, not videography, so this is kinda new to me.
For landscape photography, there are gradient filters you can use so as to get the ground properly exposed without blowing out the sky. I'm finding it nearly impossible to find a happy median with the Spark. I was hoping these filters would allow me to balance things out. Especially during sunsets.

I find that too with the Spark - if you tilt the gimbal so that you have around 1/5th sky and 4/5th landscape this tends to balance the contrast more effectively in bright conditions than using the rule of thirds. ND filters will help too but keep a close eye on the dynamic range as manual settings lock the exposure which,  as I said earlier, changes in seconds. No matter what drone you own this is something everyone needs to manage during flight but more so with the Spark due to limited options in camera settings.

El Diablo Posted at 2017-9-27 12:36
The gimbal was falling while in Sport mode. In normal modes, sometimes it was fighting to keep its position with some jerky movements (I still have the original recalled filters). This has improved but the shake is still present as mentioned.

Exactly the same issues occurred with polar Pro on the Mavic filters a year ago - they brought out the pro model ND and this caused issues when starting up the drone as they got caught in the gimbal calibration on start up - recalled! Then they modified the filters to stop this before finally bringing out the near perfect cinema series at almost double the price. Roll on several months and the same sequence of events has happened with the Spark. The cinema series are really high quality optics though and apart from micro shakes in aggressive flight they are perfect. I've never bought the black pro filters so can't comment but yeah, many have reported the gimbal falling 90 degrees and not being able to shoot pano's etc so something I never considered.

Hi Everyone,

I work at PolarPro and would like to follow up on the comments about the shaking video I see referenced in a few posts on here.  This is not expected behavior for the Spark filters, so if anyone here seems to be seeing any gimbal shake in flight with any of our filters mounted, please email support@polarpro.com with a short sample clip and we will be happy to help get that sorted out.  

Also, to help clear up any confusion, the initial trouble with the Spark filters had to do with a gimbal dip we were seeing in flight with the filters mounted.  This has since been resolved and the problematic batch of filters removed from circulation.  The Spark filters now being sold should be perfectly compatible with the gimbal.

- Oliver from PolarPro

PolarProSupport Posted at 2017-9-28 16:32
Hi Everyone,

I work at PolarPro and would like to follow up on the comments about the shaking video I see referenced in a few posts on here.  This is not expected behavior for the Spark filters, so if anyone here seems to be seeing any gimbal shake in flight with any of our filters mounted, please email  with a short sample clip and we will be happy to help get that sorted out.  

Why is there no partnership or at least acknowledgement from DJI with regards to what seems to be the most popular filter for the Spark. I'm still a little hesitant to sink a few hundo into a set of filters, have something go awry with the drone, and have DJI void the warranty due to a third party add on they don't support.

PolarProSupport Posted at 2017-9-28 16:32
Hi Everyone,

I work at PolarPro and would like to follow up on the comments about the shaking video I see referenced in a few posts on here.  This is not expected behavior for the Spark filters, so if anyone here seems to be seeing any gimbal shake in flight with any of our filters mounted, please email  with a short sample clip and we will be happy to help get that sorted out.  

Is the 6pc filter set for $100 the best deal we're going to see? Are there plans to release different filter sets or different packs in the future?

JonBon Posted at 2017-9-27 04:30
Wow. Thank you for that very informative reply!
I come from a photography background, not videography, so this is kinda new to me.
For landscape photography, there are gradient filters you can use so as to get the ground properly exposed without blowing out the sky. I'm finding it nearly impossible to find a happy median with the Spark. I was hoping these filters would allow me to balance things out. Especially during sunsets.

I'm also a landscape photographer and have been an Ambassador for very well know filter brands over the last years. I had no idea there were no ND Grad filters for the Spark, even though they seem to exist for the Mavic. We could actually overcome this with proper bracketing, but unfortunately the Spark bracketing has just one possibility of 0.7EV steps, which is clearly not enough to properly expose the foreground and the sky.

JonBon Posted at 2017-9-28 16:41
Why is there no partnership or at least acknowledgement from DJI with regards to what seems to be the most popular filter for the Spark. I'm still a little hesitant to sink a few hundo into a set of filters, have something go awry with the drone, and have DJI void the warranty due to a third party add on they don't support.

We don't anticipate a partnership given DJI manufactures their own filters for most of their drones, but we would also not expect our filters to cause any trouble of the kind that DJI support normally helps out with.  Our filters have no effect on the drone's in-flight behavior, and they are light enough that they should also not cause any problems in terms of gimbal movement or functionality.  Usually if DJI support is involved then there is either a hardware or software problem with the drone, both of which would be unrelated to the filter.

If you are still concerned, then we would recommend against purchasing the filters. If you have any additional questions please don't hesitate to send us a message or email support@polarpro.com.  We're happy to help out in any way we can.

- Oliver from PolarPro

Bing Err Posted at 2017-9-29 02:37
Is the 6pc filter set for $100 the best deal we're going to see? Are there plans to release different filter sets or different packs in the future?

The 6-piece sets are the largest sets we offer, and the most cost-efficient if you are wanting to pick up the full range of filters we make for any given camera.  I am not aware of any plans to offer additional sets beyond the ones currently shown on our site, though we do pay close attention to user feedback and it is possible this will change in the future.

In the meantime, though, we also offer custom orders for anyone looking to purchase a single filter or build their own set.  It's a little pricier than purchasing an existing set, but if anyone is interested in having us do that then please email support@polarpro.com and we will be happy to help.

- Oliver from PolarPro