LeafPeeper
lvl.4
Flight distance : 450075 ft
United States
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El Diablo Posted at 2018-7-22 22:20
An ND filter is not useless for photos, it is exactly the opposite. ND filters, especially graduated are often used to balance the exposure between the sky and the foreground. In his case, unless the drone parameters are set manually to adjust for the right exposure, an ND filter might be the only solution to partially cut some light.
First off, I'd argue that a graduated filter isn't really a 'neutral density' filter...but yes, it can be argued because it doesn't change color characteristics. In the case of full coverage ND filters, the whole point is to reduce the light entering the camera to allow for slower shutter speeds or wider apertures. If using auto settings, the cam will just slow the shutter speed or pick an aperture for you to get the exposure comp you set. If using manual settings, you'd set them however you wanted. There would be no point for the ND filter unless you were taking pics of something so bright that the highest shutter speed, smallest aperture and the lowest ISO still gave you overexposed images - or if you needed a really narrow DOF (wide aperture) and pics were getting over exposed even at the fastest shutter speeds. With today's cams, I just can't see that being common, but I guess I can concede. The situation is totally different for video.
Edit: I haven't ignored the fact that we can't control the aperture on the MP. I'd still argue that the highest available shutter speed/lowest iso setting is still enough to meet every exposure situation you are likely to encounter making ND filters useless for stills (again, not talking about graduated filters, polarizers or video).
LP
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