I've noticed at Ali Express, it's possible to buy individual ND filters and not just in packs.
If I bought a ND1000 (10 stops) to get a shutter speed of around the 1 to 2 seconds (taking photos of waterfalls, moving water or to blur traffic etc).
Would I get sharp images or would the Mini 3 move too much in those long exposure periods, and make using such a strong ND filter a waste of time?

I appreciate there's ND256 (8 stops) availble too.

Thank you.

It had a Freewell ND1000 for the Mini 2 and the times I used it I could never get a completely sharp image, there was always a tiny bit of motion blur. Although it probably doesn't show up as much if the images are posted to social media or scaled down.

I suppose if you had a completely calm day no wind at all and a good amount of sat locked you might get lucky after shooting multiple images.

You should get sharp photos, you will almost have to shoot more than usual but the hit rate is pretty good.

Thank you Yazu and Hallmark 007

As a back up, I'd take a faster shot from the same point so you can blend in the long exposure in post.

hallmark007 Posted at 6-23 06:10
You should get sharp photos, you will almost have to shoot more than usual but the hit rate is pretty good.

[view_image]

Great waterfall capture, well done.

Lobster Posted at 6-23 08:29
As a back up, I'd take a faster shot from the same point so you can blend in the long exposure in post.

Good idea. But how can you place the drone in exactly the same position twice?

I just received my all day pack from FreeWell. Planning on trying out the 1000 this weekend.

@hallmark007  FANTASTIC shot!

Hello there MS. Good day and thank you for sharing these information about the ND1000 Filter that you have came upon for the DJI Mini 3 Pro. Have a safe and a happy flying always.

MS Posted at 6-23 13:33
Good idea. But how can you place the drone in exactly the same position twice?

Just take two shots without moving the drone, but adjusting the capture settings in between. It's a 24mm equivalent lens so the minor jiggling around of the drone isn't going to shift perspective in any noticeable way. If it were me, I'd use the fast shutter as the image then blend in the longer exposed water.

Lobster Posted at 6-23 22:25
Just take two shots without moving the drone, but adjusting the capture settings in between. It's a 24mm equivalent lens so the minor jiggling around of the drone isn't going to shift perspective in any noticeable way. If it were me, I'd use the fast shutter as the image then blend in the longer exposed water.

Thank you.

MS Posted at 6-24 01:00
Thank you.

You're welcome. Thinking about to further tho, there are some compromises to be made with this method, namely the span available between the two shutter speeds as it's not like you can change the filter between shots and you've only got 4 stops of ISO to play with. I'd expose for the highlights of the slower shot and underexpose the faster one if I needed more or didn't want to go to iso1600.

All that said, with my personal creativity and depending on the waterfall in question, my longer exposure time would probably still be less than a second. A 2 second starting point is going to affect how effective doing this is gonna be. But hey, a 2 second exposure and several 1/4sec ones will give you a good chance of something to work with.

If it wasn't for the fact that the nearest decent waterfall is an optimistic 3.5hr drive away from me, I'd be trying this out myself

It depends.
With windy conditions my rate went down to 5% (acceptable results)

Lobster Posted at 6-24 01:31
You're welcome. Thinking about to further tho, there are some compromises to be made with this method, namely the span available between the two shutter speeds as it's not like you can change the filter between shots and you've only got 4 stops of ISO to play with. I'd expose for the highlights of the slower shot and underexpose the faster one if I needed more or didn't want to go to iso1600.

All that said, with my personal creativity and depending on the waterfall in question, my longer exposure time would probably still be less than a second. A 2 second starting point is going to affect how effective doing this is gonna be. But hey, a 2 second exposure and several 1/4sec ones will give you a good chance of something to work with.

Many thanks for the additional words of wisdom.

Montfrooij Posted at 6-24 01:33
It depends.
With windy conditions my rate went down to 5% (acceptable results)

Thank you.

KLRSKIR Posted at 6-23 13:48
I just received my all day pack from FreeWell. Planning on trying out the 1000 this weekend.

@hallmark007  FANTASTIC shot!

Thank you for the reply. I'd be interested to know if there's any colour casts.

MS Posted at 6-24 04:57
Thank you.

You're welcome!

MS Posted at 6-24 04:59
Thank you for the reply. I'd be interested to know if there's any colour casts.

My Freewell ND1000 for P2 has very very little.

hallmark007 Posted at 6-23 06:10
You should get sharp photos, you will almost have to shoot more than usual but the hit rate is pretty good.

[view_image]

Wow, that is a fantastic shot hallmark.  I have a 6 pack of Freewells due to arrive today so I can't wait to try them out.  

Montfrooij Posted at 6-24 05:02
My Freewell ND1000 for P2 has very very little.

That's great news. Thanks for posting.

MS Posted at 6-24 05:49
That's great news. Thanks for posting.