Before I go ahead and order a full set of Official DJ ND Filters I have a question.

Seeing as we have control over the aperture & ISO are the ND filters REALLY necessary? Shooting in summer with super bright conditions does the aperture close down enough to get say 1/60th, 1/50th etc

What drone do you have? You wont be able to control the ISO and Shutter speed with the Phantom 4 Standard. You can have shutter speed or you can have ISO but not both without ND filters.

It depends on the flight environment. The ND filters help avoid overexposed photos.

The aperture control of the P4P should allow you suffient control, particulalry in a UK climate

Geebax Posted at 2018-3-12 20:24
The aperture control of the P4P should allow you suffient control, particulalry in a UK climate

Thanks for the replies, I’ll hold off ordering until summer arrives and see how I go on

I have a set, and you will need ND filters even in the UK on a bright day if you like using D-Log colour mode as the ISO is locked at ISO500, plus you will loose any depth of field effect if you fly arround with it constantly set at f11 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/prod ... 0?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Aerial-Image Posted at 2018-3-12 23:36
I have a set, and you will need ND filters even in the UK on a bright day if you like using D-Log colour mode as the ISO is locked at ISO500, plus you will loose any depth of field effect if you fly arround with it constantly set at f11 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XHH14XG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Most subjects in aerial shots are at infinity anyway.

Geebax Posted at 2018-3-13 00:01
Most subjects in aerial shots are at infinity anyway.

True but sometimes you get objects passing a lot nearer the drone than what your focusing on say trees , bushes or branches if your focused on a distant building for example....

Scott. Posted at 2018-3-12 23:21
Thanks for the replies, I’ll hold off ordering until summer arrives and see how I go on

I think that is right.
Wait and see if you really need them.
You could go for a smaller aperture (although you should take into account that can cause for diffraction)
But just find out what works best for you

It's not just the ND filters which give you options - its the UV and PL filters also. I always fly my Phantoms and Mavic with the UV filter on by default, and if a brighter day I may swap it with an ND filter. It's about Options. Oh, and I bought PGYTech filters - waaaay cheaper than Polar Pro and DJI, and the quality is excellent. I've sets of PGYTech UV, PL, ND4, ND8, ND16, ND32 for my birds at almost half the price.

Has anyone done any aperture sharpness tests with the P4P? Curious to know If you would in theory yield better results at f8 with an ND than f16 and no ND.

Aerial-Image Posted at 2018-3-12 23:36
I have a set, and you will need ND filters even in the UK on a bright day if you like using D-Log colour mode as the ISO is locked at ISO500, plus you will loose any depth of field effect if you fly arround with it constantly set at f11 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XHH14XG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That is great advice and why I use them on my P4P - closing the iris to compensate for exposure does impact depth of view. Less important when cruising at 400' AGL at 30MPH over a landscape but any images relating to foreground and background balancing will show.