Hi I am planning to buy some ND filters a 3 pack with ND4, ND8 and ND16 but should I buy the pack with ND4, ND8 and ND16 or the pack with ND4/PL, ND8/PL and ND16/PL

Thanks for any ideas

Hi, for the Mavic air, you are recommended to purchase the Mavic Air ND Filters Set (ND4/8/16) from DJI official online store: https://store.dji.com/product/mavic-air-nd-filters-set, thanks!

I recommend without but considers PL's later down the line

Polarization changes the saturation and look of the footage, including that of the sky, depending on the angle to the sun. What this means, is that the saturation of the sky and amount of polarization changes visibly with the direction of flight. This saturation and overall look will be "baked into" your footage and is near impossible to remove. Polarizing filters are great if you have planned your shot... "I'm going to fly from point-A to point-B"... And you've adjusted your polarizing filter for the look you want for that specific shot. But if you're just flying around filming, you may get unexpected and inconsistent results.

Straight ND filters just reduce the amount of light entering the lens. Good ones will not change the color or tint of the footage. I've found my PolarPro ND filters give my footage a magenta tint which I have to remove in post.

Most of the time, I fly with just an ND filter (almost always an ND32... But if I had an ND64 I'd most likely use that as it's really bright in southern California).

Jyunte Posted at 2018-4-6 00:00
Polarization changes the saturation and look of the footage, including that of the sky, depending on the angle to the sun. What this means, is that the saturation of the sky and amount of polarization changes visibly with the direction of flight. This saturation and overall look will be "baked into" your footage and is near impossible to remove. Polarizing filters are great if you have planned your shot... "I'm going to fly from point-A to point-B"... And you've adjusted your polarizing filter for the look you want for that specific shot. But if you're just flying around filming, you may get unexpected and inconsistent results.

Straight ND filters just reduce the amount of light entering the lens. Good ones will not change the color or tint of the footage. I've found my PolarPro ND filters give my footage a magenta tint which I have to remove in post.

Thanks that helps.
I think I will get the PolarPro ND filter ND4-16 and maybe ND32

Have a look at the following
https://photography.tutsplus.com ... -filter--photo-1398

essentially, reduce haze, reflections from glass and water, imporve saturation; I'd always go for a PL filter over standard ND

Ridg Posted at 2018-4-6 00:35
Have a look at the following
https://photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-when-and-why-to-use-a-polarizing-filter--photo-1398

Cool to hear I may want to go with a tree or four pack custom from poler pro any sudggestions on wich filter to buy. I thought maybe 2ND and one ND with PL or 3ND and 1PL or 2ND and 2PL. Any sudggestions on comboes to get is good.

Vegardbeider Posted at 2018-4-6 02:35
Cool to hear I may want to go with a tree or four pack custom from poler pro any sudggestions on wich filter to buy. I thought maybe 2ND and one ND with PL or 3ND and 1PL or 2ND and 2PL. Any sudggestions on comboes to get is good.

Polarizers won't always get nice results.
Mainly when you turn your drone / gimbal and the light comes from a different direction you should re adjust the PL filter.
That means bringing it down and rotating it.
Also the (blue) skies tend to get very dark if you have the PL filter misaligned.
However, the reduction of reflection does give nice results, so if you can live with that way of shooting it might be worth a try.

Also note that ND filters are ONLY needed for video.
(unless you want long exposure photography)

Finally, make sure you actually need the ND filters before buying them.
If you move slowly, it is not giving better results per se.
Just look at your footage now (video) and look for stuttering motion.
If you get that, you might need the ND

Montfrooij Posted at 2018-4-6 02:42
Polarizers won't always get nice results.
Mainly when you turn your drone / gimbal and the light comes from a different direction you should re adjust the PL filter.
That means bringing it down and rotating it.

Thanks I will concider if I need ND filter. I know it´s for video only and I shoot a lot of video near the ground of people playing and such but I will consider it. Thanks for the information that I might not need to "waste" my money on ND filters. But do you have any sudggestions on tree filters if I were to buy?

Vegardbeider Posted at 2018-4-6 02:47
Thanks I will concider if I need ND filter. I know it´s for video only and I shoot a lot of video near the ground of people playing and such but I will consider it. Thanks for the information that I might not need to "waste" my money on ND filters. But do you have any sudggestions on tree filters if I were to buy?

I hear a lot of positive experiences about PolarPro.
In fact I bought a set when I bought my Mavic Pro.
I had the 4-8-16 set.
I think 4 is not needed too often (you won't notice a little faster shutterspeed that much)
8-16-32 will probably be used the most.

PolarPro has a nice app for checking what filter is needed.
https://www.polarprofilters.com/pages/polarpro-app

And you can make your own set.
https://www.polarprofilters.com/ ... eries-3-pack-bundle

Polarization only works when the ring can be turned just like with normal filter on your camera.

OK, I am kind of new at this ND filter thing.  I have the Polar Pro ND4/PL, ND8/PL and ND16/PL series lenses.  My question is, say I am not concerned about the polarization, could I still use these lenses as a straight ND filter?

This is another post that depends on what you are going to shoot or film with the Mavic. They both have pro's and con's depending on use. Have a read through this and decide -https://www.adorama.com/alc/nd-f ... 599s-the-difference

Ridg Posted at 2018-4-6 00:35
Have a look at the following
https://photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-when-and-why-to-use-a-polarizing-filter--photo-1398

If you plan on using the panorama function on the app, or doing panoramas manually, you'll want to stay away from PL, as, like I said before, the sky will be different colors and it won't blend properly. PL filters are for making an effect, just as fast shutter speeds and slow shutter speeds are for making effects. If you want the effect baked into your footage, use the PL and live with the negatives. If the effect is what you're going for, use the PL. If you just want to let your shutter speed with no other negative effects, go for the ND.

Jyunte Posted at 2018-4-6 10:02
If you plan on using the panorama function on the app, or doing panoramas manually, you'll want to stay away from PL, as, like I said before, the sky will be different colors and it won't blend properly. PL filters are for making an effect, just as fast shutter speeds and slow shutter speeds are for making effects. If you want the effect baked into your footage, use the PL and live with the negatives. If the effect is what you're going for, use the PL. If you just want to let your shutter speed with no other negative effects, go for the ND.

Agreed on that one.

Vegardbeider Posted at 2018-4-6 00:20
Thanks that helps.
I think I will get the PolarPro ND filter ND4-16 and maybe ND32

One surprise I got... in the AZ desert in April, cloudy days I am using ND32. ND64 when the sun is out,

Jyunte Posted at 2018-4-6 10:02
If you plan on using the panorama function on the app, or doing panoramas manually, you'll want to stay away from PL, as, like I said before, the sky will be different colors and it won't blend properly. PL filters are for making an effect, just as fast shutter speeds and slow shutter speeds are for making effects. If you want the effect baked into your footage, use the PL and live with the negatives. If the effect is what you're going for, use the PL. If you just want to let your shutter speed with no other negative effects, go for the ND.

thanks for your replies on this thread - helps me understand some issues i had noticed but had no idea why.

I went with the full set polar and non-polar.  I can make a choice when needed.

This will help with what they do... other brands are available!

Don’t worry about filters if it is stills or pano’s you are taking, I recommend you ‘just shoot in raw’ and be done with it then make all your adjustments in a software programme later.
I use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, just waiting for DJI to add Mavic air profiles to lightroom, until this happens I have found the mavic pro 4 profile to be the best. It’s in the develop module under camera settings/DJI.

I never use the ‘Pano’ option on the mavic air, no matter how calm the weather I always get those terrible blurry stitch lines making the photo useless. I always take my panos manually then stitch later.

The grainy look in the Mavic air stills is hard to deal with and a real pain, I recommend you keep your iso as low as you can and shutter speed high as you can get away with. I take my shots 1-2 clicks over exposed and make adjustments in software later. Adjusting the grain out of the shadows in a still photo taken on a mavic air is almost impossible so slightly over exposing and adjusting the exposure later really does help.

Remember, the photography rule book went out the window when digital photography came a long, a digital camera of any description is only an image capturing device (hence shooting in raw) and the best photos invariably have been edited to some degree in software where the creativity starts.

Cheers