damoUK
 Second Officer
Flight distance : 693038 ft
United Kingdom
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I've been testing Skyreat ND filters for over a month now and thought I'd share my thoughts here. Firstly, in the interest of full disclosure, Skyreat gave me the opportunity of reviewing their product from these forums, I did purchase them myself from Amazon UK and Skyreat subsidised the cost of them. I won't bore you with shots or video taken using the filters, as there's no easy way to demonstrate the improvement they offer without understanding the original lighting, filming conditions etc, but I will hopefully give you an idea of their quality. If you don't know why you might need ND filters, research it and then come back.
I began my drone hobby with the Original Mavic Pro and quickly realised the need for ND filters due to the locked aperture and need to film at 25fps with a shutter speed of 50, I bought some cheap ones from Amazon and carried on filming getting OK results. Fast forward a few years and I was immediately taken with the potential of the Mavic 2 Pro - an awesome upgrade to the original including variable aperture and a much better sensor.
However, despite the variable aperture, for the filming and photography I like to do, the aperture didn't quite get me where I needed to be with a shutter speed suited to the framerate and ND Filters were still needed. By coincidence I'd shown an interest on these forums and Skyreat contacted me offering to subsidise the cost if I bought their product - which was a no brainer for me.
Once their filters arrived, I was immediately surprised to find they didn't fit properly - yes you heard me, they didn't fit - yes they clipped on properly, but they overhung the edge of the gimbal/camera by a small amount making it impossible to fit the gimbal cover without removing the filter again - Don't stop reading here, though, they fixed it!
Oversized original skyreat filter
Undeterred by this, and whilst in the process of contacting Skyreat to advise of the problem, I continued to test their filter for their photographic/filming quality. The Skyreat pack I got contains ND4, ND8 and ND16 Filters, and ND4, ND8 and ND16 Circular Polarising Filters.
The packaging is great and easy to store in the Fly More kit bag if you have it, with high density foam holding the Filters in place well. Even the cardboard box is well presented, even though destined straight for the bin.
Despite the oversize width, the filters are easy to attach with no noticable light leakage and the image and video quality is notably better than the cheapo filters I had on my original Mavic Pro. The quality of the construction is excellent, good quality metal - not plastic - a nice colour too, with well fitting clips. I've been out everday, getting nice footage with the Filters, at the aperture and shutter speeds I want without having to compromise on the quality of the end result of the video... Until the bloody weather changed, rain stopping me going out for ages! :-(
But a week or so later, I get a surprise through the post, Skyreat have redesigned their lenses and sent me a replacement, listening to the feedback and adjusting the size - now these babies fit beautifully and the glass is just as good. I've not been able to test these as comprehensively as the original Filters due to the weather change, but roll on the Spring - I can't wait!
I can't recommend these highly enough, I'm sure there are more expensive options available, whether they're any better, I highly doubt.
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lvl.3
Captain
