I have just weighed the Heliopan 46mm 0.9 ND and that is 18g so thats too heavy also. I think standard photography lens filters will all be too heavy and we will have to wait for X5 specific made ones to hit the market
The X3 camera has a fixed aperture of f/2.8, and thus gives us only two controls for exposure: shutter speed and ISO sensitivity. That inflexibility all but demanded the use of ND filters to get appropriate shutter speeds (explanation below). The X5 camera gives us three controls for exposure: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO sensitivity. So in general, the X5 won't require ND filters as much as the X3. But they are still useful.
In video, the general goal is to use a shutter speed that is 1 over (2 x the frame rate). So if your frame rate is 30 frames/second, you want a shutter speed of 1/60 of a second. This video will
On the X3, we can't do it via the aperture (fixed at f/2.8), and we can't do it by lowering the ISO sensitivity (we are already at the mimimum of 100), so we have to do it with ND filters. Each "stop" on a filter effectively cuts the exposure in half. So a one-stop filter would allow us to change our shutter speed from 1/1000 to 1/500. A two-stop filter would allow us to lower it to 1/250, and a three-stop filter would allow us to lower it to 1/125. In this imaginary scenario, we would need a four-stop filter to get down to 1/60.
O.....
The X3 camera has a fixed aperture of f/2.8, and thus gives us only two controls for exposure: shutter speed and ISO sensitivity. That inflexibility all but demanded the use of ND filters to get appropriate shutter speeds (explanation below). The X5 camera gives us three controls for exposure: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO sensitivity. So in general, the X5 won't require ND filters as much as the X3. But they are still useful.
In video, the general goal is to use a shutter speed that is 1 over (2 x the frame rate). So if your frame rate is 30 frames/second, you want a shutter speed of 1/60 of a second. This video will help explain why this is the case; the quick answer is "to get the correct amount of motion blur, so that the video looks good to the human eye and brain."
Another general goal is to use an ISO sensitivity as low as possible. The higher the ISO sensitivity, the more noise is introduced. I expect the lowest setting on the X5 camera to be ISO 100, which should give an excellent clean image.
So we start from there: ISO 100 at 1/60 of a second. And let's start with my favorite MFT lens, the Olympus M.ZUIKO 12mm, which has a maximum aperture of f/2.0. On a bright day at f/2.0 and ISO 100, a shutter speed of 1/60 is going to be extremely overexposed. Even at f/2.8, a proper exposure might require a shutter speed of 1/1000 of a second. The question: how do we get that 1/1000 shutter speed, which produces jerky motion, down to 1/60, which produces smooth motion?
On the X3, we can't do it via the aperture (fixed at f/2.8), and we can't do it by lowering the ISO sensitivity (we are already at the mimimum of 100), so we have to do it with ND filters. Each "stop" on a filter effectively cuts the exposure in half. So a one-stop filter would allow us to change our shutter speed from 1/1000 to 1/500. A two-stop filter would allow us to lower it to 1/250, and a three-stop filter would allow us to lower it to 1/125. In this imaginary scenario, we would need a four-stop filter to get down to 1/60.
On the X5, however, we have control over the aperture. So instead of adding a 4-stop ND filter, we could instead close the aperture by three stops. That would mean changing it from f/2.8 -> f/4.0 (1 stop) -> f/5.6 (2 stops) -> f/8.0) (3 stops) -> f/11.0 (4 stops). That would give us an equivalent exposure, and allow a 1/60 shutter speed. As an added benefit, closing down the aperture increases the depth of field, which allows more of the scene to be in focus.
So why would we ever need an ND filter? Note that the maximum aperture on the 12mm lens is f/22. That seems like a high number, but it is only one more stop than we are already using (f/11.0). If it's an extremely bright day, then we might need 6 stops of exposure to get to our target shutter speed, and the lens only provides 5.
Further, lenses tend to perform the best in the middle of their aperture (e.g., f/8.0 here), and worst at the edges (f/2.0 and f/22 here). I would expect to see less corner sharpness and more vignetting at these extreme apertures.
The great thing about the DJI app is that it gives us a live histogram during video shooting, so we can see what the exposure is. Learning to read a histogram, and to adjust your exposure to get a good one, is probably the most basic and important skill that the X5 camera requires.
I just re-read this post...makes a lot of sense. I'm seeing a lot of comparison demos that I think are ignoring all of this, posting bad looking X5 footage...I am also seeing some X5 footage that looks great. I appreciate your advice.
I'm sure an aperture above f11 will make for a softer image.I'm coming to this discussion late, but I have two questions:
1. If you stop down to a smaller aperture than f11 (depending on the lens you might get to f16), will that not cause diffraction effects to soften the image? Sure the DOF increases, and you can force a particular shutter speed to be selected, but does that not occur at the expense of reduced image sharpness? This effect is very noticeable on my Hassie H5D, but I've not done any experiments with, say, the Pannie GH4, nor the X5. There's a good tutorial on lens diffraction here.
2. If you really want to put a slightly heavier ND filter on the camera, why not add a small amount of adhesive lead tape to the back of the camera to balance it in the tilt axis? The X5 camera is statically balanced right out of the box -- with the lens cap on the camera nose dives, but without the lens cap, the camera stays in any position you put it. So with the small piece of lead you could bring the camera back into balance with the ND filter on. The overall net increase in weight is unlikely to overpower the stepper motor's ability to stabilize the camera -- at least I hope it would not as that implies that the motors are maxed out under normal conditions. (Adhesive lead tape is available sporting goods stores -- it's used for balancing golf clubs, tennis rackets, and cameras on gimbals such as the MōVI.)
Please bear in mind that I'm often wrong, but never uncertain....
Andy.
Why not just drop the f/stop down to f/32 or whatever is needed to get the shutter speed you want?
With the x5 you have a remotely controlled iris (aperture) which you didn't have with the X3.
You only really need ND filters for proper cameras when you want to get the DOF of a large aperture coupled with a low shutter speed.
If you are from a video background then you surely understand aperture, shutter speed, and ISO and what they mean for your video.
When I shoot video with my Nex 7 I set the shutter speed to what I want and then measure what aperture I require to maintain that shutter speed for the available light. If I can't stop the lens down far enough or I want the small DOF from a large aperture then I apply a ND filter.
Circular polarizers are useful for removing reflections and generally make skies darker with more depth. They also have the effect of reducing the light level by a couple of stops too.
I'm coming to this discussion late, but I have two questions:
1. If you stop down to a smaller aperture than f11 (depending on the lens you might get to f16), will that not cause diffraction effects to soften the image? Sure the DOF increases, and you can force a particular shutter speed to be selected, but does that not occur at the expense of reduced image sharpness? This effect is very noticeable on my Hassie H5D, but I've not done any experiments with, say, the Pannie GH4, nor the X5. There's a good tutorial on lens diffraction here.
2. If you really want to put a slightly heavier ND filter on the camera, why not add a small amount of adhesive lead tape to the back of the camera to balance it in the tilt axis? The X5 camera is statically balanced right out of the box -- with the lens cap on the camera nose dives, but without the lens cap, the camera stays in any position you put it. So with the small piece of lead you could bring the camera back into balance with the ND filter on. The overall net increase in weight is unlikely to overpower the stepper motor's ability to stabilize the camera -- at least I hope it would not as that implies that the motors are maxed out under normal conditions. (Adhesive lead tape is available sporting goods stores -- it's used for balancing golf clubs, tennis rackets, and cameras on gimbals such as the MōVI.)
Please bear in mind that I'm often wrong, but never uncertain....
Andy.
I would recommend not choosing any shutter speed that you want, You want to choose a shutter speed that is 2X the the (Frames-Per-Second), example: 30-fps = 1/60th SS, 24-fps = 1/50th SS
60-fps = 125th SS, it's called the Hollywood 180 degree rule. Reason why? It has to do with how the human eye perceives motion, Too fast of a shutter speed and the motion will look stuttering, too slow and it looks too blurred. Now the 180 rule is not cast in concrete. Some times higher and lower SS's can be used for effect by design. Filming landscapes where there is not a lot of motion in the shot other than the camera, you can get away with higher and lower SS's, I would recommend 1-Up or Down. Now if your filming a sporting event, car race, motorcycle race or where there is action, you want to stay pretty close to the 180 Rule, Again, unless you want the effects of higher and lower SS's. In the video world ISO is our exposure adjuster. because most of the time the aperture and the SS are fixed. Now in the X5 camera we do have the option to adjust the aperture. but then again, that has it's limitations, that's why ND filters and PF are popular for video.
To point 2 though how will you know that you have achieved "balance" Some gimbal calibrations aren't neutral. They can be front or rear weighted based on the motor orientation without DJI's input on it we don't really know.
Not at all however most motors are more efficient moving one direction over the other. The calibration will take that in effect as well as mass and momentum which could be altered in a non static platform such as a drone.I'm making the inference that, with the gimbal dismounted from the I1, if I remove the lens cap and the camera is statically balanced in tilt and roll (it will stay in any position you put it in), then if you add the filter and a small amount of opposing weight to re-balance to that same condition, the motors will only perceive a slightly increased mass in motion.
Do you think this might be a false inference?
Andy.
Yes please!!!! I need a 6 filter set and a nice set of graduated filters. I have your ones for my X3 and for Phantom 3 Pro and love them. Hurry please!!This is a great point, however by changing aperture you change your depth of field. Granted some guys wont care about DOF, but if you are shooting high level production work, having full control over shutter speed and aperture is nice. This is where ND filters will come in handy. Also we have been using graduated filters a lot with the X5 and shooting scenes with a clear horizon line. They help out a ton with correctly exposing the sun and the ground. We have been playing around with a lot of 46mm filters on the market and they all weigh 20 grams+. The gimbal did not seem as fluid as with no filter. So we are going to produce some ultra-light filters for the X5.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?