Renaat ND Filter comparison and test.

[PureSQNut]

I took delivery on my backup sets of the Renaat ND filters for the I1 and wanted to do some comparisons on the different levels and quality of results between each filter. Let me first state that I am not a professional in any way and strictly a hobbyists so my methods of evaluating may be a bit odd vs that of a professional.

My tests include the following –

• Single setting daytime altitude test with all lenses with same angle, time, altitude and physical position without change of any camera settings. (Completed 5-26)
  
  (Time of test 6:45pm, Sun was just out of the North West at about 10 o’clock from my position with an elevation of 24.24°with the I1 shooting to the south.Sunset on day of test at 8:15 at Azimuth 279.9° at an elevation of -.83°, Golden hour was estimated at 6:46 p.m. – 7:46p.m.,)
  
  
• Variable setting test of each filters with same respective physical position, altitude and image (snapshot) being shot however making adjustments to shutter speed, exposure settings etc (all documented) to achieve the same settings on the histogram.
  
  
• Variable setting test of each filters with similar respective physical flight pattern, altitude, etc (video) being shot however making adjustments to shutter speed, exposure settings etc (all documented) to achieve the same settings on the histogram. (Right before golden hour so that a shot in the direction of the sun is accomplished in the flight loop.

I had originally thought I was going to have some more time to get a full comparison done on the Renaat ND filters over the Memorial Day weekend that I purchased but even with the long weekend I found myself with very little flight time.

I will finish the tests this weekend over the next couple of days including. After all I will post my opinions and personal findings after ALL of the tests are done this week and post each of the test updates on this original post.

Attached are the results from test #1.....

 

[damoncooper]

So...what conclusion did you arrive at with this test? And what were you hoping to compare?

They are progressively darker.

What else?

 

[PureSQNut]

So...what conclusion did you arrive at with this test? And what were you hoping to compare?

They are progressively darker.

What else?

after I got them I had a few people generically ask the question of "how much darker are they?" This simply shows the different levels for those who asked. The tests IMO are going to be the hard results of the effectiveness.of each lens vs their relative change of the ISO and shutter speed based on common imaging. In hopes if refusing outer image artifacts and blurr

 

[PittsburghPilot]

really simple question.. where can I buy them? website?

 

[PureSQNut]

You can find the email and details of the filters etc here- http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=11947&page=4#pid126829

 

[Sky High Photography]

No offense, but the photos are pointless. ND filters are meant to filter out BRIGHT light. Your sample photos almost don't need any filters at all.
A test with bright sunlight would be beneficial - this is just silly.
Just my 2 cents, thanks anyways.

 

[PureSQNut]

No offense, but the photos are pointless. ND filters are meant to filter out BRIGHT light. Your sample photos almost don't need any filters at all.
A test with bright sunlight would be beneficial - this is just silly.
Just my 2 cents, thanks anyways.

lol... Well ok. Simple enough I felt I was pretty clear on the variety of tests in doing and the effective tests will all be in bright light issues.

then again if you find it pointless you could always just not read or follow and skip to the next post and ignore the whole thing.

for the record I've used ND lenses for several years shooting out door events, sports, car shows etc as well as vehicle features for a few.magazines. But I'm sure that as I'm a hobbyist and do it for fun and dont chart a penny for any of it or even want to make a living from it makes anything I say or do irrelevant?

video is new to me and ill admit I have a lot to learn still.

as far as photography goes my old man was a photographer by trade. Well before.digital came out I spent a lot of time learning the traits of working in a dark room, mixing your chemicals, developing you own film (color and black and white) and the lost art of darkroom tricks when lenses and filters were key as a click of a button in PhotoShop didnt exist.

on that note, ill take "constructive" and "professional" criticism anytime and be the first to say ill never stop learning something new. But to come take any post and call it pointless.... Really?

 

[Chad johnson]

What is important is what your ISO and shutter speed is set to. For 30fps your shutter should be double that number, which is 60. ISO should be as low as you can go. I got a test filter from Snake River Prototyping that is a high quality ND8/CP, and it works great for most situations, but their ND16/CP will cover brighter conditions. None of them are available yet, but they are coming very soon if you check their site in a week or so. Here's a little test video I made:

 

[torlind]

Here's a video where I am using Renaat's ND16 filter with settings following the formula: shutterspeed= framerate * 2. I then adjusted the ISO to make the exposure just about right. It actually came to ISO200!

 

[Sky High Photography]

lol... Well ok. Simple enough I felt I was pretty clear on the variety of tests in doing and the effective tests will all be in bright light issues.

then again if you find it pointless you could always just not read or follow and skip to the next post and ignore the whole thing.

for the record I've used ND lenses for several years shooting out door events, sports, car shows etc as well as vehicle features for a few.magazines. But I'm sure that as I'm a hobbyist and do it for fun and dont chart a penny for any of it or even want to make a living from it makes anything I say or do irrelevant?

video is new to me and ill admit I have a lot to learn still.

as far as photography goes my old man was a photographer by trade. Well before.digital came out I spent a lot of time learning the traits of working in a dark room, mixing your chemicals, developing you own film (color and black and white) and the lost art of darkroom tricks when lenses and filters were key as a click of a button in PhotoShop didnt exist.

on that note, ill take "constructive" and "professional" criticism anytime and be the first to say ill never stop learning something new. But to come take any post and call it pointless.... Really?

I expected some negative feedback as I realized I could have been more tactful with my response.
In any case, my apologies if I offended you. It also doesn't help that I criticized your post but then didn't back it up with one of my own tests it the bright sunlight.
I have the filters and they work great. I have yet to use the 64 as it is extremely dark. I use the 8 the most and the 16 second most.
Thanks again for taking the time to post your test results.

 

[PureSQNut]

I expected some negative feedback as I realized I could have been more tactful with my response.
In any case, my apologies if I offended you. It also doesn't help that I criticized your post but then didn't back it up with one of my own tests it the bright sunlight.
I have the filters and they work great. I have yet to use the 64 as it is extremely dark. I use the 8 the most and the 16 second most.
Thanks again for taking the time to post your test results.

Thank you. If anything I should of waited to have ALL the different tests done whether they are relative or not I jsut had a few things come up that is prohibiting me from completing them quickly. The rest of them are all slotted for very bright and in one case glarey conditions. Some may find the results useful, some may not but at least illl learn a little something more about shooting video while Im at it. Its a whole new level for me. Thank you for the reply.

 

[PureSQNut]

Here is a video of the comparison of the different filters. Still over exposed but I think I clearly note in the video the parameters of what I was doing and why. But at least for me being a novice to aerial photography looking at the results based on a matching 360 degree flight pattern with bright sun attached the camera from all different angles it give me (A rookie to aerial video) a lot to think about when doing any aerial work.

 

[Paul K]

Last year I posted several times on Phantom forum ,about importance of polarizing filter.
Watching Chad's test using SRP ND/PC filter clearly shoves the much needed balance between the sky and foreground.
The combination of ND and polarizing filter is the best way to go. I hope, I will be testing this filter soon.
One tip for PureSqNut; I would suggest to cut off the sky to 15 or 20% of the frame (that will give you better exposure ,when using auto exposure).
Use a histogram from app and control your exposure using it (it is very useful tool). Try to use also manual settings and compare which will work better for you. Share the results and good luck.