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What is your preference: an ND 8 or 16 filter ?

Joined
Feb 23, 2015
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Location
Qingdao, China
Website
www.aileen-studio.com
Hi guys,

actually we have a ND 4 (-2 stops) filter delivered with the inspire1.

Hopeless waiting for a solution to film at sunny days at 180 degrees (double shutter speed of the fps) we need a ND 8 or even better a ND 16, I am looking for a manufacturer in China (all stuff is comming from China) as I am living here (Qingdao). Which one would you like ? The 8 or the 16 ? Personally I think at a 16, as mostly my shutter speed turns around 1/320 with an ND 4 and at 1080p50, so 2 stops less seems to me the best.

What is your opinion ?

We are talking with a manufacturer that may produce on our requirements. I suggested them max weight is 4 grams (the dji one has 3 grams). Monday they will test out.

If all becomes reality, I want to order 500p for export to an US distributor, as otherwise transport costs for 1 piece is too high.

Keep you informed.
Renaat

ND.jpg
 
And none have the correct thread either.

To answer the original question: We ideally need pretty much one of each stop between 2 and 8.
 
Yeah... and ideally it would have a thread on the outside so the one that comes with the I1 can be stacked. Would have to be a thin variant to avoid vignetting.

And again make sure to give the stock filter to the manufacturer and make him carefully check the thread as it's not standard and it's possible he isn't even tooled for making something compatible.
 
With an external thread would get up the weight. They will try out one on monday. Actually they are manufacturer for a well known brand, but it has a metal frame and glass. I asked resin and plastic or some other ultra light frame.
 
And from these 75 how much have 3 grams ? ZERO
Well, first of all I can't answer that question... and nor can you since weight is not stated on B&H's site.
And secondly, at this stage we do not know how critical weight is. The x3 may not be so sensitive as the H2/3-3/4D Zenmuse.
 
And none have the correct thread either.

To answer the original question: We ideally need pretty much one of each stop between 2 and 8.
@Kilrah - Are you absolutely certain on the thread pitch? I can't answer that myself as I do not have a 37mm filter to try (yet)

Edit... I lied... I've just found a small 37mm filter adapter in my box of tricks. OK, it DOES fit. You get about 1 1/4 turns on and it's snug. As long as you are careful I do not see a problem of it coming off in flight.
Also, most (admittedly not all) but most filters will come with an internal and external thread so shouldn't be a problem.
 
Last edited:
You get about 1 1/4 turns on and it's snug.
Yes, but it's cross-threaded. Force a little - and you ruin the plastic thread on the camera. I tried once, said "I might continue and be careful", second try went a bit harder, and now while it's not "wasted" I do feel a "hard point" when screwing the original one.
So up to you to decide what level of risk you take, I'm personally not insisting. The thread is visibly different.



Well, first of all I can't answer that question... and nor can you since weight is not stated on B&H's site.
And secondly, at this stage we do not know how critical weight is.
Weight is not very critical from my experience - when I did my test with 37mm NDs I flew both with one and 2 stacked, in both cases the gimbal was happy. Those were "standard" metal/glass filters, not light ones.
 
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The manufacturer already have metal/glass ones at 9 grams. But on the DJI forum some members complain of strange behavior of camera. So we will try to keep weight as low as possible and pushed the manufacturer to a 4 gr goal. Wait and see.
I repeat my question, how strong needs the ND filter to be to have reasonable shutter speeds at sunny days ? -4 stops ?
 
I repeat my question, how strong needs the ND filter to be to have reasonable shutter speeds at sunny days ? -4 stops ?
Up to 6 stops... Currently the 2 stops of the supplied one bring you to 1/400 on a normal subject which means to go to 1/50 you need 5 stops. Take a brighter subject and you might need 6, a tad lower light and you'll need 5... which is why we need filters for every stop in order to get it in a range of conditions without starting to bump ISO as noise comes quite quickly then.

vlcsnap-2015-03-08-08h52m24s72.jpg
 
I'm going to order this one. B&H is great with returns. I'll let you all know how it works. 1.3 to 8.6 stops.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...d_PLFILFDND37_37mm_Neutral_Density_Fader.html



This would be good choice , but you should check the weight of the filer ,because usually variable ND is assembled from 3 pcs. of glass ,otherwise
the specks are indicating the antireflective coating which is a most important feature on the filter beside the quality of glass .

My recommendation is to always go with well known filter maker or brand recognized by professional photographers/videographers,otherwise you compromise the quality of your output.
 
This would be good choice , but you should check the weight of the filer ,because usually variable ND is assembled from 3 pcs. of glass ,otherwise
the specks are indicating the antireflective coating which is a most important feature on the filter beside the quality of glass .

My recommendation is to always go with well known filter maker or brand recognized by professional photographers/videographers,otherwise you compromise the quality of your output.
But it won't fit!!!
The Inspire is an outside thread and the spec on this filter states that the internal thread is 37mm but the outside is 43mm.
 

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