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Long exposure shots are relatively easy to capture at night with a DJI drone because their cameras are stabilized. Just set a slow shutter speed and press the shutter button. If you're shooting cars, boats, or other illuminated objects moving at night, you'll end up with some cool bright light trails, like the image below.
But if you've ever tried to take a long exposure photo during the day, you know that once you set the smallest aperture and lowest ISO, increasing the shutter speed will inevitably overexpose your shot. This is where ND filters come in handy.
What exactly is an ND filter?
A neutral density or ND (Neutral-Density) filter reduces the amount of light entering the camera lens. In bright sunlight, an ND filter allows photographers to choose aperture and shutter speed, preventing overexposure.
Using ND filters
The photo below was taken with the Phantom 4 Pro and at the lowest ISO and smallest possible aperture. By lowering the shutter speed here, there is a risk of overexposure.
But with a Phantom 4 Pro ND16 filter, the amount of light entering the lens is reduced and the shutter speed can now be extended to 1 second or more. The image below shows the result.
You see that the waves are smoothed out and less well defined. Using an ND32 filter and lowering the shutter speed can make the effect even stronger.
In addition to using ND filters for daytime water photos, they can also be used to better capture cityscapes.
The following shot was taken with a relatively fast shutter speed. It looks a bit harsh and unnatural. Cars and people move, but there is very little motion blur.
With an ND filter, we can lengthen the shutter speed and create some motion blur. Motion blur can give your photos a more vibrant and active feel, like the one below.
As you can see, by having more flexibility to adjust your shutter speed, ND filters give you more creative control over your photos.
Select ND filters
DJI has three official ND filters for their aircraft: ND4, ND8 and ND16. The number associated with an ND filter indicates that the light entering the lens in terms of fraction.
- ND4 reduces light by 1/4. An ND4 filter can reduce 2 stops of light, allowing you to slow down your shutter speed from 1/100s to 1/25s.
- ND8 reduces light by 1/8. An ND8 filter can reduce 3 stops of light, allowing you to slow down your shutter speed from 1/200s to 1/25s.
- ND16 reduces light by 1/16. An ND16 filter can reduce 4 stops of light, allowing you to slow down your shutter speed from 1/400s to 1/25s.
Take the Phantom 4 Pro as an example. The screenshot below was taken with no ND filter and ISO 100, F2.8 aperture and 1/200s shutter speed.
The screenshot below was taken with an ND16 filter attached. With the ISO and aperture remaining the same, the shutter speed can also be set to 1/12.5s.
If you used a weaker ND filter in this case, you wouldn't be able to achieve the same level of motion blur. However, if you choose a stronger ND filter, too much light will remain, your image will be underexposed, and the ISO value should be increased accordingly.
So what ND filter you should choose depends on the amount of light around you and the effect you want to achieve.
Please note that we only recommend using official DJI ND filters as they are specifically designed to work well with the camera's center of gravity.