Filters

Les Davidson · Jan 1, 2017

I have seen you tube videos that rubbish filters. The consensus of these is that we have a glass lens on the Phantoms and are placing a cheap plastic filter over it. What are the views? I have seen postings using ND filters and they seem to ruin the views.

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GMack · Jan 1, 2017

msinger · Jan 1, 2017

Les Davidson said:
The consensus of these is that we have a glass lens on the Phantoms and are placing a cheap plastic filter over it.

The majority of the commonly used ND filters are made of glass.

Richard R · Jan 1, 2017

+1 to msinger's post. ND filters have a definite use and benefit when used properly. Like anything else,you get what you pay for. Don't try to go cheap. The set that I use (and it is just one of several that have gotten good reviews here on previous posts) are from Taco. They screw right onto the lens after the UV filter is removed, they are good quality and come in a 4 pack in ax foam lined hard case. After additional batteries, IMHO, the most useful accessory to get.

EndlessTrail · Jan 12, 2017

Richard, what's the advantage of the screw on versus the snap-on? Just the elimination of an extra layer of glass or are there other benefits? I've been wondering about the quality/price trade-off. Major price difference between the PolarPro and PhantomFilters. Looks like Taco is in between those two in price. Taco sells an ND set and an ND/PL set but doesn't appear to have separate polarizing filter.

Rich C. · Jan 12, 2017

EndlessTrail said:
Richard, what's the advantage of the screw on versus the snap-on? Just the elimination of an extra layer of glass or are there other benefits? I've been wondering about the quality/price trade-off. Major price difference between the PolarPro and PhantomFilters. Looks like Taco is in between those two in price. Taco sells an ND set and an ND/PL set but doesn't appear to have separate polarizing filter.

I'm not familiar with pop-on filters. I've never used them. What I wanted was a quality filter that screwed on. Somehow, pop-on filters sound cheesy to me, maybe because they're easier to manufacture.

People are saying good things about Polar Pro, so that's what I went with. I picked up a set of three; CPL, ND4 (useless) and ND8. I ordered an ND16 separately.

The Polar Pro circular polarizer is really well made. The filter screws in, and the glass can be rotated without moving the threads, which is what I expect. The polarizer may end up being useless, as polarizers don't work well with wide angle lenses. That, and the camera needs to be correctly aligned with the sun for the polarizer to perform well. I haven't used the CPL yet, so we shall see.

Sorry for babbling, it's my nature to do so.

Cheers

mdowney58 · Jan 12, 2017

What model of Phantom do you have? Because if it is a Standard, there is no UV filter to screw off.

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Mr. Salty · Jan 12, 2017

Rich C. said:
What I wanted was a quality filter that screwed on. Somehow, pop-on filters sound cheesy to me, maybe because they're easier to manufacture.

Slip-on filters exist because not all drone cameras have filter threads.