ND Filters for X5?

[cycoptic]

Anyone know the weight on these filters?

Tiffen 46mm Digital Essentials Filter Kit 46DIGEK3 B&H Photo

thanks

 

[nadsas]

i have a 16 gramm variable ND Filter, do you think its to heavy for the X5 Gimbal ? I use the original DJI Lens.

Thx

 

[ajohnsonlaird]

I suspect the only way to answer that is to try it. It will all depend on whether the brushless gimbal motors can handle the load and whether the tuning of the motor controllers in the gimbal is still OK. On gimbals like the MoVI, if you change the mass-in-motion, you might see vibration (low frequency) or oscillation (high frequency). So I'd suggest mounting the filter on the lens and hand-simulating flight (aircraft powered on and just waft it around the room and see what happens). No need to make "brrrrr" sound with your lips though. <evil grin>

Andy.

 

[Figbar]

I just got my X5 and am using B&W filters, plus lens hood....seems to be working well. I am very impressed with the quality of the video from the X5...when I view some quick test shots, the video is much more crisp and vibrant...the colors are very rich...this is viewing on a broadcast monitor in my edit suite. The X3 was driving me crazy with all kinds of flicker issues. I have a ton of experimenting to do...still a little unclear about manual/auto focus...and if I'm properly calibrating my lens...but I am super-pleased. At any rate, the B& W filters work fine...I think they weigh in at 14g.

 

[Gregg Smith]

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 have a friend that has a P3P as I do along with my Inspire 1 Pro and he added a counter weight to his gimbal and I got a gimbal overheat warning when I was flying it with him. On mine, I've never seen that happen and I've flown in Austin, TX all summer in the heat of the say and still no overheat warning. I know not the same gimbals, but is the same mfg.

So as someone else noted, it seems that leaving the camera the way it is and not adding counterweights may be the way to go.

I've only started to fly the new X5 camera for a couple weeks now and haven't tried to use an ND filter yet due to the weight issue since I didn't want to hurt the gimbal motors. Waiting for the PolarPro filters. Have them pre-ordered. I've used them on my Phantom 3 Pro and the X3 cameras and never got an overheat message and great quality videos and photos.

My recommendation is to stay within the boundaries of their weight limits otherwise you may hurt the gimbal motors and it won't be covered by DJI.

Also as someone mentioned, you add the counterweight to balance against the heavier filters, but then you are now adding more weight for the gimbal to move around. Sure it's balanced, but it's still heavier and will cause them to work harder to keep stabilized.

 

[Cyclops]

Has anyone found some lightweight 46mm ND Filters for the Olympus 12mm lens?

One set I have come across is the Tiffin set but I'm concerned they might be too heavy for the X5 (Tiffen 46NDK3 46mm Digital Neutral Density Filter Kit (ND 0.6, 0.9, 1.2) (46-NDK3))

Another thought is to get a variable ND filter but again these could be too heavy due to their glass 'sandwich' construction.

 

[ajohnsonlaird]

I just tried the B+W ND filter (20 grams) and, at least on the ground and "hand flying" the I1, it seemed to stabilize just fine. Of course, that's not the same as an airborne test -- which I'd be only to happy to do if three things happen simultaneously: 1) I'm not working, 2) it's not raining, and 3) it's daylight.

Andy.

 

[keith whitehead]

i may have missed it since they talking about other lenses on the x5.
The question i have on the Stock Dji Lense for the x5 where is the sweet spot for apeture to have infinity focus sharp? is it f/5.6?

 

[ajohnsonlaird]

Keith: I think you might be talking about the so-called hyperfocal distance -- which is usually expressed as a distance from the lens. The "sweet spot" aperture to which you refer is usually the smallest stop before diffraction effects kick in and start to soften the focus of the entire image regardless of the distance. Typically this is f8 or f11 on lenses. Ken Rockwell wrote an interesting article on this: How to Select the Sharpest Aperture

I'm not sure what the hyperfocal distance for the stock DJI lens is either. I'd guess about 20 or 30 feet -- that's the point where everything to infinity is in acceptable focus.

Hope this helps.
Andy.

 

[DennisR]

Isn't a circular polarizing filter is going to be fiddly to use on a moving camera?
On a stills camera you have to get the angle just right to get rich blue skies and cut back on refracted light on say water (especially on a wide angle lens) but in the air as soon as you change direction its going to throw out how much you have dialled in on the filter.
Best results when using a circular polarizing are at about 90 degrees to the sun I seem to remember.

I understand what you are saying and I would also like to know the answer. I look through my CP filter before I put it on the X5 and turn it to see which way it should sit on the cam before takeoff. No doubt it will only be of benefit if I am filming in the one direction. I have yet to see anyone answer this.

 

[RaptorMan]

I just received a bunch of stuff today including ND filters for the 46mm thread as used in the Olympus 12mm f/2, DJI 15mm f/1.7, Olympus 25mm f/1.8 and other lenses. Here's what I get:

Hoya ND2 46mm = 11g
Hoya ND4 46mm = 11g
Hoya ND8 46mm = 11g
Tiffen ND16 46mm = 13g

And, for use with the 45mm lens with the 37mm filter thread
Sensei 37-46mm step up ring = 5g

Additional info..

Lens hood for the factory 15mm lens is 16g
and
Lens hood for the 25mm lens is 11g

Also, the four lenses I received were weighed without covers or filters or lens hoods and here's what I get...

Olympus 12mm f/2 is listed at 130g and I get 129g
DJI 15mm f/1.7 is listed at 115g and I get 126g
Olympus 25mm f/1.8 is listed at 136g and I get 136g
Olympus 45mm f/1.7 is listed at 116g and I get 116g

And some more...

Zenmuse X5 camera and mount minus lens = 393g
TB47 battery is listed at 570g and I get 587g
TB48 battery is listed at 670g and I get 675g

The Inspire 1 minus the props, battery and X5 camera and mount is 2094g

The props are 19g each

So, adding it up the weight of the inspire with props, TB48 battery, X5 camera and mount and 15mm lens with ND filter and lens hood is 3391g ready to fly.


Brian

 

[Mark C]

Brian thanks for sharing that, useful info.

 

[damoncooper]

I just received a bunch of stuff today including ND filters for the 46mm thread as used in the Olympus 12mm f/2, DJI 15mm f/1.7, Olympus 25mm f/1.8 and other lenses. Here's what I get:

Hoya ND2 46mm = 11g
Hoya ND4 46mm = 11g
Hoya ND8 46mm = 11g
Tiffen ND16 46mm = 13g

And, for use with the 45mm lens with the 37mm filter thread
Sensei 37-46mm step up ring = 5g

Additional info..

Lens hood for the factory 15mm lens is 16g
and
Lens hood for the 25mm lens is 11g

Also, the four lenses I received were weighed without covers or filters or lens hoods and here's what I get...

Olympus 12mm f/2 is listed at 130g and I get 129g
DJI 15mm f/1.7 is listed at 115g and I get 126g
Olympus 25mm f/1.8 is listed at 136g and I get 136g
Olympus 45mm f/1.7 is listed at 116g and I get 116g

And some more...

Zenmuse X5 camera and mount minus lens = 393g
TB47 battery is listed at 570g and I get 587g
TB48 battery is listed at 670g and I get 675g

The Inspire 1 minus the props, battery and X5 camera and mount is 2094g

The props are 19g each

So, adding it up the weight of the inspire with props, TB48 battery, X5 camera and mount and 15mm lens with ND filter and lens hood is 3391g ready to fly.


Brian

Sounds like the Hoyas are in the right weight range at least let the X5 manual.

Link to an essentials set with UV, CP and ND4:

Hoya 46mm Digital Filter Kit II HK-DG46-II B&H Photo Video

EDIT: found PolarPro essentials kit for X5:


Polar Pro DJI Zenmuse X5/X5R Filter 3-Pack P6001 B&H Photo Video

 

[RaptorMan]

Sounds like the Hoyas are in the right weight range at least let the X5 manual.

Link to an essentials set with UV, CP and ND4:

Hoya 46mm Digital Filter Kit II HK-DG46-II B&H Photo Video

EDIT: found PolarPro essentials kit for X5:


Polar Pro DJI Zenmuse X5/X5R Filter 3-Pack P6001 B&H Photo Video

Some of the filters have brass or steel rings whereas the Hoya's are aluminum and that alone could make a 2X difference in weight.

I added the Hoya 46mm NXT/ UV Haze Filter a few days ago and it weighs 9g. I should probably add a CP and probably will at some point but I think I've covered 95% of my filter needs with the 4 ND filters (ND2 ND4, ND8 and ND16) and the UV filter -- all in 46mm as 3 of my 4 flight lenses are 46mm. The one lens that's different, the 45mm lens has a 37mm filter and I added a 37mm to 46mm step un ring so all the 46mm filters will work. The step up ring is Aluminum and weighs 5g.

When I get a chance to do some more testing I plan to update my lens setup thread with a spreadsheet listing all my lens and filter combinations.

Brian

 

[rapakiri]

I recieved Polar Pro set of filters for X5 just today and I`m quite pleased by the set. All filters look very well built and CP filters have very precise, smooth rotation and all are super light. They are shipped with GREAT filter case and 6 small filter pouches, if you don`t want to use a case for some reason. The price you need to pay for their lightness is that the glass itself is ON the of the metal rim and therefore is not protected. It`s very easy to chip the edge or make smudges on them - they are VERY, VERY FINE. They don`t seem to have any anti-dirt coating as my biger Hoya filters, but it`s understandable in this price. Still you`ll need very clean and fine cloht to clean them. Can`t tell much about the quality of the glass yet, but they seem good to me so far.

 

[mabnz]

Hey guys, I've ordered a set of PolarPro filters for my X5 and oly 12mm. Do I need any balancing rings at all?

 

[Figbar]

Now that we are using standard lenses, we get the benefit of standard filters. All of the approved lenses take standard 46mm filters. Here is a sampling from B+W, a respected producer of filters:

• 3-stop ND filter
• 6-stop ND filter
• 10-stop ND filter
• Circular polarizing filter

These filters can be combined, so you can attach both an ND filter and the circular polarizing filter.

I'm using these filters with the DJI 15mm lens...they work great. No balance issues. The camera/gimbal works fine.

 

[Predator]

I totally agree. We have people with new X5's that expect them to perform straight from the box like the fixed infinity X3. This is not the same, the X5 is a camera with varying apertures.Just just can't shove it on F2 etc and expect everything to be in focus. This is why we are seeing a lot of soft footage.

Exactly the same with point and shoot camera owners buying a pro dslr and wonder why most of the shots are out of focus...

 

[Predator]

Anyone know the perfect filter for shooting 1/50 iso100 24fps at f5.6 f8 on bright sunny days? i dont want to buy a bunch of filters like the polar pro kit and find out i only use one of the entire kit like i did with my X3...

 

[gruvpix]

Anyone know the perfect filter for shooting 1/50 iso100 24fps at f5.6 f8 on bright sunny days? i dont want to buy a bunch of filters like the polar pro kit and find out i only use one of the entire kit like i did with my X3...

ND8