CINEMATIC Drone Filters - Freewell VND MIST

Freewell’s Variable Neutral Density Mist Filters, or VND Mist, come in a tiny little box, so they’re great for travel or sticking in your pocket. I now use them on all my drone shoots and I’m going to explain why in this post.

I use these filters with my DJI Air 2S, but they are available here for the Mavic 2 Pro and the Mavic Air 2 as well.

Let’s start by talking about the variable neutral density part of these filters, and I will discuss the mist part afterward. Neutral Density filters, or ND filters are really essential if you're shooting anytime but sunrise or sunset because there's a lot of light coming into your camera and especially if you have a drone like the Air 2S with a fixed aperture, you’re going to need to use ND filters in order to get the proper exposure. The issue is that the light changes throughout the day, so you normally would have to have at least a half dozen ND filters for different shooting circumstances. With these variable ND filters, it is like having all the filters you could want with just two filters. So usually I put one on and then turn it left or right in order to get the proper exposure! This will save you a ton of time because you won’t have to keep landing your drone and putting on a different ND filter. It will also save you money because you only have to buy these two filters which come together for a very reasonable price.

ND filters also allow you to use the proper shutter speed in order to make your footage look cinematic and not choppy, and the mist adds some character to your image.

The variable ND filters allow you to shoot any time of day, sunshine or clouds, because you have all these different stops of light. The first filter will decrease your exposure by 2-5 stops of light, which is equivalent to ND4 to ND32. The first filter will decrease your exposure by 6-9 stops of light, which is equivalent to ND64 to ND512. So it's like having individual ND filters all the way from ND64 to ND512. You can use the ND 256 or ND 512 if you're shooting long exposures or hyperlapses.

This will allow you to shoot in most shooting scenarios you could think of with just two filters!

I have avoided using variable ND filters in the past because it has caused vignetting, or under exposes on the corners so the image is not the same exposure both in the corners and towards the center of the image. However, these variable ND mist filters do NOT have any vignetting, which is great!

These filters also give give your image a stylized look, adding saturation and a reddish golden glow, but is done in a subtle way, almost like a 1/8 mist on mist filters for traditional cameras. Personally, I like this subtle approach, gives it a unique, professional look. It also provides more detail in the highlights without affecting the resolution or sharpness.

Now the one downside is that these variable ND mist filters don’t perform well at night because they decrease the exposure, thus forcing me to raise my ISO to a level that allows noise (grain) into the image. So from sunrise to sunset they are amazing, just not at night.

I now keep them in my drone bag and use them on almost every shoot. So I think you will be pleasantly surprised as well by these filters.

DRONE BUYING GUIDE

If you want to learn more about these drones, I made a FREE Drone Gear Guide, which I just updated. In that guide you'll learn more about drones in this article, along with other drones for different budgets. I also included my favorite software and accessories. So don’t forget to download that drone gear guide by click on the image to the left or on the link above!

Brett “The Drone Pilot Pro” Garamella