okay so i keep seeing people talk about nd filters like theyre essential and i just bought my first real drone (mavic 3 classic) after flying cheaper stuff for a year. every youtube video i watch the person has like a whole kit of polarpro filters and acts like you cant shoot decent video without them.

but then i also see people saying auto exposure handles most situations fine and filters are more of a nice to have. i mostly fly on weekends, mix of landscape stuff and some slower city shots. sunny days, occasionally overcast. is this something i should be buying right away or am i just getting caught up in gear buying mode again because i just spent a bunch of money and now everything looks like a necessary purchase

honestly you're probably in gear buying mode a little bit haha but also nd filters do genuinely make a difference for video. the whole point is getting your shutter speed down to around double your framerate which gives you that natural motion blur instead of that choppy stuttery look. on a bright sunny day without any nd you end up shooting at like 1/2000 or higher and everything looks weirdly sharp in motion, kind of like cheap video if that makes sense.

that said you dont need polarpro right away. get a cheap set first, freewell or something, and see if you actually notice the difference before spending $150 on a kit. i did it that way and after using them a few times i understood what the fuss was about and then upgraded. no regrets but i wouldnt have started there

for landscapes yeah they matter more than people think, especially if theres water or anything moving. for static shots ehh less so. i fly mostly mountains and the nd32 lives on my drone basically permanently in summer. overcast days i swap to nd8 or just take it off. its one of those things where once you get used to shooting with them taking them off feels wrong