so ive been shooting with my Air 3 for about 4 months now and honestly love it but i keep running into the same problem when im shooting in bright midday sun, the footage just looks kinda washed out and overexposed even when i crank the shutter speed up. a buddy of mine told me i need ND filters but theres like a hundred different brands and i genuinely have no idea where to start

ive been looking at the DJI ones obviously since they fit perfectly but theyre not cheap and ive seen people mention Freewell and PolarPro a lot too. does the brand actually matter that much or is glass just glass at this point? also does anyone run CPs on their Air 3 for water shots or is that overkill

just want to know what people are actually using day to day, not the stuff thats just being pushed in sponsored videos

Freewell all day for me. Been using their magnetic quick-swap system on my Air 3 since pretty much launch and honestly couldnt be happier. The color rendition is really clean, I did a side by side with the DJI branded ones a while back and couldnt tell much difference in actual footage. The DJI ones fit perfectly which is nice but you pay a premium for that convenience imo.

For your midday shooting problem you probably want an ND16 or ND64 to start, get you back to that 180 degree shutter rule. The Freewell 4-pack covers most situations. And yeah CP filters are worth it for water, especially if youre shooting lakes or ocean ? cuts the glare really nicely but you do lose a bit of light so keep that in mind if your exposure is already tight.

i just use the dji ones tbh, figured if anything goes wrong with fit or vignetting i can point fingers at them lol. havent had any issues. though i will say for the price the freewell magnetic ones are tempting, swapping filters mid-shoot without fiddling with threads sounds nice