so i've been flying my Mini 2 for about two years and finally upgraded to the Mavic 3 Classic last month. loving it so far but im a bit overwhelmed by the ND filter situation. with the Mini 2 i just used a basic set from amazon and it was fine but the M3C sensor seems way more capable and i dont want to cheap out and waste that potential.

a buddy told me to just get the DJI ones but they're pretty pricey and ive seen a lot of people recommend Freewell or PolarPro. the Freewell all day kit seems like a good deal but then i keep reading that PolarPro Cinema series glass is noticeably better? im mostly doing landscape and some real estate stuff, not a ton of motion video, so i dont know if the more expensive glass would even matter for my use case.

also genuinely not sure how to pick which ND to use. like i know the 180 degree rule exists but in practice i always second guess myself. any tips from people who actually use the M3C regularly would be really appreciated

I went through this exact same thing when I got my M3C. Ended up with the Freewell all day kit and honestly have zero regrets for the price. For real estate and landscape work you're probably not pixel peeping to the degree where the PolarPro glass makes a meaningful difference. The Freewell ND64/PL has been my most used filter by a wide margin for bright sunny days.

For the 180 degree rule confusion ? just set your shutter to double your frame rate and then adjust NDs until your exposure is correct. So if you're shooting 30fps, target 1/60 shutter. Then layer NDs until it looks right. Once it clicks it becomes second nature, took me maybe two or three outings before I stopped thinking about it consciously.

the polarPro ones do look nicer but i tried a friends and tbh for drone footage at normal delivery sizes i couldnt tell the difference on my monitor. maybe on a big color grade job it matters. freewell is totally fine imo