The MINI 4 Pro is DJI’s latest sub-250g camera drone and, despite its compact size, has earned a reputation for delivering exceptional aerial photography and videography. However, to truly unlock its potential, high-quality filters are essential for managing exposure and creating more dynamic images. This review focuses on the DJI MINI 4 Pro K&F Concept filters, analyzing their performance, usage scenarios, build quality, and overall value.
ND/PL or ND&PL filters combine Neutral Density (ND) and Polarizing (PL) filters, which are designed for use in photography and videography, especially with drones. These hybrid filters have the following advantages:
- Better Exposure Control: ND/PL filters allow you to reduce light entering the camera while also managing reflections, which is particularly useful in outdoor environments.
- Enhanced Color and Contrast: The polarizing effect boosts color saturation and contrast, helping create more vibrant and balanced images.
- Glare Reduction: These filters reduce reflections, ensuring clearer shots of reflective surfaces like water and glass.
K&F Concept DJI MINI 4 Pro six-pack filter review
Disclosure: I received these K&F Concept filters as part of a product review collaboration with Kentfaith. Although the filters were offered for free, all opinions stated in this review remain my own!
K&F Concept (KentFaith) was founded in 2012 and is a renowned brand known for producing high-quality photography gear, including camera filters, tripods, lens adapters, and other outdoor accessories designed for photographers and videographers. Established with a commitment to innovation and precision, K&F Concept has quickly gained popularity for offering products that cater to both professionals and hobbyists. The company has a wide range of competitively priced filters for DJI drones and GoPro action cameras.
From the seven available MINI 4 filter kits, they sent me the six-filter pack that includes CPL, ND4&PL, ND8&PL, ND16&PL, ND32&PL, and ND64&PL.
At a glance
The filters come in a transparent plastic housing with soft foam inside that holds them firmly to ensure the lenses do not touch anything while in the case, and they won’t move around while in transport. The case is small enough to fit in a pocket or a drone bag.
Each filter is visibly labeled, so you know at a glance which one you remove from the case. While the main frame has a rectangular shape, the rotatable glass in the front has a circular one. The “zero” position is marked on both frame and glass.
The filters have 28-layer NANO coatings with 0.2% ultra-low reflectivity and high screech resistance.
To install the filter, you need to remove the stock lens hood. Rotate it slightly to the left to remove it from the camera’s bayonet.
When installing the new filter, you must align it with pins on the camera’s bayonet and then rotate clockwise to secure it to the mount.
The K&F Concept 6-pack filter kit boasts excellent build quality, with each filter feeling solidly constructed. Despite their sturdy design, they are lightweight enough not to interfere with gimbal calibration. The MINI 4 Pro powers up smoothly and performs its control checks seamlessly with any of these filters attached to its camera.
General Filter Guideline
- [CPL] Remove Glaring, Improve Saturation, Enhance Blue Sky and White Color Layering
- [ND4&PL] 2f-stops, for minor reduction of brightness, can also reduce reflection and enhance contrast
- [ND8&PL] 3f-stops, for partially cloudy daylight conditions, can also reduce reflection and enhance contrast
- [ND16&PL] 4f-stops, for normal daylight conditions, can also reduce reflection and enhance contrast
- [ND32&PL] 5f-stops, for bright sunny daylight, can also reduce reflection and enhance contrast
- [ND64&PL] 6f-stops, for extremely sunny days, can also reduce reflection and enhance contrast
Recommended DJI MINI 4 Pro settings when used with ND filters
When using ND filters with the DJI MINI 4 Pro drone, the goal is to reduce light entering the camera to achieve proper exposure and maintain ideal shutter speed, especially in bright conditions. Find below the recommended manual camera settings:
- [Shutter Speed] Use the 180-degree rule, which means your shutter speed should be about double your frame rate. For example, if you’re shooting at 30 fps, the shutter speed should be 1/60s. ND filters help maintain this without overexposing the footage.
- [Aperture] The MINI 4 Pro has a fixed f/1.7 aperture, so you can’t (need to) adjust anything here.
- [ISO value] Keep the ISO as low as possible to avoid grainy footage. ISO 100 is ideal for most daylight conditions when using ND filters. You should avoid using ISO values over 400.
- [White Balance] Set it manually to match the lighting conditions (e.g., Sunny or Cloudy), avoiding automatic changes during recording.
- [Color Profile] Use a D-Log color profile for professional color grading and post-processing.
Additional Tips for Best Shots:
- Test different ND values based on the environment to achieve proper exposure and smooth motion blur.
- Rotate the PL filter to adjust its position and achieve optimal results, minimizing unwanted reflections from water and other reflective surfaces.
- Use the histogram feature to monitor exposure in real time.
- Practice in various lighting conditions to find the best combination of filters and settings for your preferred video style.
Price and availability
The MINI 4 Pro filter kit shown in this review can be ordered for $44.99 directly from KentFaith or their Amazon store. They offer seven other filter combos, or you can choose a specific filter, such as UV protective or ND1000.
Key features
- [All Day Kit] This 6-pack filter kit from K&F Concept is specially designed for DJI Mini 4 Pro. It includes CPL, ND4&PL, ND8&PL, ND16&PL, ND32&PL, and ND64&PL filters. It’s a valuable addition to your photography toolkit and basically covers your daily shooting needs.
- [Multi-Coated HD Optical Glass] Made of Top AGC Optical Glass, wich helps control light, capture vivid colors, and manage contrast without losing image sharpness. It is built with 28 layers of NANO coatings on both sides for solid protection against scratches, dust, soil, water, and oil.
- [CPL Filter] The circular polarizing filter effectively reduces glare and reflection from water, glass, foliage, and other nonmetallic surfaces. Adjust the shot angle to get clear images with more details and increased saturation.
- [Hybrid 8-64 ND&PL Filter] One filter has the ND and CPL filter features; it can not only control the amount of light entering the lens to darken skies, provide 2–6 stops of light reduction, take care of your needs for your all-day fun, from cloudy days to bright sunny days, but also avoid unwanted reflections coming from non-metallic, such as water, glass, etc., and contribute to increasing the contrast and saturation in blue skies and white clouds.
- [Gimbals Safe] The ultra-lightweight technology ensures each filter frame goes through a rigorous test without adversely affecting your drone gimbals calibration and performance.
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Since 2014, FirstQuadcopter has reviewed, thoroughly tested, and rated hundreds of products, including drones, gimbals, power stations, action cameras, 3D printers, and other high-tech gear to help you make better buying decisions. As always, if you found this review helpful, don’t forget to like, share, comment, and bookmark for more content like this!