Anbee Camera Filters

William He · Mar 16, 2019

Just found some Anbee Camera filters for the Anafi on amazon for $31, wondering if anyone bought these and if they could give a review.

Krusty Geeza · Mar 16, 2019

They are Sunnylife branded, I'm pretty sure they are what Pete @Efliernz uses. He may be able to comment for you about them.

He shared some footage taken using them at:

Anafi Trial - flying with the iPad Mini 4 and holder... and first time out with the ND8

My tablet holder has room to connect my rc transmitter lanyard - I'm delighted with the balance. Out for some non-standard film flying today. Trying the ND8, which brought the shutter down to about 1/240. I should have gone further with the ND16 or 32 but I only have 1 battery - until Friday...

parrotpilots.com

Efliernz · Mar 17, 2019

Krusty Geeza said:
They are Sunnylife branded, I'm pretty sure they are what Pete @Efliernz uses. He may be able to comment for you about them.

He shared some footage taken using them at:

Anafi Trial - flying with the iPad Mini 4 and holder... and first time out with the ND8

My tablet holder has room to connect my rc transmitter lanyard - I'm delighted with the balance. Out for some non-standard film flying today. Trying the ND8, which brought the shutter down to about 1/240. I should have gone further with the ND16 or 32 but I only have 1 battery - until Friday...

parrotpilots.com

They appear cheap but capable. I’ve not been able to compare them to any others but let’s be honest... they are small and light and need to be, given the small size of the Anafi camera and the way it moves. Colour looks ok but I haven’t done a huge amount of flying with them. I have compared colour with and without and I can’t see any difference.
They push on (after the power-up and gimbal self-calibration) and while some have lost filters of various brands, I (as you see in the video) got some good results without any loosening despite flying sideways at 40km/hr.

Dirk_ANAFI · Mar 17, 2019

I would not recommend the Sunnylife filters.
My recommendations:
1. Freewell, like: Amazon.com : Freewell Budget Kit E-Series - Camera Lens Filters Set 6Pack ND4, ND8, ND16, CPL, ND32/PL, ND64/PL Made for Used with Parrot Anafi Drone : Camera & Photo
2. This type with a gap: Amazon.com: Splendidsun Filter Set for Parrot ANAFI, Ultralight Filter, ND Light Reduction Mirror, CPL Polarizer, UV Protection Mirror, 6 Piece Set: Home & Kitchen
Both normally can be mounted before gimbal initialization and have a good quality.

Wezsh0T · Mar 17, 2019

Dirk_ANAFI said:
I would not recommend the Sunnylife filters.
My recommendations:
1. Freewell, like: Amazon.com : Freewell Budget Kit E-Series - Camera Lens Filters Set 6Pack ND4, ND8, ND16, CPL, ND32/PL, ND64/PL Made for Used with Parrot Anafi Drone : Camera & Photo
2. This type with a gap: Amazon.com: Splendidsun Filter Set for Parrot ANAFI, Ultralight Filter, ND Light Reduction Mirror, CPL Polarizer, UV Protection Mirror, 6 Piece Set: Home & Kitchen
Both normally can be mounted before gimbal initialization and have a good quality.

Why are these better than the Sunnylife?

Has anyone built a lens hood for the Anafi lens? I get lots of lens flare when flying.

Efliernz · Mar 17, 2019

Dirk_ANAFI said:
I would not recommend the Sunnylife filters.
My recommendations:
1. Freewell, like: Amazon.com : Freewell Budget Kit E-Series - Camera Lens Filters Set 6Pack ND4, ND8, ND16, CPL, ND32/PL, ND64/PL Made for Used with Parrot Anafi Drone : Camera & Photo
2. This type with a gap: Amazon.com: Splendidsun Filter Set for Parrot ANAFI, Ultralight Filter, ND Light Reduction Mirror, CPL Polarizer, UV Protection Mirror, 6 Piece Set: Home & Kitchen
Both normally can be mounted before gimbal initialization and have a good quality.

Unfortunately living at the bottom of the world makes it difficult to source the bits we want (like batteries in an unsupported market). Sunnylife was the only type easily sourced for me.
Why the recommendation against Sunnylife? I’m just wondering as if there’s better, I’ll talm nicely to my sister in the US and get her to post some Freewell to me.
Cheers, P

Dirk_ANAFI · Mar 17, 2019

I returned them: to heavy, initialization fails. You have to mount them after gimbal initialization (I hate doing that, because I have to fight against gimbal motors).

Krusty Geeza · Mar 17, 2019

Dirk_ANAFI said:
I returned them: to heavy, initialization fails. You have to mount them after gimbal initialization (I hate doing that, because I have to fight against gimbal motors).

I apply mine after gimbal calibration, but, I have good fine motor skills & have worked out how to grip the gimbal from above & below without applying any movement to it while I slip on the ND filters I use which are a different brand from these.

Dirk_ANAFI · Mar 17, 2019

My motor skills are ok, but each minimal force on the gimbal causes the motors to interact. You cannot avoid that.

Efliernz · Mar 17, 2019

Dirk_ANAFI said:
My motor skills are ok, but each minimal force on the gimbal causes the motors to interact. You cannot avoid that.

I understand your concerns. Accepting that pushing them on afterwards isn't ideal - do you believe they perform ok?

Dirk_ANAFI · Mar 17, 2019

Yes, I think so. The optical quality seemed to be good.

Efliernz · Mar 17, 2019

Dirk_ANAFI said:
Yes, I think so. The optical quality seemed to be good.

I'll probably get some Freewell delivered by my visiting sister in a couple of months... never being afraid of an upgrade

What's the point having family on the other side of the world if you can't use them!!! (That's the only way I got my spare batteries)

Dirk_ANAFI · Mar 17, 2019

I'm in Europe. I hear about many problems to get parts in different countries.
Sometimes I think we could possibly organize something over or with this forum for those who have no sister here ...

Krusty Geeza · Mar 17, 2019

Dirk_ANAFI said:
My motor skills are ok, but each minimal force on the gimbal causes the motors to interact. You cannot avoid that.

Dirk, I wasn't suggesting that you are an oaf. Just that they are fine to be applied with gentleness after calibration.

Efliernz · Mar 17, 2019

Krusty Geeza said:
Dirk, I wasn't suggesting that you are an oaf. Just that they are fine to be applied with gentleness after calibration.

That's how I took it. As a techie/electronics engineer I suspect I'm over-cautious with things like this.

Apologies if I'm lacking tact this morning!!! I appreciate any feedback here - especially when I'm one of the few in my country that's taken the intelligent step of Anafi ownership. Our open-forum here is worth gold to me - and many others.

Dirk_ANAFI · Mar 17, 2019

Oh, I had to google translate what "oaf" means, but as a MD I can tell you: mental disability is not necessarily connected with bad motor skills.

I understand what you mean, but I don't think that it is possible to manually apply filters without at least slightly moving the gimbal out of it's intended position forcing the motors to act against the deviation. So MY decision is: never touch the gimbal as long as Anafi is powered up for the sake of the gimbal motors.
Of course that can be seen quite different.

Krusty Geeza · Mar 17, 2019

Not laughing at your decision not to apply them after calibration @Dirk_ANAFI but at the investigation of the term "oaf", especially as my partner is a bit of an oaf! She's beautiful & I love her to bits, but she's not very refined with her fine motor skills!

I see it as a gentle thing & feel no resistance fighting back at all, if I felt the slightest resistance from the gimbal motors in any way, I wouldn't do it.