Hi, looking for recommendations on ND filters for X-20. I’m interested in shooting long exposure stills and cinematic style videos. I only have the 16-55 kit lens for now, will the filters fit on other lenses? Might replace with something like a sigma 18-50 and maybe add an xf 70-300 down the road. Thanks!
You buy the filter for the lens, not the camera. Every camera has a filter thread size, generally you'd buy a matching size filter...or, if you have a few similarly sized lenses, you buy the filter to match the largest thread size and use a step-up ring with the filter on the smaller lenses.
Breakthrough is my favorite ND filter brand in terms of color consistency and even lighting across the frame.
You'd buy a screw-in round filter that fits the threads on the front of your lens. There's a marking on the lens telling you the size to buy. That filter will fit on any lens with the same thread. You can check the filter size before you buy.
When you have lenses with lots of different filter sizes, you can either (1) buy round screw in filters in each size, or (2) get "step up" or "step down" rings to make the filter fit a different size lens, or (3) buy large square filters and a filter holder, and the appropriate adapter ring for each size lens.
I've been happy with the K&F Concept screw-in filters, they are affordable and work well. If you want the absolute best, B+W is the choice.
the X-20 with the 16–55mm kit lens, you’ll want to check the thread size first, it should be 67mm. A good ND filter that won’t mess with your image quality is worth the investment, so look at options from B+W, Hoya, or PolarPro. For long exposure stills, an ND1000 (10-stop) is solid. For cinematic video, a variable ND (like 2–5 stop or 6–9 stop) makes more sense since you can adjust depending on the light.
If you’re thinking of switching to lenses like the Sigma 18–50 (which is 55mm) or the XF 70–300 (67mm), just get a 67mm ND and use step up rings for the smaller thread sizes. That way, you’re not buying a new filter for every lens. Just make sure the filter is good quality, otherwise, stepping up won’t be worth it.
