I’m looking for a high quality variable ND filter. Does anyone have experience with multiple brands of variable ND filters, or have one that they can confirm doesn’t cause a major color cast, x pattern, or splotchiness? It seems like this is a filter that the majority of company’s can’t nail down.
I always see people making nice cinematic videos, or just videos in general, that are totally messed up due to a bad VND filter. And I’ve specifically noticed it on PolarPro VND filters. I have a hard time trusting most brands of VND’s you see that are basically just a cheap Chinese company with no history and no R&D going into it. Compared to a well known company that specializes in filters like Tiffen or B+W.
Surprisingly, it seems that Freewell and Haida have the cleanest looking VND filters but they’re also fairly new brands.
I know that fixed ND filters are the ideal choice, but that just doesn’t work to swap filters if the lighting/scenery is constantly changing
All variable ND filters are terrible. Stacking the cheapest straight NDs will always be better than the most expensive VND. Magnetic systems make that easy if you want round glass. Slide in square filters can be more economical in some combos.
If you must have a VND, just get a cheap one. Spending big $$$ on VND is a waste. I've used several across the price spectrum and there was no meaningful difference. They all had wacky color shifting and vignetting.
Haida filters are fantastic. I use their straight and grad ND square glass. I have not tried their VND.
NiSi's all the way 100%. As long as you are good with a circular filter this is the way to go. I own several systems. They also sell sets with step down rings in a very nice case. 82mm is ideal if you will never need 95mm and only want to own one size. I own kits for 95mm, 82mm and the new 67mm. I love them!
jeffbuzz wrote:
All variable ND filters are terrible. Stacking the cheapest straight NDs will always be better than the most expensive VND. Magnetic systems make that easy if you want round glass. Slide in square filters can be more economical in some combos.
If you must have a VND, just get a cheap one. Spending big $$$ on VND is a waste. I've used several across the price spectrum and there was no meaningful difference. They all had wacky color shifting and vignetting.
Haida filters are fantastic. I use their straight and grad ND square glass. I have not tried their VND.
And this is what I don’t understand. Even the good brands make bad VND filters, and then cheap ones can perform the same or better. I don’t want square filters. I’m probably leaning more towards the Haida VND but I’m curious if there’s a brand that’s a hidden gem that I’m missing
netexpress wrote:
NiSi's all the way 100%. As long as you are good with a circular filter this is the way to go. I own several systems. They also sell sets with step down rings in a very nice case. 82mm is ideal if you will never need 95mm and only want to own one size. I own kits for 95mm, 82mm and the new 67mm. I love them!
I would be going with 82mm for a 24-70 GM lens. NiSi looks nice but I’m not a fan of them stacking an additional filter onto the VND to make it 5-9 stops. Doesn’t 3 filters like that create some bad coloring and spots?
Duramaxjon wrote:
And this is what I don’t understand. Even the good brands make bad VND filters, and then cheap ones can perform the same or better. I don’t want square filters. I’m probably leaning more towards the Haida VND but I’m curious if there’s a brand that’s a hidden gem that I’m missing
A variable ND is just two polarizers. So you're already using a stack of two filters with a VND. All commonly available VND filters I know of use circular polarizers. Those use polarizing foil layered on top of the glass. So the quality of the underlying glass doesn't matter much if the polarizing foil is garbage. That's why so many polarizing filters are terrible. Put two terrible polarizers together and you have an even more terrible VND.
jeffbuzz wrote:
A variable ND is just two polarizers. So you're already using a stack of two filters with a VND. All commonly available VND filters I know of use circular polarizers. Those use polarizing foil layered on top of the glass. So the quality of the underlying glass doesn't matter much if the polarizing foil is garbage. That's why so many polarizing filters are terrible. Put two terrible polarizers together and you have an even more terrible VND.
That article is 10 years old and they were testing filters that are almost 20 years old. A lot has changed since then. There are many people out there who have done their own testing and landed on the Nisi True Colors. I have no affiliation with them, but have tested many brands and the Nisi's are great. If I thought there was a better system, I would own it.
Duramaxjon wrote:
I would be going with 82mm for a 24-70 GM lens. NiSi looks nice but I’m not a fan of them stacking an additional filter onto the VND to make it 5-9 stops. Doesn’t 3 filters like that create some bad coloring and spots?
If you don't have the time to do your own testing maybe search for the unsponsored YouTube reviews and you'll see plenty of votes for the Nisi filters.
Variable NDs had some limited applications in the pre-magnetic and pre-mirrorless era. Once you added a 10-stop ND on it was nearly impossible to compose. With magnetic filters you can compose and then slap the filter on shoot, if you need to adjust comp remove the filter and shoot again. The benefit is not tremendous if you rarely shoot filters but it is real.
Mirrorless cameras these days can jack the gain on the VF and screen to allow composition even with a 10 stop ND filter on. IMO there isn't a particular benefit to spend the money on a VND these days.
GroovyGeek wrote:
Variable NDs had some limited applications in the pre-magnetic and pre-mirrorless era. Once you added a 10-stop ND on it was nearly impossible to compose. With magnetic filters you can compose and then slap the filter on shoot, if you need to adjust comp remove the filter and shoot again. The benefit is not tremendous if you rarely shoot filters but it is real.
Mirrorless cameras these days can jack the gain on the VF and screen to allow composition even with a 10 stop ND filter on. IMO there isn't a particular benefit to spend the money on a VND these days....Show more →
I’m mainly looking into a VND to dabble in video, not longer exposure photography. Just some little short form action shots of snowmobiles and dirt bikes. I want to follow the 180* shutter rule to keep proper motion blur. I would like to use fixed ND filters, but if I’m shooting towards the sun and then away from the sun, maybe toward a tree line, the exposure is constantly changing and it’s so fast to fix with a twist of a VND instead of stacking and swapping individual ND filters
Duramaxjon wrote:
I’m mainly looking into a VND to dabble in video, not longer exposure photography. Just some little short form action shots of snowmobiles and dirt bikes. I want to follow the 180* shutter rule to keep proper motion blur. I would like to use fixed ND filters, but if I’m shooting towards the sun and then away from the sun, maybe toward a tree line, the exposure is constantly changing and it’s so fast to fix with a twist of a VND instead of stacking and swapping individual ND filters
This guy used the stacked Nisi vari-ND filters to shoot this video even though he links a freewell in his gear section. I just scanned the video at 1.5x speed once but I didn't notice any X pattern:
artsupreme wrote:
That article is 10 years old and they were testing filters that are almost 20 years old. A lot has changed since then. There are many people out there who have done their own testing and landed on the Nisi True Colors. I have no affiliation with them, but have tested many brands and the Nisi's are great. If I thought there was a better system, I would own it.
Could you share with us what has fundamentally changed in polarizing filter manufacturing over the past 10 years?
Duramaxjon wrote:
I would be going with 82mm for a 24-70 GM lens. NiSi looks nice but I’m not a fan of them stacking an additional filter onto the VND to make it 5-9 stops. Doesn’t 3 filters like that create some bad coloring and spots?
It works great with the JetMag Pro VND and stacked ND filters. If you don't need the VND just get JetMag Pro ND filters instead or get both. You won't see the dreaded X-patterns or cross-polarization, no color tints or shifts. The JetMag Pro system also takes 100mm filters with an optional attachment which is great if I want to use my Sigh-Ray, Cokin or Lee filters but don't want to bring their separate filter holders. And you can combine circular filters with 100mm as well. The whole system is magnetic - so very simple to use. Just focus and compose and pop on whatever filter you need from your NiSi pouch.
artsupreme wrote:
That article is 10 years old and they were testing filters that are almost 20 years old. A lot has changed since then. There are many people out there who have done their own testing and landed on the Nisi True Colors. I have no affiliation with them, but have tested many brands and the Nisi's are great. If I thought there was a better system, I would own it.
Ancient history! I bought the Hoya CPLs back in 2007 and I won't even use them anymore.
artsupreme wrote:
This guy used the stacked Nisi vari-ND filters to shoot this video even though he links a freewell in his gear section. I just scanned the video at 1.5x speed once but I didn't notice any X pattern:
You won't see the dreaded X-patters with the NiSI JetMax Pro system. They've really done an excellent job.
