Really nice! Great build quality. I bought this for a LX100 camera. It is extremely lightweight so it shouldn't overload the motor of the Panasonic LX100's retractable zoom lens when mounted. If you want to shoot video wide open during the day and keep the 1/50 shutter because of the 180 degree rule, then this is the ticket. (high shutter speeds would give you a strobe effect which may not be desirable.) Hint: Make sure to tighten unit on lens gently. If not tightened, you may inadvertently rotate the whole unit. The outer filter size (facing subject) is larger than 43mm, I will have to figure out what kind of dust cap fits if I want to leave it on during shooting sessions.
21/03/2015
The darkening you get is 1 stop minimum and 3 stops maximum before a huge purple "X" goes across the entire field of view. Plus, these are polarizers even at minimum setting...and worse, you will have to slightly unscrew the filter to adjust the polarization effect. Polarization flattens human faces which look much brighter with a bit of shine to them. And, if you adjust them during a shot, you are likely to jiggle the camera a bit unless locked down on a tripod etc.These problems are not unique to this make of Vari-ND but affect all of them regardless of price...this one is fairly well built and affordable as they go. Vari-NDs are held up as saviors by DSLR video enthusiasts tired of excusing the lack of ND filters in their hybrid cameras, but it's a false god.So...the only good use for Vari-ND filters is for when you are shooting video and need to change smoothly from 1 to 3 stops exposure reduction without affecting aperture or ISO, don't mind the polarized look, aren't going to overshoot (this one does not have hard stops) and have the camera supported well enough to do the fade without shake.Plausible, but don't spend more on them than this.
01/12/2014