FREEWELL82mm Threaded Hard Stop Variable ND Filter Bright Day 6 to 9 Stop

These are the best variable nd filters I have ever used. Beautiful colors and skin tones and an added bonus, it cuts Infrared Pollution. I used it on my Arri Alexa Classic and my Blackmagic Pocket 4K and Pocket 6K and the filters do an AMAZING job. Black fabrics look black, not magenta. Tree foliage is a beautiful, earthy green not brown. LOVE THEM!! Yes, if you use it on a super wide lens, you may get a slight darkening on the corners. Guess what? All variable NDs do this. But is does it less than any other. So if you need to use super wide lenses, either use straight NDs, or stack the variable ND with a straight ND so you don't have to dial in as much. All tools have strengths and weaknesses, and these filters strengths far outweigh the cons.

I wanted to upgrade from the K&F Concept VND to something with less vignetting. I figured if it's supposed to have none at 16mm it wouldn't have very much at 15 for my RF 15-35mm lens and if needed punching into 16 would be fine. This thing has terrible black corners all the way out until 24mm. I compared it side by side with the K&F and put the Freewell back in it's box to return minutes after opening it. What's worse is it's borderline black cross going on rather than vignetting. It's only in the top left and bottom right corners of the image so if you rotate the filter on the threads it moves around the image. Maybe I'm just picky but it's also noisy. Not a big deal for photographers but for video the scraping sound of turning the filter right at the end of the shotgun mic is terrible. I actually thought for a minute that I received a returned defect or something but it was in sealed packaging. I thought about going three stars because the lens cap is dope and the packaging is great but the filter just isn't good. Bummed...I had high hopes.

Happy I came across these filters. I have been using other filters for years, some struggled with color casts. These have excellent color rendition, and turn between the different stops smoothly. The magnetic metal cap is a plus. Overall the quality on these is great, and unless you need to have a gold ring around your filter, these are a better option than the Polar Pro ND filters at more than 1/2 the price AND you don't have to give your hard earned money to an over-hyped YouTuber.

I had a very low quality variable ND filter previously that would introduce reflections on my video and pictures. That filter left such a sour spot in my photo arsenal, and I was reluctant to buy another variable ND. However, I needed a solution for recording videos in various lighting and I found out that the same company that makes ND filters for my drones started making round filters for my mirror-less camera setup. I figured I would give them a shot and was pleasantly surprised that I did not have any internal reflections anymore--but it also works as a great low-color-cast ND filters for long exposure photos.I have to add that the labels are very clearly visible and have a very pronounced end at the extremes, making it very easy to operate without looking at the filter. Also--I tend to leave lens caps in the box since they seem to pop off when I least expect and I lose them. This one attaches very nicely (magnets!) and stays on securely.

Update: May 12, 2021Used this in with a Freewell 72-77mm step up ring. First of all, that particular Freewell step-up ring is crap. It doesn't hold. Have a few of them and they all come off very easily. Had to return a few also. Have other Freewell step-up rings and they are fine, so it's only that particular model. For $30 a pop, stick with the Breakthrough or the Luzid's for $15; both are brass. Well, as for this VND, the performance is fine, but it was on a 72-77mm step up ring and it fell off onto a padded floor. Cracked. Well, if it was on concrete or even a hardwood or tiled floor, I'd understand. The floor was padded like for exercise rooms. Well, perfect angle to crack? Maybe, but the combination of the two as well as the lens cap issue just indicates to me that quality isn't so great. I already bought a bunch of Freewell step-up rings and even the 6-9 VND. Should have listened to everyone else and stuck with Peter McK. No more Freewell stuff for me. Just too risky to take a chance on my equipment. Experience is a great teacher.Update: February 24, 2020Its been only over a month owning this and I dropped the lens cap for the first time. The magnet separated from the cap. Didn't think too much of it and figured I can glue it back on when I get the chance. Contacted support about which glue they recommended and they responded very quickly even though it was the weekend. Bought the glue and realized that I needed to clean off the old glue that was spread sparsely . Pulled out the Dremel to clean surfaces and then glued the magnet back onto the cover. Needed to clean the excess glue residue and used the Dremel once again. It's not pretty since most of the black paint is stripped, but it does the job. Realized too much effort was put into this for something that I believe should have not been an issue. Docking a star for that. VND is still great. Just don't drop the lens cover. 4 stars.Original Review: january 8, 2020Great buy, especially since I was considering Peter McK's Polar Pro VND at over twice the price! I have used and own various fixed NDs/VNDs and they all have issues (color casting), but this definitely is a solid performer. Hard stops prevent X-pattern, which does come in handy, especially if you have some footage with other VNDs that you didn't realize the X-pattern was there until after done shooting. Sometimes it is extremely faint, but so disappointing. No more! Overall, love the quality and appreciate the lifetime warranty.

I'm really impressed with the quality of the filters. I would say it's as good as Peter McKinnon Variable ND, but for a way better price! Highly recommend and you definitely won't regret buying it.

This ND filter is one of the best I’ve used in its price range, not saying that it’s cheap but there more expensive ones out there. For me, it does a great job. The fact that it’s magnetic makes it even more easier to use.Give me great images straight out of the camera. I really love the filter.

does the job well on a Panasonic 10-25mm lens when using a wide aperture for filming. The ONLY downside is that you can not fit the lens hood once the filter is on bt since I use this mainly for indoor shooting I'm not going to give less than 5* for this excellent product

I use Freewell filters on my three drones and now all my lenses. This VariND is pure class. Superb box with magnetic lid, magnetic protective cap and the smoothness as you move through the stages is spot on. Colours and sharpness stay true with this filter so I highly recommend it! 😍👍👍👌

Great alternative mid priced VND.Lots of thought gone into quality and design.Why then do we include a fantastic magnetic lens cap that will not go in the box with the filter?!Top team on the main product, work experience kid designing the box . Big fail.

Work like they should at a very good price compared to some of the other brands