cyvideo
Veteran
Having used cameras with built-in NDs for years I've always found it a bit of pain using NDs on the A7 series. It's either matte boxes for NDs or swap filters on the run or use VNDs. Using good quality VNDs seems to work but I've found trying to get a smooth adjustment on the fly for video shooting a bit hit and miss. UNTIL! The light bulb moment. I had a PD Movie Live Air sitting on the shelf and I thought "Why not?"
The thought was"Can I motorize a Freewell variable ND that has a 5-stop range and that has hard stops at either end." The answer was a definite yes. What I ended up with after the PD Movie was calibrated to the hard stops on the Freewell VND was a beautifully smooth very finely controllable 5-stop VND which I could control from the left side 15mm rail. Shown here when testing the idea out on the FS7. Pix below.
Chris Young
The thought was"Can I motorize a Freewell variable ND that has a 5-stop range and that has hard stops at either end." The answer was a definite yes. What I ended up with after the PD Movie was calibrated to the hard stops on the Freewell VND was a beautifully smooth very finely controllable 5-stop VND which I could control from the left side 15mm rail. Shown here when testing the idea out on the FS7. Pix below.
Chris Young
