Polaroid Variable ND filter

D

djbobbyrhodes

Well-known member
Saw one of these floating around Amazon

I snatched one up, and it arrived today. Here is a quick test I ran with it. Not really sure what else to check. It's night time, so I did the best I could with what I have readily available. As for build quality, it seems decent enough. The 52mm threads on the front of the lens are mega tiny, so I'm a touch worried about stripping those by over tightening. I'm not familiar with other variable ND filters, but this one doesn't have any numbers or anything, only little squares to indicate where your ND stops are. I guess you have to count them each time. Also, it seems that it would be easy to bump the filter when focusing and it could throw you off when coming home to edit footage. Perhaps this is how all variable ND's work?

Enough talk, more tests:
polaroidndtest.jpg
 
Never heard of it, but it could be promising with the Polaroid name on it. One place where other variable ND filters fail horribly, is when used with a telephoto lens. If you've got a 200mm or 300mm or something, try a with/without ND filter shot, and see if there's a substantial difference in sharpness between with it, and without it (try to get the exposure the same if possible).
 
Did you have the same white balance for both or manually set it for each? In otherwords, have you noticed any color shift with the filter?
 
That's exactly my concern as well. Polarizer usually don't block short wave lengths (i.e. blue) very good.
 
Very intriguing test results.

$40 for an ND filter is really cheap. I'd like to see a few more tests, but I might just pull the trigger because it's so cheap.
 
Barry_Green said:
Never heard of it, but it could be promising with the Polaroid name on it. One place where other variable ND filters fail horribly, is when used with a telephoto lens. If you've got a 200mm or 300mm or something, try a with/without ND filter shot, and see if there's a substantial difference in sharpness between with it, and without it (try to get the exposure the same if possible).
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I bought this in a bit of a rush. Saw it posted on CheesyCam and I mulled it over for a day or two waiting for some reviews to come in. The next thing I know, supplies were dropping like crazy so I snatched one up. It's only a 52mm filter, so it won't fit any of my other lenses. Probably should have bought the 77mm filter (when it was still available) and a couple step up rings.

Did you have the same white balance for both or manually set it for each? In otherwords, have you noticed any color shift with the filter?
Click to expand...
I had it set to AWB. I haven't noticed any color shift, but I haven't really put it through the paces yet.


I can also try that "one dollar resolution chart" test when I get a minute to see if there's any issues. Also will try it with the various preset white balances and a custom white balance. But the telephoto lens test can't be done with what I got.
 
Yeah, at that level of scaling the softening in negligible. There's an apparent green/yellow color shift, but it's difficult to tell in context with the image's full resolution. Do you have a 100mm or higher you can test on?
 
doesn't look different from the LCW fader ND on my 35mm: on short-to-medium lenses these filters fare worse than a standard ND but still kind of ok, and much more convenient (screw-ins are a pain to use)

the real issue is with longer lenses; if you bought your fader just for that 50mm (as it seems you did), then it's just about fine
 
Quote I read considering these filters:

This ain’t yer momma’s Polaroid.
Polaroid went bankrupt in 2001 and was sold to a subsidiary of Bank One. Since then Bank One has made money by selling the use of the brand name for all sorts of manufacturers to slap on their products. I wouldn’t “trust” their reputation.
 
I would use regular ND, i bought ND8 Hoya and i dont see quality drop on my 200mm , but when i screw on different brand ND8 (glass too) then i cant focus with 200mm (everything is soft,focus is shifted),if you bump into ISO 1600 with ND8 then you probably can already use ISO100 without the filter.
 
Here's a test i did @ 150mm (on a GH1, so 300mm in 35mm terms) f/2.8 with the Polaroid Vari-ND. Not terrible, not great. It's probably the worse you're gonna see out of this filter as far as softening goes. Color shifts a bit too over to a yellow/green, but certainly correctable through white balance. White balance was manual, didnt adjust in between shots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joOap6wUKDM
 
Are people still buying fader ND's? :-)

It's all the same crap... either make your own, or buy a filter holder & stick to your lens, hell even cheaper....
 
kaib0rg said:
Here's a test i did @ 150mm (on a GH1, so 300mm in 35mm terms) f/2.8 with the Polaroid Vari-ND. Not terrible, not great. It's probably the worse you're gonna see out of this filter as far as softening goes. Color shifts a bit too over to a yellow/green, but certainly correctable through white balance. White balance was manual, didnt adjust in between shots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joOap6wUKDM
Click to expand...

too soft for my taste, even on this 720p60 test with youtube compression and all

I just bought a set of fotodiox cokin-like filters, will try to test them over the weekend, comparing them with my tiffen screw-ins...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top