FREEWELL67mm Threaded Hard Stop Variable ND Filter Bright Day 6 to 9 Stop

I would give this Freewell VND five stars, simply for the build quality, design (metal lens cover is awesome), packaging etc. But the one caveat is that, at 4 or 5 stops down, when doing photography (not so much with video), there is some major cross x vignetting. My pictures are straight out of camera, showing a shot without the VND and one with it on at 5 stops with the iso raised to expose correctly, though both of these are a bit underexposed.I did a lot of my own testing for videos and photos using my Sony A7iii with the Tamron 28-70 F2.8 lens. All photos and video shot at f2.8 (that's the point of having an ND) at the widest setting: 28mm. Photos inside at stops 4 and 5 had this cross polarization as well.However, when I switched to video, filming outdoors and indoors at 60fps, shutter 1/120 and 30fps, shutter 1/60, there was much less cross polarization. I am primarily a videographer, so it was a breath of fresh air to see most of the vignetting gone when doing video. I'm not really sure why this is, but it's great. There is still some vignetting in video, but at that point when filming outdoors, I had cranked my ISO up to 1,250, which is something I would never do.Overall, I say definitely buy for video- This VND will save you so much time, and my professional production projects are always time-sensitive. For photos, I would not use this beyond 3 stops, which is not bad considering the price and ease. Or maybe you could use at stops 4 and 5 if you zoom in a lot. Please note that all Variable ND filters will cross polarize, so spending more money on another one will not necessarily get you better results. The four stars is more of a knock agains VNDs, not so much against Freewell, although Freewell does advertise this VND not cross polarizing. I own other Freewell NDs for my drones and they are awesome.

This filter had a good range of ND strength, and I loved that it had hard stops as well. One quirk about it is that the tension when rotating the front of the filter was fairly strong, so when adjusting it, it is possible to actually unscrew it from the lens, because the tension in the filter can be stronger than the tension holding it onto the threads, unless you really crank it onto the lens, which I never wanted to do.However, in spite of not cranking it down, and making sure not to cross-thread the filter, on a wedding shoot this past weekend, the filter wouldn't stay on the lens. After closer inspection, I saw that the threads on the ND filter had stripped away, causing it to no longer hold onto the threads of the lens. I was super disappointed, as I really otherwise loved this filter. No noticeable color cast, good range, seemingly good build quality, and good price. Can't have everything, I guess, and it's too late to send it back.

Even though its over $200 for the set, the value you get in terms of build quality, optical quality, size, features, and performance is far greater than similar VNDs from other bigger companies. Build & optical quality is right up there with the best of them. The knurling on the ring makes gripping for adjustments & installation/removal very easy. Have not had any issues screwing it onto my lenses or step-up rings. Much thinner than the Hoya I had been using. The hard stops at the ends & numbering on rings take the guesswork out of wondering where you are on the filter and eliminated the dreaded 'X' cross-polarization on so many VNDs. The metal magnetic lens caps (wow!) protects the filter when not in use. Its strong enough to not fall off if bumped a little, but easy enough to pull off when you need it. Very minimal colorcast which make editing so much easier. So when you factor everything you get compared to other VNDs, some costing more (for just 1!) with worse performance, the Freewells are a bargain.

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.

The filter works well. The case that comes with for carrying is very cheap. The case also came with scratch marks on it.

Love Freewell ND’s but the description is a little misleading. It says hard stops like the black mist version but unfortunately, the only hard stop is at the beginning and end. I guess it’s still better than none so that you don’t run into any X patterns.

El filtro 10/10, lo que me molesta mucho, es que la caja del producto viniese abierta, y algo rota de una esquina.

Good but no hard stops

Una de las mejores compras que e realizado😎

Antes tenia que andar jugando con la velocidad constantemente para compensar la imagen, ahora me olvido de eso y solo compenso con el filtro, no estropea la imagen y va de maravilla para este tiempo de mucho sol.