- Camera lens filters are a key tool for any pro
filmmaker or pro photographer and now there's
some great quality filters that are available
to help you create better Smartphone videos
and photos as well.
So which filters should you have in your video kit?
How should you use them and what's the best
Android and iPhone camera lens filter brand
that we would recommend?
I'll be covering all of that off and more in this video.
(jazzy music)
Hey, it's Justin Brown here from Primal Video.
We release a ton of content to help you get better
results with your videos faster.
If you're new here, then make sure you click
that big subscribe button and all the links
to everything we mention in this video,
you can find linked in the description box below.
So let's jump into it.
Lens filters are a key tool in any pro filmmaker
or photographer's kit and for good reason.
They can not only improve the detail and composition of
your shots under the right conditions,
but they can also unlock a huge amount of creative
potential and flexibility.
Whether you're shooting videos or photos,
they can easily help you do things like remove glare
and also totally change how the motion is captured.
When I've been shooting on my Smartphone I've really
missed having a decent set of filters
and all the extra flexibility that that provides.
I've been experimenting with filters for Smartphones
for quite a while now and I hadn't found any
that I'd give a solid thumbs up and recommend
on the channel.
Most of them were made from cheap plastic
and definitely didn't hit the quality bar
that I was looking for until now.
Sandmarc recently reached out and offered to send us
some free filters to test.
I took a look at their website and they made some
pretty big promises, so we gave them our standard terms,
that we'd love to but we can't guarantee a video.
We'll put them through their paces and we'll only
review it if we like it and recommend it.
They agreed, we got the filters, we tested them out
and that was so good that we thought it was finally time
to get some Smartphone filters up on the channel.
So in this video we're gonna look at which lens filters
I'd recommend starting out within your Smartphone
video kit, how you can use them to improve your videos,
as well as my recommended iPhone lens filters
that also work for most Androids.
Plus, make sure you stick around because after we're done
I'm gonna show you my number one tip for getting the most
out of your Smartphone when it comes to video quality.
And while you're watching make sure you drop a comment
down below and let us know what your number one tip
or accessory is for shooting better videos
on your Smartphone.
And while you're down there, make sure you check out
the ideas that other people have posted as well,
because there's always a ton of great tips and hacks
from the Primal Video community.
So let's quickly start out with what a filter actually is.
A filter is something that sits on the outside
of your camera lens to help you change up the shot.
So it could be something like a polarized filter,
which will allow you to remove the glare.
It could be something like an ND filter,
which will darken down your shot to give you
a different look or a different motion, capture
for your video or for your photos.
Could be a colored filter or a gradient filter
to totally change the look of the image
or the video that you're capturing.
So there's a heap of different filters out there
and, essentially, they're there as a creative tool
to help you get more out of your cameras.
So the two main filters I would recommend to start with
for anyone that's shooting video would be an ND filter
or a neutral density filter, and a polarized filter.
Now what an ND filter will allow you to do is to limit
the amount of light, or restrict the amount of light
that is sent through onto your camera sensor.
So it's essentially like putting a pair of sunglasses
in front of your camera lens.
It's gonna darken the shot down.
So what this let's you do is change how motion is
captured in either your photos or your videos
by changing the amount of light that's let in.
So this will give you more control over things like
your aperture, your ISO, and your shutter speed
because you'll now be able to restrict the light
before you even get to adjusting those three settings,
which is the three settings that you would normally use
to adjust the brightness and the look of your shot.
So in regards to creating videos with a Smartphone,
adding an ND filter will allow you to shoot
at lower shutter speeds, which means that you're
able to get a more cinematic look,
or it can also help you bring motion blur into your shots
as well, if you're after some more creativity
with your filming.
Now in regards to photography, once again, an ND filter
is gonna help you limit the amount of light
coming into the camera, which will let you play
with the different exposure settings and get more
control over those.
So this would be perfect if you want to create
a long exposure shot of something like a waterfall
where you get that nice look of the water,
where it's all blurred and flowing smoothly,
instead of just freezing time over one split second.
So it gives you a huge range of creative control
just by limiting and changing the amount of light
that you're letting into the camera itself.
Now a polarized filter is normally used to help
remove or limit the amount of glare or reflections
from water or from bright surfaces.
So a polarized filter is ideal if you're gonna be
using it down at the lake, down at the beach,
somewhere where you've got a heap of glare
coming off the water, or you can also use it to
get creative and get some different looks
with your scenery shots, or scenic shots as well.
So you can use it to bring out more blue in the sky
or more green in the grass.
So you can get creative with your polarized filters as well.
Think of it as your polarized sunglasses
when you put them on it cuts out the glare
and you also get a different look or a different
lot of colors through.
So it's exactly the same thing.
Okay, so now let's take a look at the Sandmarc filters.
The ones that we've got is the polarizing filter
and the ND filter kit, as well.
So what you get in the box is, obviously,
the filter itself, you also get the hard carry case,
which is a solid case, and your filters definitely
aren't gonna get damaged in here,
and you also get the clip, which is used to mount
the filter and clip it onto your Smartphone.
So straight out, my first impressions were that this
is definitely a high quality filter set.
You can tell straight away the build quality is awesome,
just looking at the glass it's high quality.
Now, I've seen some really cheap sets
and, yeah, this definitely isn't one of them.
So in the polarized filter kit, it's actually
a circular polarizer, so you can adjust the amount
or the level of the polarization when you're using
the filter, so that's really, really cool.
And with the ND filters, they actually come
in three different gradients, or three different levels,
and these are stackable, meaning that if you want
to add multiples together to really darken down
your shot, then you've got that ability too.
So that's really cool.
And really, because all of these filters are
all the exact same size and all have the same thread,
it means you can actually even add the polarized filter
onto use with the ND filters as well,
so that's pretty cool.
So to use them, all you need to do is screw the lens
onto the clip and then clip the clip onto your Smartphone.
Now, when you're clipping it onto your Smartphone,
you want to make sure that it is 100%
centered over the camera lens.
Now these will work on both the front facing
and the rear cameras on most Smartphones.
They do have a list of certified or recommended
devices on their website.
These include most of the modern iPhones,
so everything it says from 5C and up,
to the latest iPhones, but I'm sure it would work fine
on some of the older iPhones as well.
On the Android side there's a heap of supported devices,
everything from the Moto G through the Google Pixel,
all the way up to the latest Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus.
Now really looking at the design of these filters,
they should really work with most Smartphones.
I'd be pretty surprised if it doesn't work for your
particular phone, but with any of the Smartphones
that have the jewel cameras on the back,
you just wanna make sure that you are putting
the filters over the correct lens, depending on which
one you're going to be using.
So when we're testing out the filters,
they worked exactly as you would expect
for high quality filters.
There was no vignetting, there was no warping,
there was nothing noticeable that there was even
a lens filter attached to the camera while
we were using them, so that's really all you can ask for
when you're using filters on your cameras.
One thing to be aware of, though, is that in a lot
of cases, you'll wanna remove your phone case
while you're using these filters for best results,
so that the clip will actually mount properly
to your phone and that the filter will sit
hard up against your camera lens.
The filters, themselves, worked exactly as they should.
There's there levels of darkness with the ND filters,
they bundle in an ND4 and ND8 and an ND16
and, obviously, you can stack those up
and they worked really, really well and we were
able to get some amazing shots, both video and stills.
And the polarized filter was exactly the same,
it worked as you would expect for a high quality
filter set for a professional camera.
So it's amazing to have these filters,
such high quality for your Smartphone use as well.
With the polarized filter having it as an adjustable
polarized filter, where you just turn the outside
and you're able to adjust the amount of polarization
in your shot is amazing and it saves having to swap
out three or four different ones.
To be able to get the level of polarization you'd like,
you simply just rotate the lens as you would
with a professional polarizer to get
the look that you're after.
So it's absolutely amazing to have these filters
available for your Smartphones as well.
All right, so now I know that you're just
hanging out for the price.
How much are these filters?
Well, you can currently pick up the ND filter kit
for $59.99 on Amazon and you can pick up the polarized
filter kit for $29.99.
So amazing value considering what these lenses
will let you do and how much more creative control
you'll have over your videos and your photos
from your Smartphone.
Now before we cover off on my number one tip for getting
better video results with your Smartphone,
let's look at who I'd recommend these lenses for.
Well, obviously, I'm gonna recommend them to someone
who is serious about taking their photography
or their video with their Smartphone to the next level.
So if you're looking to get long exposure photos,
or long exposure videos to change up the motion,
to have more cinematic looking videos
and you're serious about creating professional
looking videos and photos using your Smartphone,
then these are for you.
So who would I not recommend these lenses for?
Well, obviously, someone who is not gonna use them.
If you've got no need for an ND filter
or for a polarized filter, you're just happy
with your Smartphone photos and videos they way they are,
and applying filters using things like Instagram
or Snapseed after you've created your photos,
then this, obviously, isn't for you.
This is really for those people that like to do
everything in camera and get the most out of their
camera, pushing the boundaries of what you can create
with your Smartphone, then, yeah, this is for you.
So if you're not that, then, obviously,
don't spend the money on these filters.
In regards to my number one tip to get the most out of
your Smartphone when it comes to creating quality
videos with your Smartphone is to use a third party
camera app, or an after market camera app.
Get away from using the built in one that came
with your phone and get some power behind your videos.
So this will allow you to do things like lock down
your shutter speed, your ISO, your white balance
and a heap of other advanced controls that you
would normally just find on your DSLR or video camera.
You've got all that power that you can harness
and lock down in your Smartphone, as well,
using an app like FiLMiC Pro.
So check out the video linked on screen now
for a full walk through of the key settings
to use when you're using FiLMiC Pro on your Smartphone,
whether it's an IOS or an Android device.
And I'll see you soon.