Hey I’m Tamara, and one of the things that I cover on my channel is gear reviews. So a
couple of months ago Freewell sent me their new Versatile Magnetic Variable ND system so since
being sent the system I’ve had a really good long time to test everything out,
so I’m gonna go over what the quality’s like, what you get in the system and a couple of
things that I noticed whilst using the it. But spoiler alert, the system’s awesome, I love it.
So first of all the versatility of this kit is really great, it’s got a normal variable ND base,
a variable ND 2 to 5 stop, a variable ND 6 to 9 stop, a circular polariser which is on the reverse
of the 2 - 5 stop, an ND32 and Circular Polariser in one which is on the reverse of the 6 - 9 stop,
and a 1/8 glow mist variable ND base. And the way that they all connect is via magnets. It’s
actually really well engineered because you have this normal variable ND base and then a
mist variable ND base, then all you have to do is just snap the variable NDs over the top of
either of the bases, or remove the base NDs to then use the polarisers. So with all that you’ve
basically got a really well rounded kit in one compact system. You can keep everything in this
small hard case, and it also comes with a cover which means you can just leave the filters on your
lens if you don’t wanna take them off whilst you’re moving between locations. The filters
are also waterproof, dustproof, oilproof, and scratch resistant with 18 layers of multi-coating.
The fact that you get all this in one system is pretty amazing, because if you were to buy
all these separately in the threaded versions it’d cost about $700-800, but with this
system the first 1000 sets are gonna be sold for $300 and then the second lot of 1000 sets
will be $350, then after that it’s $400. Which is actually really reasonable,
considering that you’re effectively getting 7 high quality filters in one system, and the quality’s
fantastic, both in the way that the footage looks and in overall build quality of the filters.
The variable NDs have hard stops so there’s no chance of getting that dreaded X that you get
with some other brand variable NDs, and in terms of vignetting, I couldn’t actually see any when
using my 40mm nor when using my 24mm. There’s no colour shift or colour cast when using the
filters which is also great. But you do need to remember, when using the polarisers that you
need to remove the base variable NDs otherwise you will get some weird colour shift going on.
I just want to give a special mention to the mist filter, because I love the effect as it
gives your footage a certain look; definitely not your everyday filter and it won’t be to everyone’s
taste but it adds a soft, dreamy effect that you might want to have when filming a certain type
of a narrative film or video. I did put a short video together of a just a quick b-roll sequence
I shot with the mist filter so be sure to check that out, there’s a link in the description for that.
Now there’s only one thing that I want to highlight that keeps coming up for
me when I use the filters, and that is that they can be a little bit tricky
to separate, especially the base filters where you’ve really gotta get your nails
in there. And even though the main filters have these ridges they’re so slim that there’s not a
lot to grip onto, so just pulling them apart can be a bit fiddly but you can kind of slide them
as you pull at the same time, which does help, but that being said it does mean that you
don’t have to worry about them sliding off your lens if your camera gets jiggled about a bit.
Overall the system’s awesome and I’m definitely gonna be buying myself a second set for when I
use a multi-camera setup. But what do you think? Is it something that you could see yourself buying?
Let me know in the comments below, and give the video a thumbs up if you found it useful or helpful.
I’ve dropped a link in the description to where you can find out more info
about the filter system and also where you can buy it. Thanks for watching, see you next time.