There's two new versions of the ever popular
Peter McKinnon Variable ND filters from PolarPro:
a Mark II and a new Mist Edition
for adding some diffusion without filter stacking.
Today, we're going to take a look at what's improved
on these filters and I'll throw in a nerdy explanation
on diffusion filters in general while we're at it.
Let's get undone!
[offbeat music]
♪ Gerald Undone ♪
♪ He's crazy ♪
What's happening, everybody? I'm Gerald Undone
and this is a tasty burger.
Okay, first up, some disclosure.
You should be aware that I was hired by PolarPro
to provide some comparison images of the diffusion filter
on and off and then make a little educational piece
for them on how diffusion filters work.
They didn't hire me to give any opinions on
these new filters, or to make this video you're watching now.
But I also wanted to tell you this so that you'd know
that if you saw any of my content attached
to any promotional materials for this product,
that they have my permission.
So, let's get that paid portion out of the way first,
my nerdy explanation on diffusion filters
and then I'll share with you some of my thoughts
on actually using these news VNDs.
In order to understand what a diffusion filter is
and why you might want to use one, you need to know
the proper definition of two things: diffusion, and halation.
We talk about diffusion all the time when it comes
to lighting subjects, and usually it's as simple as
putting some fabric in front of our light source and that is
a great example of diffusion because diffusion in physics
simply refers to moving something which can be light
or even molecules from a point of higher concentration
to lower concentration, or more simply, spreading something out.
Halation is a visual representation of this
which can be seen in our photos and video
by the actual light being spread out beyond the proper boundaries
of the fixture or source.
If you're into video games, rendering or computer graphics,
you might know this effect as bloom,
which is a simulated gradient used to express
the immense brightness of a light source.
These concepts are important because they are
the direct results of using a mist filter on your lens.
Of course, the effect permeates more than just a halo
around a light source and you can also see what appears to be
a reduction in harshness on skin, filling in some shadows
and fine lines and creating a softer complexion.
This is heavily dependant on the strength of the filter,
which can range from a subtle smoothing
to a full out glow seemingly emanating
from the subject's face which was seen prominently
in movies throughout the 30s and 40s.
Now, if we take a closer look at one of these filters,
we can get a better idea of what's going on.
Here, on the PolarPro 2-5 VND Mist Edition,
we can see a texture on one of the filter elements.
This texture causes the light entering the lens
to be disrupted in a way that reduces
the light concentration that would otherwise be achieved
if it was allowed to proceed unimpeded.
There are many old school DIY ways
of recreating this disruption.
You might have heard of people putting sheer stockings
or pantyhose on their lens or spraying it with hair-spray,
all in the name of breaking up that light.
When doing this, though, you have to be mindful
of two things, sharpness and contrast.
Generally speaking, those DIY methods are quite strong
and can usually have a very pronounced reduction
in sharpness. So, a good filter will try to balance that effect
by creating a pleasing diffusion and halation
while sacrificing as little sharpness as possible.
Zero reduction in sharpness is mostly unachievable,
but you can minimize it.
Sometimes, however, the image can look softer
because of a loss in contrast, and this effect
can be desirable or undesirable depending on the shot.
The opacity and the reflectance of the particulates,
or the texture, used in creating the filter,
as well as the density of those particles,
will impact the contrast of the final image.
This is why you'll hear the word "black" used
when describing mist and diffusion filters.
If the filtration is black, it will have
a different impact on your contrast
versus using a shinier, more translucent texture.
Now, this is all up to your taste as a creator.
If you want to reduce the harshness of an image
without actually reducing the optical detail
or perceived sharpness too much,
then reducing the contrast a little
and adding some halation can achieve that
and more closely replicate an older lens.
Just remember that affecting contrast will often
have an impact on how saturated colours will look.
So, be prepared for more muted tones.
But, filter manufacturers can also take this
in the opposite direction by attempting to maintain
contrast and saturation, but add some softness
to the details of today's modern and extremely sharp lenses.
There's also the bokeh, or out of focus
elements to consider, because these types of filters
don't just affect light sources, but also specular highlights
and any out of focus orbs in your shot.
Since bokeh is essentially a reproduction of your aperture,
but in your scene, adding texture and breaking up
the light travelling through that aperture
will cause textured and disrupted bokeh which, again,
can be desirable or undesirable, depending on your intention.
Again, though, if you're looking to make
your modern lens seem more vintage,
adding some less-than-perfect out of focus areas
with unique characteristics is a great way to realize that look.
The last thing to consider when discussing diffusion filters
is the strength of the effect.
Often, a line of filters will have several versions ranging
from a 1x or 2x potency, down to weaker variants
expressed in fractions like 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8.
Generally, anything more than 1/4 or 1/2 is considered
stylized and used for a distinct look such as a dream sequence,
waking up with blurry eyes or the aesthetic that accompanies
travelling back to a simpler time,
but powers of 1/8 or 1/4
are fairly safe to use in a more general purpose way.
So, now that we know all that, where do these new
Mist Edition VNDs from PolarPro fit in?
They would fall more in that general purpose category,
in my opinion. Their effects are subtle,
which makes them useful for a wider range
of subjects while also doing well
to balance the qualities we discussed earlier
like halation, contrast and sharpness.
These filters do add some character and imperfections
to the out of focus areas and they do exaggerate flare
when shooting into the sun which can be useful
for artistic purposes, but you maintain
a respectable black reproduction in saturation.
If you're familiar with other brands
and are looking for an equivalency,
while not directly comparable,
I would place them somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 power
compared to the other brands I've tried,
but the main difference that you need to consider here
with these new PolarPro Mist Editions
is that they're also variable neutral density filters,
which means you're going to be compounding
your diffusion effects with the effects
that come along with using variable NDs.
So, in that sense, these filters are not really comparable
to the other diffusion options unless you start stacking
multiple conventional filters together,
which, I suppose, is what you could consider
the greatest strength of these new Mist Editions.
You don't have to stack filters and you have the convenience
of a variable ND with a diffusion potency
that's pretty ideal for general purpose image capture,
making these one of the best choices for an always on,
outdoor filter solution for video.
So, that's the end of the paid portion of this video.
Now, let's talk a little bit about the filter as a product.
I've already done a major roundup and comparison
of variable ND filters when the previous versions came out.
So, I'm not going to recreate that video.
Instead, I'd like to focus on the design improvements
of these new filters.
First off, I highly approve of this new packaging.
The original had this limited edition vibe to it.
It featured a large box with a bunch of
Peter McKinnon's artwork and signature touches.
For Peter McKinnon's fans, those were likely considered
nice inclusions, but from a purely economical standpoint,
it was wasteful and I'm really happy to see
that this time around, they went for a much smaller box
using recycled cardboard and plant-based ink.
I know in the past I've talked about how pleasing
PolarPro's boxes were, and how I enjoyed
a nice unboxing experience when receiving products
from brands, but I've changed my views on that
as my channel has grown and I've seen just how much waste
can be produced by getting sent packages.
I'm now all for products that waste as little as possible
even if the unboxing experience isn't great.
And that's why, I tend not to show unboxings
on my channel anymore.
So, with that, all that comes in this package
is the filter and case and a cleaning cloth.
The filter case, however, is much better
than the previous version.
Not only is it smaller and round, but it takes up
less space in your bag and the shape makes it easy to pocket,
but it's also much more functional.
Rather than take the filter out
like you do on these old ones here,
you unscrew this bottom cap which is metal,
and this reveals the backside of your filter, which you can then
screw on your lens without ever needing to get your fingers
near the glass because you're gripping this rubbery protector.
It's not unlike the previous Lens Defender
but more compact with a couple nice touches.
First, once you have this on your lens,
you can then reinstall the back metal cap
onto the front of the Defender, so that you don't
have to store it separately, which is smart,
but I've also noticed that my lens caps
tend to, kind of, clip into this thing as well.
Now, they're a little loose
so I probably wouldn't trust them there
but I thought it did show a pretty clever design element.
However, even though I like the utility
of this new Defender design better,
I do slightly prefer the actual grip of the previous edition.
Maybe I'm just more used to it, but I feel a bit more confident
when using it to unscrew the filter.
The difference is minor, though.
But, in both cases, once it's on, you can
just peel off the Defender and you're ready to shoot.
Aesthetically, the filter is a bit different. It's shinier,
which I don't actually like, but maybe you do,
but the knurling is a bit more pronounced
and it's more tactile on the fingertips which I do like.
More importantly, however, there are
some appreciated functionality improvements
through the inclusion of these palpable clicks
while changing stops. On the previous filters,
they started at the PolarPro symbol,
which is about 1.33 stops of reduction and then
they worked their way smoothly up to 4.33 stops
at the 5 stop marker.
While I did like the gauge on the previous filter,
this one is better.
It starts at 2, and 2 actually measures
pretty close to two stops.
Comes in a little closer to 2 and 1/3rd
and then noticeably clicks on each stop in between
which I measured to be 3 1/3rd, 4 stops even and then ends
firmly at 5 stops which measured exactly 5 stops.
This makes the filter easier to compensate for
and easier to use, without looking.
The 6-9 version is the same as the original in that it ranges
from 6 stops to about 8.33 stops but of course
it also features the new, click-y feedback for each stop.
I did get a bit more reduction on the 6-9 mist,
getting me closer to 8.5 to 8.66 stops when set to 9.
And speaking of that 6-9 mist filter,
it might seem like it has more diffusion
if you look at light sources or some highlights,
but I'm told that the particulate concentration
is the same, so this is likely just a byproduct
of the exposure compensation required for the heavier ND.
I'm also told that these new filters will be
at the same price regardless of whether you get
the mist option or the 2-5 or the 6-9 versions.
Previously, the 6-9 was more expensive than the 2-5,
but I'm glad that all the new versions are gonna be
the same price as the original 2-5 this time around.
Image quality is very good
across this entire range of products.
Only the mist filters show any reduction in detail,
but it's minimal when looking at charts.
The saturation is well maintained and the contrast
is mostly unaffected.
I'll include a folder of sample images
in the description that you can download if you want
to evaluate the differences between the filters yourself.
But, the two main things you'll notice when changing between
these filters or even changing stops on a variable ND filter
is how the darker regions tend to change position and how
the colour cast can shift a bit, usually between blue and green.
This is a consequence of the convenience
that comes from using multiple polarizers for ND.
Using a pair of polarizers, like most variable NDs do
allow you to change the exposure on the fly,
but this also impacts the consistency of your image.
Now, we can evaluate how strong that impact is,
but we shouldn't weigh this factor
too heavily for two reasons.
One, every variable ND will have this problem.
And two, you should always white balance
after the filter is applied, not before.
Often, you'll see before and after comparisons
where the white balancing was done without the filter,
then you put the filter on and it looks much different.
But, if you white balance again with the filter on,
most of these issues go away.
Generally, the only thing that remains
is the cross-polarization, which at the extreme end
can be seen as a giant, dark X across your image.
The reason why filters implement these hard stops
like 2-5 or 6-9 is to prevent you from reaching
that image wrecking level of cross-polarization.
And these PolarPro filters manage that very well.
Something you should probably be aware of, though,
is that these new versions do have a different colour cast
and polarization pattern when compared
to the original Version Ones.
So, if you're planning on picking up a new set
to mix with an old set, you'll need to white balance
each camera independently and not rely on the settings
from one camera to work perfectly on the other.
The same goes for using one of the mist filters
with the standard version, because, again, the colour cast
is slightly different between those two as well.
But, to be fair, this difference is exaggerated
by flipping back and forth between the exact same
image shot with different filters
like you'll see in my sample images.
In real shooting conditions, you're unlikely to do this
and thus the differences will most likely be harder to detect.
I tested these filters down to 20mm on full frame
and didn't notice any vignetting caused by the filter's depth
but I was using an 82mm filter and stepping up to it.
Something I recommend, especially considering
that PolarPro's larger filters
cost the same as their smaller ones.
Overall, just like I said when I reviewed the previous versions,
I'm quite happy with the image quality.
The only criticism I have is that there is
a perceivable increase in flare with some minor ghosting
when using these filters.
It's only ever an issue when shooting directly
into the sun or other bright light sources,
but I wanted you to be aware of it.
So, in the end, I'd probably rate these filters
very similarly to how I rated the previous ones
for image quality. They're not the absolute best you can get,
but definitely top three.
I still think the B&W filters manage a bit better
consistency of the image, but just like last time,
the PolarPros win when it comes to the vastly improved
user experience and they do this for less money than the B&Ws,
and that user experience is everything in my opinion,
and it's why I've unswervingly used the PolarPro filters
for the last 18 months or so
since I got the original versions.
So, I'm glad that the biggest differences between
these new filters and the previous ones
are just more usability improvements,
because when it comes to variable NDs,
since you're already compromising a bit
for the convenience, you might as well
make them as convenient as possible,
and I think PolarPro nailed that this time around.
But that’s gonna be it for me.
I hope you found this video entertaining,
or at least helpful. And if you did,
make sure you leave it the old thumbs up
and consider subscribing if you haven't already.
But if you did not find this video helpful or entertaining,
try setting the playback speed to 75%.
Alright... I'm done.