Nisi ND Vario 1-5 Stops VND filter review
My in-depth Nisi ND Vario 1-5 stops VND filter Review
Hello and welcome to my Nisi True Colour ND Vario 1-5 stops VND filter review where I talk you through how this filter has worked for me over the last month and I will also be showing you results from a few indepth tests covering… colour neutrality, X pattern and vignetting to see how well this Nisi VND really performs and if it truly is a True Colour VND filter.
The very first thing that impressed me about this VND filter was its build quality, it’s super solid but it’s still light weight at the same time. Then you have the nice solid ring or filter body which has a knurled grip on it so it’s super easy to grip while screwing it on and off your lens, that’s a really nice touch and if you use VND filters as often as I do then you will really appreciate that. So, in short as soon as you pick up this VND filter you can see there is a serious touch of quality about it.
Before I forget to mention it the ND Vario filter also comes with a lens cap, a hard plastic case and a very nice carrying bag.
I run you through all of this in more detail in my video review above of course.
This ND Vario VND filter is stacked with features like…
- Being colour neutral (which we will test of course).
- No X pattern (tested out fully in the video above).
- No vignetting down to 16mm (according to Nisi) which can be an issue with VND filters.
- Nano coating to help water run off the front element which is great for seascapes or shooting in light mist, drizzle or even rain.
- Great build quality.
- De-clicked stops insuring a smooth transition between stops.
- Labelled stops on the side of the VND filter, more about that later.
My top tips for buying a VND filter
I always buy my VND filters so they fit the largest lens thread size I need or use with a VND filter, which for me is an 82mm lens thread. When I want to use the 82mm VND filter on a smaller lens threads I use a step ring to adapt the filter thread size for the smaller ring then. This means you only need one VND filter for all your lenses then and those lens thread adaptors are cheap enough and readily available.
Nisi ND Vario Price
The Nisi ND Vario VND filter price varies depending on the filter size you need and at the time of this review the prices start at approx $139.- and go upwards from there depending on the size of the VND you want of course. You can check the latest prices and special offers on Amazon here or by clicking on the image below.
Now please do note that is an affiliate link so if you purchase via that link I might make a slight commission but it doesn’t cost you anything.
Colour Neutrality
Obviously colour neutrality is a huge deal with any VND filter and you need to make sure the VND filter you are buying is as colour neutral as possible.
Now if you are wondering why that’s so important, let me explain…
VND filters are prone to shifting the colour temperature and even tint of your footage which isn’t the end of the world as you can correct that in post processing but when you are filming and moving from bright to dark areas in a scene which then menas you have to change the strength of your VND filter this then can also change the colour of your footage and that is a real pain to try and correct in post processing.
So, as you can see for my Nisi ND Vario colour neutrality test I shot a test chart image (below) without the VND filter fitted and I also shot the same test chart with the VND filter fitted and set at 1 stop and another image at 5 stops of a light reduction.
As you can see all the individual colours above look great and please remember this image is not edited and has been taken straight out of the camera which again had no VND filter fitted.
If you look at the ISO you will see it rising from image to image due to the ND effect and the camera being in Auto ISO then it compensates for this light reduction. I explain that a bit better in the video above.
The image below then is with the Nisi ND Vario filter fitted and set at one stop of a light reduction and as you can see the the ISO has gone from ISO 200 to ISO 500 to compensate for this drop in light.
,Now the first thing you will notice is the image with the VND filter fitted is fractionally brighter and that’s due to the Auto ISO just being slightly off here as it should have gone to ISO 400 and not ISO 500 hence the fractionally brighter image.
But the main point to note here is that the colour temperature or tint hasn’t really changed.
Now, I should also point out here that every single piece of equipment you put on your cameras optics will always have a very slight tint if you look close enough, heck, even lenses have tints to them but what we are looking for here is an exaggerated tint and this Nisi True Colour ND Vario 1-5 stop VND filter really does live up to its name as you can clearly see.
So, let’s now have a look at it at full strength which is 5 stops of a light reduction.
At 5 stops of a light reduction again you can see this ND Vario VND filter is very colour neutral again with no change from the 1 stop image above it.
You can even see the AUTO ISO has jumped up to ISO 8000 now which would also account for the slight bit of noise or softness you might notice in this image, that has nothing to do with the filter but is caused by the higher ISO sensitivity setting.
For me personally I have no hesititaion in saying this ND Vario VND filter is colour neutral and again this has been my personal experience of using this filter, so it’s great to see the science backs that up also.
X pattern
It’s hugely important that your VND filter doesn’t have this X pattern defect as it can destroy your photographs and video footage. So why does this x pattern happen?
First we need to understand how VND filters are made and basically VND filters are made of two circular polarizing filters combined so that when they are twisted they work against each other and they then block some of the light passing through, so the more you twist them the great this reduction in light is.
As a result of this cross polarization you can get defects like the X pattern which is dark banding in the shape of an X in your shot or footage which effectively destroys it. Usually this is seen at the stronger end of the ND spectrum of the filter, so in this case at 5 stops.
From the video above though you can see we had no X pattern with this Nisi ND Vario VND filter so again this is a huge advantage for this VND filter.
Review Conclusion.
Overall I have found this Nisi ND Vario vnd to be excellent and as I said in the video there is very little else to say about it as it just works perfectly and does exactly what it should. I have no hesitation in highly recommending this filter amd I am looking forward to many more great shoots and results from using it.
If you have any question about the Nisi ND Vario VND filter then please do feel free to ask them in the comments in the video above.
See you out there,
Kieran.
Nisi ND Vario 1-5 stops review : Everything you need to know
Welcome to my Nisi ND Vario 1-5 stops review and just how good is it really? Where we look at its colour neutrality, vignetting and if it has any X pattern effect?
4.8
Pros
- Great Build Quality
- Colour Neutral
- No X pattern
Cons
- Not Cheap