One of the members had mentioned in another thread that he had used Polarpro gradient filters to help reduce the exposure differences between ground and sky. I thought it a good idea to have them as there are several clips so far that I would have found them useful. As I went to order them, ALMOST nobody has them. I couldn't even find them on Polarpro's website. B&H Photo lists them as "no longer available" (!). I was able to locate a set via Amazon.... shipped from Japan! I have a set of Skyreat regular and polarizer ND filter for comparison, so I now have a general idea of difference.
Warning: I'm going to be nit-picky about the PolarPro filters as they cost up to twice the price of their competitors and so I'm partially evaluating for "value" as the overall quality is quite good...when you get past the small stuff.
I had written a litany of comments but decided do provide the Cliff's Notes version...
In short, these appear to be very good filters, well made and will do the job. It appears that the Polarpro gradients were the only game in town and not readily available. There must have been a reason that Polarpro discontinued them.
To be honest, there were some minor design oversights, like packaging and orientation marks, but nothing major that can't easily be overcome, but should have been better thought out by a company that markets their products as "top-of-the-line"... and charges like it. My main objections was the case, which obscured the already difficult to read density marking (they marked the ND on the side where the marking are covered when in the case). And, based on their orientation markings, they are marked for vertical gradation when we know that the main purpose is to darken a bright sky to help match the exposure occuring lower in the frame. No big deal, but leaves me scratching my head.
I've put the Polarpro gradients in my Skyreat case in lieu of the polarizers that I will rarely use which will now go in the Polarpro case. This will be much better as I will have access to all the main filters I will need in once case.
Lastly, the build quality of the Polarpro filters SEEMS only a hair better than the Skyreat brand, largely because of the matte black finish on the body. Based on measurements the Skyreat filters were spot-on for light reduction and work perfectly. Considering the $70 Skyreat package would have cost $150 for the same Polarpro set, I would say there isn't even a $10 quality difference. Just my opinion.
I look forward to testing the Polarpro filters really soon, and short of user malfunction I'm sure I'll be very pleased with them now that I have things sorted out. I'll try to get out later this afternoon for a quick before and after shots. Stay tuned.
P.S... As a bonus for putting up with my diatribe I have included an image of the Filter Guide that can help decide which ND filter to use in a given situation.


Warning: I'm going to be nit-picky about the PolarPro filters as they cost up to twice the price of their competitors and so I'm partially evaluating for "value" as the overall quality is quite good...when you get past the small stuff.
I had written a litany of comments but decided do provide the Cliff's Notes version...
In short, these appear to be very good filters, well made and will do the job. It appears that the Polarpro gradients were the only game in town and not readily available. There must have been a reason that Polarpro discontinued them.
To be honest, there were some minor design oversights, like packaging and orientation marks, but nothing major that can't easily be overcome, but should have been better thought out by a company that markets their products as "top-of-the-line"... and charges like it. My main objections was the case, which obscured the already difficult to read density marking (they marked the ND on the side where the marking are covered when in the case). And, based on their orientation markings, they are marked for vertical gradation when we know that the main purpose is to darken a bright sky to help match the exposure occuring lower in the frame. No big deal, but leaves me scratching my head.
I've put the Polarpro gradients in my Skyreat case in lieu of the polarizers that I will rarely use which will now go in the Polarpro case. This will be much better as I will have access to all the main filters I will need in once case.
Lastly, the build quality of the Polarpro filters SEEMS only a hair better than the Skyreat brand, largely because of the matte black finish on the body. Based on measurements the Skyreat filters were spot-on for light reduction and work perfectly. Considering the $70 Skyreat package would have cost $150 for the same Polarpro set, I would say there isn't even a $10 quality difference. Just my opinion.
I look forward to testing the Polarpro filters really soon, and short of user malfunction I'm sure I'll be very pleased with them now that I have things sorted out. I'll try to get out later this afternoon for a quick before and after shots. Stay tuned.
P.S... As a bonus for putting up with my diatribe I have included an image of the Filter Guide that can help decide which ND filter to use in a given situation.


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