Polar Pro VND 2-5 Halo Effect

[F00Man]

Looking for information on Polar Pro VND Filters. I have attached at screen grab of a MOV file and it shows a "halo" or darker areas around the circumference. It was a cloudy day and I had it set to a level 5.

Am I missing something? I have used the DJI filters without this affect and am wondering if this is supposed to be like this or could the variable factor be an issue?

Any help would be appreciated.

JVA

 

[FlyingFilmmaker]

Not sure exactly what you're describing. I don't see any halos around objects, but what I do see is motion blur. Are you referring to light falloff around the edges of the frame? I use the Polar Pro VNDs on my Air 2 and Air 2S and haven't noticed anything unusual.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

It looks to me like vignetting caused by the filter edges protruding into the image area.

 

[adcimagery]

I see the vignetting, but I also see some pretty bad blur/chromatic aberration. Was the filter mounted perfectly? Looks like it might have been tilted - this can cause problems with all those aspects of image quality because you're shooting through the filter obliquely.

 

[slup]

... it shows a "halo" or darker areas around the circumference. It was a cloudy day and I had it set to a level 5.

VND filters are known to give the same uneven effect as polarizing filters ... this as a VND filter is comprised of two circular polarizing layers of glass that are designed to dial in the opposite direction of each other. The inner polarized ND filter is fixed directly onto the lens of your camera, while the outer polarized filter is fitted and rotated with the front frame.

 

[Roamer105]

VND filters will produce some uneven exposure across the image. For the most part (at least on my A2S) the top right and the bottom left area are darker by about the same amount. Depending on filter settings and intensity of light it feels like the exposure is reduced gradually to about 2 stops at the tips of the two corners (top right/bottom left).

A regular Polar Pro ND/PL filter as long as the polarization is set to vertical (arrows on top and bottom) which makes the filter behave exactly like a set of polarized sun glasses works very well. No left/corner uneven exposure but clearly slightly darker skies exactly as seen through sunglasses. If you are not sure, simply wear your polarized sunglasses while looking through the filter and turn until the filter is the clearest. Most likely the arrows will be top & bottom and if you turn by 90 degrees, the filter will be completely dark (no light passing through). If you use the filter in any other position the exposure changes across the image similar to the VND but with a stronger effect.

A fixed ND such as the ones made by DJI for the A2S produces a perfectly natural image more akin to what the unaided eye sees. If that is what you want - stay away from ND/PL and VND - period.

After a number of tests and video clips I am abandoning the Polar Pro VND filters - waste of money. I had to get them because of the raving reviews and the convenience they offer. But I can't use them as much as I would like to. The uneven exposure can be corrected in post with Davinci Resolve using power windows and outside nodes but it is tedious, gets close to what it should be, but not perfect no matter what.

 

[F00Man]

Thank you very much Roamer! After seeing the images with the different variable filters, I agree. Lesson learned.