A very handy variable neutral density filter. I’ve really come to appreciate the quality of K&F‘s filters. They are budget friendly but never sacrifice image or build quality. But I own several dozen of their filters and also some of the other very expensive ones and they have always been able to perform as good or close to the ones that cost several times the amount of money. I wouldn’t put this up against a Hoyer or Schneider-Kreuznach, and that saying somethings since they cost almost $500. Even the cinematic quality ones that professional movie makers use I don’t think outperform this by much of a margin and those things cost thousands.

K&F has really been hitting it out of the park lately with these filters.

The way these filters work with variable neutral density is that they operate using two layers of polarized glass. Then by changing the angle of the polarization you allow more or less lighting. Typically this will create artifacts of a crisscross variety in your photos.

So far this filter has been free of any such artifacts and that’s a pretty amazing to me. My guess is they are using very very small polarizing lenticels. I don’t know. But the filter is not creating any artifacts in the images absolutely sharp and clear.

The build quality of this filter is equal to any that I’ve ever seen. The turning ring is very smooth and there’s enough to get a grip on but it’s still surprisingly narrow so it doesn’t really interfere with your lens. It’s hardly thicker than a single stage filter. The precision machined threads are also smooth and it goes on without any issues whatsoever.

I am definitely impressed that they’re able to produce a filter of this quality at this price. If you’re looking for a variable ND and you don’t have $400 to spend this is a very viable option.