GEAR MINI TESTS
POLAR PRO VND/PL PETER MCKINNON FILTERS From £239/$249 polarpro.com
There are also optional versions with quarter-strength Black Mist or Gold Mist, to add subtle diffusion to surrounding highlights. We wanted to keep things simple with the standard VND/PL filters. If you buy the simple screw-on McKinnon Chroma VND/PL Edition II 2-5 stop filter, it costs £239/$249. You might also wish to buy some step-down rings to make it fit other lenses. The same filter also exists in a Helix Maglock version at £299/$299, plus you need to buy the right size of adapter to fit your lens. These are £25/$39 each and you can even get a 114mm one to fit matte boxes. So, to fit our 77mm and 82mm lenses, we spent £350/$377. The Helix system uses a baseplate to screw onto your lens, then the actual filter uses magnets and a small bayonet system to make them quick and easy to attach. You can even stack another Helix filter on top. While McKinnon’s promo videos show him practically throwing a filter on with almost reckless abandon, the
It’s easy to roll your eyes in dismay when the biggest selling point of a filter system seems to be that it bears the signature of a famous YouTuber and comes with expensive packaging and a posh lens cap. Having said that, the Peter McKinnon series of filters from Polar Pro goes to show that beauty can be more than just skin deep, especially in this new range of VND/PL combination filters. If you were a reader of Pro Moviemaker magazine four years ago, you might remember our test of the Polar Pro McKinnon Signature VND filter. We found it was top-quality kit that takes variable ND filters to a new level and makes them an object of desire. The Polar Pro VND only has a limited range, so you can buy either a 2-5 stop or a 6-9 stop. That range means there aren’t horrible cross-polarisation patterns, with the fused quartz glass giving excellent optical quality. In our tests, the filter worked incredibly well with no major colour shift or degradation in the image at all. It’s been our go-to VND filter ever since. These new filters are available in a VND-PL version, a combined variable ND and circular polariser which can be used to cut out reflections and add colour saturation to parts of an image like the sky. It seems like an odd combination that shouldn’t work, as VND filters
control the light by using two circular polarising filters. As you turn one, the scene gets lighter or darker, but there’s no polarisation effect. For that, you have to add an extra polarising filter, and putting more glass in front of your lens is never a great idea when it comes to image quality. The Peter McKinnon Chroma VND/ PL Edition II filters have an adjustable ND filter in click stops from 2-5 stops like the original we tested, or there’s also a 6-9 stop version. Polar Pro’s Chroma Glass allows the filter to have two independently controlled elements for neutral density and polarisation. The new glass will also increase the filter’s colour accuracy. When you carefully rotate the complete filter around – without changing the VND setting – you can see the effect of the polarising filter. You can see glare and reflections change or the sky darkening, for example. What you see is what you get, all from one filter, but there are no click stops or markings to let you see how far the polariser has moved.
FILTER FACTOR The latest Polar Pro Signature filters come in two types, screw-in (left) and the Helix Maglock (right)
“These are available in a VND-PL version, a combined variable ND and circular polariser which can be used to cut out reflections and add colour saturation”
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