ACCESSORIES
Richard Sibley tries out a combined polarising/variable neutral density filter
● £59.40 - £83 ● haidaphoto.com
No one likes stacking filters together - it is fiddly and can reduce image quality. Helping to minimise that problem is the Chinese company, Haida.
Its PRO II CPL-VND combines a circular polariser with a variable neutral density filter. This is a combination that may well appeal to landscape photographers, although it is perhaps more likely to find itself in the hands of videographers.
Variable ND filters allow filmmakers to adjust the shutter speed without changing the aperture or sensitivity. They work by rotating one polarising filter relative to another, but don’t usually offer direct control over the polarisation effect. Haida’s approach allows users to adjust both the polarisation and the exposure in one unit.
This filter feels exceptionally well-made, with two revolving parts. First, an inner ring controls the ND strength, with a handy thumb stick enabling precise and easy-to-find rotation. Usefully, there are markings to show the positions of the 3-7EV stops of density available. Then the stylish-looking red aluminium outer ring is used to set the polarisation. Both rings operate very smoothly.
In practice, it turns out that the ND control rotates the front part of the filter, so adjusting it also affects the polarisation. As a result, it took a few goes to adapt to which part I needed to turn.
It’s usually best to set your required density first.
Using the polariser, I could reduce reflections with no discernible shift in colour, other than the usual increase in saturation. The neutral density filter is restricted from being fully rotated, which presumably is why I could not see the ‘X’ effect that can occur when variable ND filters are pushed to the limit. The marked ND exposure value reductions are accurate enough to be used for making calculations for long-exposure landscape shots.
