Freewell Magnetic Quick Swap 77mm Glow Mist 1/8 Camera Filter - Perfect for Cinematic Photography & Video Shooting in Low Light Conditions

The Freewell quick swap magnetic ND filters are awesome, and very convenient. They are exactly what I needed to quickly pop onto the lens and be able to use wide open apertures during bright sunlight and slower shutter speeds. One major thing to be aware of however, is that if left on your lens while hiking or walking around, the ND filter can get bumped and fall off in the dirt. This happened to me this morning on a river hike—the ND filter fell off in the dirt, and was absolutely filthy. I tried to blow off the dirt, as well as use a soft brush to remove the debris but it wasn't working. A lot of the dirt/sand just stayed put on the ND filter ring and would not come off. The reason for this is that it's magnetic, and some dirt, sand, and debris happens to also be magnetic. So, I spent the next hour attempting to get the debris off the ND filter ring and the only thing that would work is either to get a very strong magnet (stronger than the ND filter's magnetism), or use some rolled up duct tape or gaffers tape to dab at the dirt and debris until it's all removed. If you've ever tried to remove metal shavings from a magnet, it was exactly that. The tape method seemed to work the best, but it was very tedious trying to get every grain of dirt and sand off that magnetic ring. DO NOT DROP THESE IN THE DIRT.I'm a full time videographer who does lots of run and gun work, so I'm constantly swapping lenses/ filters on the fly. I discovered these filters about two years ago and have used them for hundreds of shoots since, and I will never go back to screw on filters ever again. Being able to swap filters in a matter of seconds has been an absolute game changer.Any landscape photographer knows the struggle. The light is changing fast, and you need to switch lenses for a new composition. You scramble to screw your polarizer or ND filter off one lens to the other in time and before you know it the sun sets or a cloud moves in the way.The magnetic system is not a gimmick, it's a game changer, and saves tons of time messing with finnicky threads. I will never move back to screw on filters. These are well made, all metal construction, and optically good for the money based off independent comparisons and my own use. I have a 42MP full frame camera and still get tack sharp images using the polarizer or 6 stop/10 stop ND filters.I had some problems with some of the filters I ordered: The base magnetic ring was not included with one, and on the other it was not screwed in properly. After contacting freewell they immediately sent two brand new ones at no extra cost.Minor complaints: There is some vignetting at the edges at 17mm on a full frame camera, and the magnetic strength of the caps is stronger than the filters themselves, so if you have a cap on top of a filter sometimes you accidentally pull the filter off as well.I have been in the market for a good ND filter and potentially a quick system that will allow me to focus my camera and then quickly add the filter without changing the focus. This is my second and what has become my final attempt at finding a system that will work. It is not because I found the right system, it is more that I have found that this is a gimmick and in an ND64 filter there was really no need for a system like this, as my camera and I had no real struggle focusing with the filter on the lens.Looking for in purchase:-Quality ND filter-Quick change system-Quality build-Under $100 (for the entire system)Design: The Freewell quick change magnetic system really met all of the qualities I was looking for in this purchase, although I never shot with the filter, because I decided to return it prior to shooting with it. The filter system, and I call it a system because there is much more than just the filter to it, is very well built and you can feel the quality in the materials used. The magnetic system works well and ND filter will quickly click into place rather it is to the UV filter or the ring adapter (and the cover quickly snaps into place too). Finally, the price is right under $100 (as I purchased it at $99l.99).Issues: While I like the idea of the system, I did have a couple of issues with it. First the magnetic cover was a little difficult to get off, till I got used to it, but overall not a fan of the cover. Second, I love to use the lens hood and this system is not easy to get on and off with the hood attached to the lens, this was a big deal for me cause that is the reason I purchased this system. Third, the Amazon ad says that cleaning the filter is really easy and simple, I struggled with this and it took me several tries to get the filter clean when I tested cleaning a fingerprint off the lens.Cost: $99.99 (purchase price)Positives:++Material++Build Quality++Magnetic system, the system is a cool design, but also a negative to meNegatives:--Magnetic system, very quirky to use and sometimes I pulled off the filter with the cover--Ease of cleaning--CostFinal Thoughts: I am not really sure where this falls for me. I like the system and the overall idea of the design but the way the system works. I really want to like this, but I can’t find anything that makes this worth the $40 over good ND filters.Would I recommend: I am 50/50 on this item. I bought this wanting to have found the perfect system for everything I needed and the $100 was not an issue, but in the end I just could not. At $100 I think the filter is worth it, but for me at $100 I want everything I expect in something I buy. I just can’t say everything that I wanted was in this system, there were a number of little things that added to me returning the system and purchasing the $55 Gobe ND Filter.I am using this on my XT3 16-80 f4 and it's perfect match for me when I need to record in HLG during bright daylight. It has almost no impact on sharpness (you would need to pixel-peep to absolute details and even then the difference is minuscule, makes no visible difference in 4k video though) and no visible color shift.I own pair of these (3 and 6 stop ones) and it's always handy to have magnetic ring around it meaning that anytime I need to swap them it's super quick.This is a great CPL which is really convenient to put on and take off. It works well and does not appear to have affected my optics negatively in any way I can see. I've knocked a start off because the filters don't play nice with other filters you may have as you can't screw anything into the front of them, but that's a minor quible.Another thing to watch out for is that some of them will have a weaker magnetic pull. My original 82mm CPL would stick to the included lenscap and come off the body, menaing I'd have to take it off the lenscap to put it back on each time. I returned that one and got a new one which works as expected. If I hadn't already had a 77mm CPL which worked fine, I might even have abandoned the system as not working. So keep that in mind if you get a duff unit.I bought these Freewell range of filters as they were one of the first to use a magnet rather then a thread to attach the filter to the lens, and this makes life so much easier when swapping filtersThe pictures almost look blurry when you zoom in, I get that it gives a smoothe effect but I much prefer sharpness of other diffusion filters over this one. That said, I think the magnetic swap system is a genius.Arrived quickly and well packaged. Looks the business but I've seen several videos recently that show that this comes with a glass free filter ring as well as the UV filter, but was a bit disappointed that it didn't.Will update when I start using this in anger.