Variable ND filters are they any good and how do they work

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I have a digital bridge camera with no filter thread and to get a little more from it I was thinking of getting a variable ND filter and use the blue tack bodge (classy I hear you say) Are these any good for experimentation and how to you adjust them ?

Cheers all
 
As Jerry says. The problems are that there are two filters involved and four surfaces to cause potential problems. Unless the filters are very high quality and multi-coated (think expensive) then you could run into flare issues and loss of sharpness.

But that aside, they all suffer from a dark cross appearing across the image with wide-angle lenses when the density is ramped up, which makes them a nonstarter for a lot of landscapers. Here's a link to a random example from google images https://photo.stackexchange.com/que...s-with-a-variable-neutral-density-filter-poor
 
Depends on what you intend to be doing in your experimentation. As above to get reasonable quality look at pricey. To be fair makers like Hoya do stress the dark X issue. I have and use a Hoya, only on my 135 f2 when I need more power than HSS gives me when using flash in daylight.
 
(I’m not a landscape shooter)
Personally I think that a 3 stop and a 10 stop takes up roughly the same space, is cheaper and almost as versatile. With none of the disadvantages.
 
Depends on what you intend to be doing in your experimentation. As above to get reasonable quality look at pricey. To be fair makers like Hoya do stress the dark X issue. I have and use a Hoya, only on my 135 f2 when I need more power than HSS gives me when using flash in daylight.
I use a 3 stop...
See above.
 
Theyre essential for video for us but id never use one for stills
 
I use a 3 stop...
See above.
Agreed, if you can get away with a single filter, I just found I was needing a little bit more or a shade less.. (its being lazy really :p ) What I really should have been saying is that other than that and video as mentioned (I don't do video) there isn't really a good reason for them...
 
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I'll go with Phil V's Idea and get a couple of filters main idea is to smooth out water and get a little movement in skies, Thanks all
 
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