Best ND Filter System? PMVND II vs. Kase Wolverine

[@mahutaproductions8498]

Mate, I really want to congratulate you on this video. It was totally informative, and from a real world perspective which is getting harder to find amongst the mountains of sponsored content. You very easily cemented my decision of going for magnetic non-variable ND for my new 15-35. The real world examples were thorough and perfectly illustrative, covering all the scenarios I'd find myself in as a hybrid shooter, and you mixed in the right amount of personal experience. Thank you! Subscribed.

[@mahutaproductions8498]

I'm just still hesitant about going with a 95mm version + step up ring to go with my smallrig matte box and cover any future lenses.

[@JasonPischke]

Really appreciate that!! A big part of why I created this channel was because I found it harder and harder to get the answers I needed. Countless people praise the PMVND, but it has its problems, some really big ones when it comes to using it with the RF15-35. I went back and forth countless times when choosing between 82mm or 95mm and decided to go 82 and don’t regret it. 95 would be nice, but I didn’t want massive step up rings and huge filters on what are already big lenses. Unless you stack PL and ND you won’t see any vignetting. You do get a little at 16mm when using both, but with video you can stack all day without any issues. It’s a small compromise, but I would rather that over huge 95mm filters.

[@mahutaproductions8498]

@@JasonPischke I ended up finding a good deal on the 95s and went for it, it makes me feel more future proof haha. I went for the pack without the 10 stops since I don't really do actual landscape photography these days, 3+6 should be plenty for my needs and can always buy it separately later if needed. I basically looked at my lens with the smallrig step up ring which also goes to 95 and decided I was OK with living with that on my lens and/or remove it when doing actual photography gigs where I want to have the lens hood on, but I do see the benefits of 82 as well. Thanks again for this great video which really helped with my decision for non-variable filters.

[@mahutaproductions8498]

In the end for anyone reading this, I had to send back the 95s because they didn't fit in my smallrig mini matte box. I got the 82 instead and everything fits, but I do get vignette at 15mm when using the matte box adapter + filters, not a huge deal.

[@JasonPischke]

@@mahutaproductions8498 Appreciate the update on this and the additional info! That's a bit of a bummer the 95mm didn't work out, but I am glad you got everything sorted and are out and shooting!

[@michaeltorumedia]

I appreciate you doing the comparison between these two filters and showing how they perform in both photos and videos!

[@JasonPischke]

Of course! When I was initially looking to purchase the Kase filters I struggled to find any sort of comparisons, so I am glad people have been finding this helpful!

[@craigbrockway652]

Excellent video and ever so helpful! Having used bulky Nisi systems I was looking for something much more in-the-field-friendly but still needed the Nisi quality. The PolarPro system was a consideration until reading about less-than-stellar quality. This brought me around to the Kase Wolverine system which I bought yesterday. I still needed to know what limitations the Kase system has before going out to shoot. Your video really helps me here, I now know to look out for "mechanical vignettes" when shooting ultra-wide angle lenses. The biggest gain is knowing the Kase system is excellent quality, thank you for boosting my confidence. I will certainly look for more of your videos.

[@JasonPischke]

Really appreciate that!! When I was originally looking to move away from Polar Pro I struggled to find any decent video's talking about the Kase Magnetic system so that was one of the main reasons behind making this video. To this day, this is one piece of kit that I take on every single shoot without fail. I think you are going to really enjoy the speed and simplicity of this kit!

[@stevefuncke9798]

Great review. Much better than other larger channels I’ve seen. Cheers dude!

[@JasonPischke]

Really appreciate that!!

[@Gothenburgpiano]

Great review, thanks. Just ordered Kase after watched your video.

[@JasonPischke]

That is awesome! It’s been a great kit over these past couple years, I think you are going to really enjoy it!!

[@markstpierre]

Great job going thru all the comparisons. I'm interested in the magnetic system, so it was nice to see them in use.

[@JasonPischke]

Thank you!! When I was looking to purchase the Kase system I was unable to find a good comprehensive review, so I am glad this has been helpful to you!

[@eddy.alexandru]

Great comparison. Thank you!

[@JasonPischke]

Appreciate that!! I’m glad you found it helpful 😊

[@zecchinon]

Great content! Thanks for sharing

[@JasonPischke]

Thank you for watching!

[@insightvideo6136]

Kase recommends oversizing your filters to avoid vignetting on your wide angle lenses, especially when stacking, which you mention toward the end. Thanks for this video!

[@JasonPischke]

Hopefully you found it helpful! I was torn between getting the 95mm kit over the 82mm, but because I shoot a lot with lenses that are 77mm front diameter as well, I really didn’t want to have big 95mm filters hanging off the front. In the end I am more than happy with the filters!!

[@afterthought-SA]

Very informative, thank you

[@JasonPischke]

I’m glad you found it useful!! Thank you!

[@eViperRabbit]

Thanks for the detailed video. Enjoyed watching it.

[@JasonPischke]

Appreciate that! When buying the Kase filters I wasn't able to find much in the way of information online so I am glad this could be helpful!

[@pavelproshin7995]

Thank you very much for confirming my findings! I also noticed these weird color casts and was wondering, am I alone here since everyone was raving about PMs filters... Now switching to the Kase.

[@JasonPischke]

Right there with you, I bought into the hype and was just never impressed with the footage I was getting with them.

[@vishalsmujumdar]

Great video. I also switched from using the PolarPro Quartzline static NDs to the Kase magnetic static ND kit. The main issue I faced with the PolarPro filters (both PM variable NDs and the Quartzline static NDs) is because they have the additional rotating ring for either the variable ND part in PMVNDs or the polarizing part in the Quartzline ones the actual base ring which gets screwed on is extremely thin. When combined with a step up ring, specifically the PolarPro step up rings, if the filter ring goes on the step ring even slightly tighter, getting it unscrewed is extremely difficult. The knurling which is supposed to help with unscrewing actually makes it very painful to separate the two.

[@JasonPischke]

That is helpful info to know, I have had step up rings weld themselves to ND filters in the past and it is never a fun time, especially when it happens in the field and you are trying to work fast. Being able to magnetically attach and remove in the field makes for a much more streamlined workflow!

[@kevingallant9770]

Thanks Jason for the review enjoyed it very much. I am looking at purchasing the Kase Wolverine System because of the magnetic mounts and availability of the filter system so it was really nice to see the videos, photos and comparisons. I am also looking at Breakthrough Photography filters because they are really good but the problem is that they never have the size I need in stock.

[@JasonPischke]

I have been thoroughly enjoying the Kase magnetic system. I was out hiking and shooting some landscape photos and being able to quickly swap different density's and throw on or off a CPL in seconds is something I can't live without now. What sold me on the Kase system was being able to get everything is a nice package, the filters aren't flashy, just well made glass in a nice and simple package.

[@sebastianberes]

The color cast on wide-angle on PolarPro is a downside of VNDs, not PolarPro in particular. The effect happens because of 2 polarizers working together in VND and normal ND is just tinted glass.

[@JasonPischke]

You are absolutely right, but Polar Pro is marketing this as a VND having 'zero vignetting down to 16mm' and so if they are going to make those kind of claims, I am going to hold them to it. Like you mentioned, it is not a Polar Pro issue and I mentioned in the video, anything over 24mm and you will be fine, I just wanted people to be aware 🙂

[@sebastianberes]

@@JasonPischke Can't expect VNDs to be ideal for photography when they are products created for video makers. Complicated products and marketing can be misleading. For photography, and especially with a wide-angle lens, a classic ND should do a much better job.

[@JasonPischke]

@@sebastianberes Sorry, I am confused by your answer. The Polar Pro VND was marketed as a filter with zero vignetting when shooting at 16mm. I demonstrated that the filter does in fact vignette badly at 16mm for both photo and video. A solid ND is always going to give you better clarity for both video and photo, but the fact remains that the VND did not do for video what it was marketed as. There are no hard feelings, I still love PolarPro as a brand and use a lot of their products, I am just trying to put out my own experience so that others can use that to make an educated decision. Hopefully that makes sense!

[@silvere36]

You are comparing apples and oranges. VNDs tend to have a problem with the issues that you described while traditional filters do not. This is why photographers mostly do not use VND filters

[@JasonPischke]

Absolutely agree with you, if you are a photographer who only needs a filter system to shoot strictly still photographs, hard stop ND filters or square filter systems are all you will ever need. Where the apples and oranges get kinda mixed together is when you shoot both. Not only did the Polar Pro VND perform poorly in photo work but also video work. VND's are often sold for their convenience, one filter that you put on the end of your camera and you don't need to take it off. Traditional ND filters offer more quality, but at the cost of convenience having the screw them on and off. What I was trying to convey through this video is I felt the Kase Magnetic ND filters' struck a balance between both. Convenience to quickly switch between filters or remove all together, but still giving you the quality of a solid ND filter.

[@silvere36]

@@JasonPischke PolarPro has a Summit system. That's probably closer to the Kase system you used. I like what Kase is doing (a few other companies as well) with the magnetic filters. Makes Lee and Nisi look very dated.

[@JasonPischke]

@@silvere36 The magnetic system is getting more popular, I haven't really looked into Summit, but it looks very well throughout and i'm sure the quality is nice!

[@raytreat6599]

Check out the Maven filters!

[@JasonPischke]

I remember looking at these back when they were announced. I assume they are using Desmond Photographic as their OEM supplier since they use identical lens caps as Kase, Haida and ICE which are all under the Desmond umbrella. This also means they should have similar performance too which is nice!