Freewell x Dunna Did It ND Filter Kit review: beautifully thin, maybe too thin

Freewell certainly likes a creator collaboration. Not long ago I reviewed its excellent Brandon Li Magnetic VND/CPL Filter Kit, which has subsequently become one of my favorite filter systems for video. Now it has teamed up with YouTuber and filmmaker Dunna Did It for another premium magnetic system.

Instead of a variable ND, the Freewell x Dunna Did It Videography Kit is centered around fixed neutral density filters. You get ND4, ND8, ND16 and ND32 filters, providing two, three, four and five stops of reduction respectively, plus a Glow Mist 1/4 diffusion filter. Each one connects magnetically to a base ring before twisting to physically lock into position. Freewell says it developed the system with Dunna over almost a year, with particular attention paid to reducing bulk and making the filters quick to change.

The headline number is just 2.95mm. That is how thin each solid ND filter is, and at 18.4g apiece, they barely add anything to the front of a lens. The filters share a 103.2mm outside diameter irrespective of the thread size of the lens underneath, while interchangeable base rings allow the same filters to work with lenses from 49mm right up to 95mm.

On paper, then, this sounds like a neat solution for videographers who prefer the optical consistency of fixed NDs but don't want to spend their life screwing filters on and off. In practice, that extreme thinness turns out to be both the system's greatest strength and its biggest annoyance.

Specifications

Price

The Freewell x Dunna Did It Videography Kit is currently listed at $299.99, reduced from what will be the regular price of $350 on Freewell's website (and for a short time you can get further money off with the code DUNNA10).

At first, over three hundred dollars seems like a substantial amount of money for filters, although there is quite a lot here. Four high-quality fixed NDs, a mist filter, locking magnetic metal caps, and a genuinely good case would add up quickly if bought individually.

However, my complaint is the same one I had with Freewell's Brandon Li kit: you only get one base ring. The whole attraction of an oversized filter system like this is that you buy the expensive glass once and move it between lenses, yet doing that immediately requires buying more rings. Additional Dunna rings currently cost $19 each, which isn't extortionate, but for a $300 kit I still think including a couple of common sizes would have been the more generous move.

Design & Handling

The Dunna kit feels great. The frames are nicely machined, the branding is restrained but distinctive, and the whole thing has the kind of solidity I expect from a filter system that costs this much. I also like the visual design much more than some of Freewell's more colorful filters – but maybe I'm boring. With its black NDs and silver mist filter, it looks sleek without vying for attention.

But the defining feature is undoubtedly how thin these filters are. At only 2.95mm, each ND is impressively slight. Even stacking two or three together isn't much taller than some single screw-in filters.

However, the large 103.2mm front diameter means that while you won't be too concerned about the system intruding into the frame on wider lenses, it does dwarf smaller cameras. Using it with my Fujifilm X-T5 and its 72mm filter thread did make it look awkwardly oversized.

Attaching a filter is very straightforward. The magnet does most of the initial work of lining it up, then a short twist locks the filter mechanically into place. Once locked, I have a huge amount of confidence in it. Short of giving the filter a deliberate twist to release it, I can't imagine one simply falling off while I'm shooting.

That makes it much more reassuring than purely magnetic systems, especially if I am walking around with a camera hanging from a strap where it could get bumped.

Unfortunately, Freewell might have been a little too successful in its pursuit of thinness. There simply isn't much filter to grab. If two are sitting together, prizing them apart can require more dexterity than I would like. The same problem gets worse when the filters are stacked for storage. I found myself trying to twist off one filter and taking two or even three with me because even my fairly normal-sized fingers couldn't easily isolate just one of these incredibly narrow frames.

Unlocking a stack without putting a fingertip on the glass is similarly difficult. This isn't catastrophic, and I'm sure I would get slicker with practice, but it undermines some of the speed promised by a system specifically designed to make filter changes easier (there is a cleaning cloth included in the case).

If you're already in the Freewell ecosystem, then you might be disappointed to learn that, despite both carrying the Freewell name, my Dunna filters and base ring aren't compatible with other filters like the Brandon Li magnetic system I already own. That means no mixing and matching between two premium Freewell systems. I appreciate that the mechanisms are designed differently, but if Freewell keeps building creator-specific filter ecosystems, I would really like to see some standardization.

The supplied case, however, is excellent. It is soft enough that I don't worry about it bashing other equipment in my bag, but structured enough to protect the filters properly. There are four compartments, so I can keep individual filters or small stacks organized rather than dumping everything together.

The caps are equally nicely made, and Freewell has also built exposure and white-balance reference surfaces into the rear cap, which is a clever little bonus for video shooters.

Performance

Fortunately, once I stopped fiddling with the filters and actually started shooting through them, there was very little to complain about.

Across my test images, I couldn't see any meaningful loss of sharpness or clarity from adding the ND filters. Detail still looked as I expected from the lens without a filter attached.

Color is also well controlled, although I noticed a very slight yellow cast when comparing filtered and unfiltered images side by side. It isn't severe, and I could correct it very quickly with a small white-balance adjustment in a raw file or while grading video. Freewell promises minimal color change rather than literally zero change, and I think that is fair.

Vignetting was not an issue on my 16mm APS-C lens (24mm full-frame equivalent); the filters are substantially wider than the lens thread underneath them, and I couldn't see darkening in the corners even after stacking a few filters.

Freewell officially recommends using no more than three at once, and its own combinations allow the Videography Kit's four NDs to produce up to 12 stops. Although, naturally, I ignored that advice and stacked all four, much to my surprise, it still worked well, with only a touch of vignetting in the corners at my widest angle, but I suspect that any wider and it would have become an issue.

Mist strength is always subjective, but I think the Glow Mist 1/4 filter is also nicely balanced. It produces a pleasant, even haze around highlights and takes some of the clinical edge off very sharp digital footage.

I also tested the optional CPL available for the Dunna system, although importantly this isn't included in the standard Videography Kit. Optically, it is good, cutting reflections from water and windows effectively. My problem is mechanical. The rotating section doesn't hold its position particularly firmly, so a gentle brush can move it and change the polarization. I would prefer more resistance here, especially for video, where an accidental shift mid-shot could be irritating.

Verdict

I really like what Freewell and Dunna have done here, the magnetic locking mechanism is excellent, it combines the convenience of magnets with the reassurance of knowing that an expensive filter is physically locked onto my lens.

Although I think the product's obsession with thinness has gone just a little too far. Their tiny 2.95mm frames leave almost nothing to grab, and separating or unlocking stacked filters is more fiddly than I think a system built around quick filter changes should be.

But optically, the Dunna Did It Videography Kit is excellent. The four fixed NDs preserve detail very well, vignetting simply wasn't an issue in my testing, and the slightest of yellow casts I observed is easy enough to correct that I wouldn't consider it a serious problem.

I also dislike having yet another proprietary magnetic mount that isn't compatible with the Freewell system I already own, and one base ring still feels stingy for a $300 product.

But once the filter is actually on the lens, the Dunna system does its job exceptionally well. For videographers who prefer fixed NDs to variable ones, I think this is one of the smartest and most compact systems around.

Alternatives

Freewell x Brandon Li Magnetic VND/CPL Filter Kit

If I were choosing purely for run-and-gun video, I would instead consider Freewell's Brandon Li system. Its 1-5 stop VND makes exposure changes much faster than swapping fixed filters, while the integrated CPL, optional ND32, and Glow Mist make it hugely versatile. The downside is that it is more expensive, and frustratingly, the two Freewell systems aren't cross-compatible.

NiSi JetMag Pro Filmmaker Kit

NiSi's JetMag Pro Filmmaker Kit follows a broadly similar idea, combining magnetic fixed NDs with a Black Mist filter. Its filters aren't quite as obsessively slim as Freewell's, but the protruding color-coded handles make individual filters much easier to separate. It is more expensive, although the inclusion of several adapter rings helps make the package feel more complete.