ND, CPL and other filters for action cameras

Overview of Kase filters for action cameras

Different conditions call for different filters. Here is an overview of the most popular action camera filters and what they can do for your photos and videos.

1. Polarising filter

A polarising filter is especially useful for outdoor filming with an action cam around water or wet surfaces. It reduces distracting reflections and glare while helping colours look richer, making it a great choice for hiking, watersports, cycling and travel footage.

2. ND filter

An ND filter for an action camera is useful when filming in bright daylight and for achieving more natural motion blur. By reducing the light entering the lens, it helps you use more suitable shutter speeds without overexposing your footage.

3. Black Mist filter

A Black Mist filter can give action camera footage a softer, more cinematic look, particularly when shooting in bright sunlight or scenes with strong highlights. It can be especially effective for travel content, lifestyle footage and scenes with practical lights.

4. Neutral Night filter

A Neutral Night filter for action cameras is designed for filming after dark, particularly in cities. It helps reduce the impact of artificial lighting, making it useful for night walks, urban adventures and travel videos where street lighting can affect colours.

5. Starburst filter

Want your lights to sparkle? A Starburst filter transforms bright point light sources into distinctive star-shaped rays. Streetlights, decorative lights and other highlights can become part of the composition rather than simply lighting it.

This filter is ideal when you want to add a striking creative effect to night scenes, city footage or festive content.

6. Streak filter

A Streak filter creates horizontal light streaks from strong light sources, adding a cinematic effect to action camera footage. It works particularly well for night-time driving, city scenes and other shots featuring headlights, neon signs or streetlights.

7. UV filter

A UV filter is useful for action cameras when filming outdoors in demanding environments, as it adds a protective layer in front of the camera lens. It can help protect the lens from dust, dirt and everyday scratches while you're hiking, cycling, skiing or travelling.

FAQ about action camera filters

What is an ND-PL filter for action camera?

An ND-PL filter combines two filter effects in one. The ND part reduces the amount of light entering the lens, while the PL, or polarising, effect helps reduce reflections and glare. This combination can be particularly useful when filming in bright conditions around water or other reflective surfaces.

Is an ND filter useful for an action camera?

Yes, an ND filter can be very useful for an action camera, especially when filming in bright conditions. By reducing the amount of light reaching the sensor, it helps to have shutter speeds better suited to your chosen frame rate and achieve more natural-looking motion blur.

ND filters are used a lot for outdoor filming, including action sports, cycling, driving, watersports and travel videos.

Which ND filter strength should you pick for an action camera for shooting in bright sun?

For bright sunshine, ND16 is often a useful starting point, while ND64 may be a better option in extremely bright conditions. However, the best choice depends on factors such as the available light, your camera settings and the look you want to achieve.

For greater flexibility, you can choose a variable ND filter that offers convenient adjustment across a range of light levels.

Can you reproduce the effect of action camera filters in post-processing?

Some effects can be recreated or adjusted in post-processing, but not every filter effect can be reproduced in exactly the same way. For example, an ND filter controls the light entering the camera during recording, which can affect the shutter speed and the amount of natural motion blur captured in the original footage. This cannot be added with identical results afterwards.

Similarly, a polarising filter reduces certain reflections before the image is recorded. Once those reflections have been captured, post-processing may not be able to remove them completely.

Discover our filters for specific action camera models