This filter definitely works as advertised. I did thorough research and read many reviews before purchasing. Comes in a nice plastic box with some foam padding; I put a thin layer of foam there to keep it from moving around in my bag. I'm in Florida and shot this outside in the morning, midday and afternoon and on a cloudy day. Excellent results, even with flash. On the sunniest days, I didn't turn the setting up to the maximum setting (just below) and still got great results in both photos and videos. When shooting with a Canon 6DMII, I have three lenses that accommodate this 52mm lens. I'm not a "professional" but half of my income comes from photography and video. I would definitely recommend this filter. I feel kind of stupid for not buying it years ago, it could have saved a lot of recordings. After seeing the versatility of a variable ND in a video, I realized I must have been missing something. When I was looking for the item, I was amazed to see that the lower end of this series was around $250 to $300. If you create landscape images for museums or a major publisher you probably don't think twice about it and I'm sure these pieces are of high quality. However, if you are reading this, you have already encountered a few childish and smug comments that this article is not comparable to “professional” or “real” filters. You're here on Amazon - this thing works, try it. Finally, I saw a number of tantrum reviews insisting that this filter doesn't work and putting an "X" on the image. I suspect that's true... because the little page that accompanies the filter (and the online description) clearly states that turning the filter up to the highest setting results in this artifact, so they kind of advise against it Start doing that. Even if you cross the street at a red light, there is a risk that you will be run over. It works for me!