I'm wondering if there is yet another setting on the camera that I've missed.
I have experimented with the ND filters on the camera when shooting outdoors in bright sunlight. They do an excellent job of bringing out color and cleaning up the hotspots. Unfortunately, they also make the shadows so black I lose all detail. I have had better success using a tiffen polarizer. I think the camera takes incredible pictures. You just have to make sure it's not a high contrast shot.
Or,... maybe I've got something set wrong. There are a gazillion settings on this
camera.