Best Vari-ND filter?

G

Gene Sung

Veteran
Which Variable ND Filter would you guys recommend? The only one I know of is the Singh-Ray version, but it's pretty expensive. Any good ones for a bit cheaper?

I see that Singh also Variable ND combined with a Polarizer. Anyone try that? That's a great idea it seems, at least on paper.

It seems so much easier than stacking ND filters like I have been.

Thanks
 
the other day i discovered 3 circular polas that i forgot i had. i popped the glass out of one and put it back in backwards. i screwed it to another pola and voila!! i now have a vari ND. works great and i don't see any major color shift. since both polas can move i can rotate the back one to use as a standard pola, then rotate the front one to get my exposure.
 
what does the circular/linear combo do differently? i thought linear pola's were a no-no on cmos as they shift the color. no?
 
speedjunkie said:
How did you pop the Glass out without Damage.....
Click to expand...

Little wire thread, unscrew it, then remove glass.

Cheezweezl - So you can still get the Polarizer "effect" to work while using a Vari-ND style majigger?

That's what's been holding me off. Polarization on camera outdoors is a MUST, if you can't polarize with a Vari-ND then I'm out.

I guess since I have two Circular Polarizers I should try this tomorrow. Might have to go and snatch up two more and deal.
 
you need to have a linear with a circular and have them in the right order. Two circulars or two linears won't work i have heard (except for maybe the reversing of the glass mentioned above). Mine works great and I only get a shift in color to blue when it is almost fully closed, but on bright days I set it to just a fraction more open and it is fine, no color shift. All other settings are fine no color shift at all.

Edit: Just so you know all the vari ND filters use this method too, they are simply thinner than if you make them yourself. I made mine bigger than my biggest lens and then got step up rings for all my lenses. Autofocus still works fine.
 
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Yes, I can still use it like a normal pola. As far as color shift, after checking again, I do get a shift in the blues when closed down all the way. So it looks like they work the same. Does the circular/linear sandwich give you the ability to use a a pola?
 
yes it does but I taped it so it doesn't move, was to hard to manipulate with both filters moving using one hand.
 
I used the Fader ND for a week in Mexico with a borrowed 5d. It was a indispensable tool for achieving proper exposure while having iris, shutter and ISO locked at what I wanted. I found out as I have read before, when using it at it's Max setting you can get some weird 'dark area's. At times I used in in conjunction with a 2 stop ND filter. Keeping the Fader in the Min to med-max seemed to work best. It slightly vignetted when used alone with my Nikkor 20-35, zooming to 22 solved it though. I did find (in my opinion) using the custom WB setting with a white card is a must to alleviate the very slight green tint the filter has. The WB kelvin wheel and the presets wont compensate for the green.

The overall build quality and seemingly optical quality, make it a must have tool. With the results I had I wouldn't consider the Singh-Ray unless someone else was paying for it.
 
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