Budget ND decision: LCW Fader or Tiffen Set

N

notharrylume

Active member
For my set of 6 manual nikkors which all have a 52 mm thread I think I have two reasonable budget ND options:
  1. Light Craft Works Fader ND MK II (8 stops) - $72
  2. Tiffen Glass ND filter set (.6, .9, 1.2) - $42 plus .3 $16 = $58
Pros & cons:
Light craft pros - one filter; infinite variability
Light craft cons - can get dust between lenses; can't use with lenses over 200 mm; no repeatability - no markings defining actual density; sometimes produces some kind of "X" - whatever that means

Tiffen pros - precise amount of nd - you always know how much you're adding; ability to clean all surfaces of filter
Tiffen cons - optical quality reputation not great; need to stack to get maximum density; can't get fractional density
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Because I'm not going to spend $283 for a Heliopan I'd very much appreciate some knowledgable advice about the best nd solution. What do you think? Thanks for your thoughts.

My GH2 is scheudled to arrive from B&H today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
If you are saying that Tiffen reputation is not great, I can't understand how you can't say the same about the Fader Nd. If you look on this site you will see example where the fader Nd image quality starts to degrade a lot as from 50mm, not 200mm. Tiffen has some of the best ND (forgot the name) but test very very good to best with IR contamination etc. Another set of filter like the ultra contrast has won an academy award, so I find it strange that these two brands could be compared in any way. Normal ND won't cause typical problem that polarizers have like uneven sky in wide angle.
 
Yeah, the LCW has problems at longer focal lengths and vignettes at wider angles. I went through an LCW filter, my own custom one made with two polarizers, switched to some cheap Chinese Cokin P ND filters (fixed blurriness and vignetting), and finally ended up with Hitech Cokin P sized ND filters. I finally realized why brands like Lee are so expensive. They don't exhibit the color cast that the cheaper brands do. The Hitech filters aren't as good as Lee, but are much better than all the previous ND filters I've had. It's a good compromise between between price and performance. I gave my cousin my cheapo ND8, but I'll see if I can borrow his to do a comparison with my Hitech filters.

Since the Hitechs can add up in price, I just got two, an ND8 and ND64. These are the two strengths that are on the DVX100 and seem pretty versatile. The GH2 is pretty good sensitivity-wise so I don't mind jacking up the ISO in the rare cases where I don't get the desired stop reduction (usually in bright light anyways so the noise is less noticeable). Also, stacking filters can work, but will add even more color casts if the quality isn't good.
 
How bad is it really? Is there a nice comparison between say the Tiffen and the LCW Fader and say a $300 filter (no name comes to mind right now)? I suppose full 16Mpixel still will show the differences the best? I've seen some reviews of the LCW and another even cheaper Glass fader and it seemed fine to my eyes - but my visual skill is not as developed as say someone who has been doing this for 5 to 10 years.

The reason I ask is based on this concept of chefs....top chefs make food that only other chefs can appreciate, for the rest of us that want a good plate of food that chefs just makes great food, but we don't notice all the little things that the chef has done to the food. We don't appreciate all the small touches and herbs and tastes that other chefs will pick up and appreciate.

We the average Joe might say:
"Mwhoa! Very tasty thank you. I'll definitely come again"

A chef might say:
"I loved the fusion of the venison with the rosemary and lemon sauce. And did you add some zest to the marinade or was it the basting? I also love how you balanced the textures of the strawberry and graininess of the roasted crust on the meat."

So for me a LCW Fader might be great (presently) for the next year or until my visual skills have developed so much that putting on a top brand Filter makes me notice the difference immediately.
 
Decisions decisions decision.

1. Size - 52mm for my Nikors plus the 12-42 for today or a 77mm set if Ihappen to buy a Tokina 11-16 in the future?
2. Quality - Tiffen's inexpensive NDK filters or their 4 times as expensive MT digital ones?
3. Vari - is it just LCW's vari that exhibits wide and telphoto issues or would the Tiffen vari have the same problem?

For $50 I should probably just get the 4 basic 52mm Tiffen filters and see for myself, I suppose.
 
Convert everything to 77mm! I did with my Canon FDs which are all either 52mm or 72mm, and I have no regrets at all. I have that set of Tiffen 77mm and they are just great. The image quality is terrific - much better than a vari-ND. Those Xume magnetic QR adapters look awesome. When I'm rich, I'll definitely get a set.
 
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