fader ND good beyond 50mm??

[Fellipe]

mr. bloom said he liked the LCW mk2, and it's a good inexpensive option. Maybe for stills it's not very good but I don't see any real drawbacks for video, as long as you keep your focal length below 100mm.

 

[jambredz]

jambredz, would you mind posting some screen grabs of your LCW fader with 100-200 lens range?
base on my pics i's obvious Genus fader falls apart on anything longer than 50mm, i was wondering if LCW (being in the same price range) does the same.

I'll try to do it tomorrow Patryk. I can tell you though...when i put it on my 50mm the very first time i saw a difference. it was soft and the colour shifted to greenish tone. Another member has up some tests...i'll see if i can find it for you to look on.

 

[jambredz]

mr. bloom said he liked the LCW mk2, and it's a good inexpensive option. Maybe for stills it's not very good but I don't see any real drawbacks for video, as long as you keep your focal length below 100mm.

While 2nd hand reviews are good to go by...and Philip is no doubt competent enough... I have first hand experience with my LCW MK2. I will not compromise my image using it. If the review of the heliopan was only by Bloom i wouldn't run out and buy it as yet...but there are 2 independent reviews by members here that support the fact that its really good and sharp with no colour cast. One member (Postmaster) even admitted he usually isn't in agreement with Bloom but on this he was spot on.

 

[jambredz]

here you go Patryk

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?220405-Fader-ND-mk.II-vs-Vari-ND-Pt.2&highlight=singh-ray


also here are some tests that member "NormanBates" did

http://www.similaar.com/foto/lenstests/lenstestsn.html

and his conclusion

"as you'll see, it's absolutely dramatic on a 135mm, and not so bad but still not nice on a 35mm

It is very bad news for me, because the fader is soooo convenient; it's a pity that it looks so bad

if you're tempted to think "well, on the 35mm it's still bearable", you're absolutely right, but consider this:
* the standard tiffen screw-in filters are about the same price (for a 0.3+0.6+0.9 set, at 77mm), and provide much better performance; they are a pain to use, though
* I got a sharper image on the corners at wide open with no filter than at f/3.5 with the ND fader; in the past, I have stopped down this lens in order to get a slightly sharper image at the corners; that means I don't want to use the fader, if I can avoid it
* even on a 35mm, my ND fader mk2 degrades picture quality more than my $3 Chinese UV filter from ebay"


http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?233349-ND-filter-for-video Post #9


I'll still try tomorrow if i have time...but this has been documented and discussed here on the boards.

 

[jambredz]

you can also try this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPlLmJcbH0s

[URL="http://www.abelcine.com/store/Schneider-77mm-True-Match-Vari-ND-Kit/"]http://www.abelcine.com/store/Schneider-77mm-True-Match-Vari-ND-Kit/

[/URL] pricey though

 

[Samuel H]

hehe, I was reading this thread and thinking: I've got to post my tests here...

 

[Patryk_Rebisz]

great input guys, thanks!

 

[bwwd]

So.. to sum everything up, optical science in 2011 still doesnt have technology to produce faderND without loss of sharpness ?
*Did anyone tried 2 great quality polarizers, i guess they wouldnt be sharp as well ?

 

[Patryk_Rebisz]

Singh-Ray is as sharp as it gets.

 

[bwwd]

Any tests with 200mm ? You know how it is with words against pictures*

 

[Patryk_Rebisz]

Just for you, 200mm test (focus was a bit off but by looking at other sharp objects in the image you will see that the filter is razor sharp).

 

[bwwd]

Thanks, so looks like it works.

 

[kostas]

There is a video test by another member with the Heliopan, and it goes up to 200mm.
I find it pretty interesting http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...-of-field-evaluation-video&highlight=heliopan
Maybe all these threads about ND filters should be merged at some time.