ND filter for video
- Thread starter -Sandro-
- Start date
Barry_Green
Moderator
Well, the possible detriments to stacking ND filters include:
1) The more they stick out the front of the lens (the deeper the stack) the more likely you may see vignetting on your shot.
2) Multiple filters means multiple new glass surfaces in front of your lens, each of which may cause flare or reflections, and each of which may have dust or other contamination on them.
3) ND filters are very rarely "purely" neutral, especially in the lower grades (like Tiffen circulars or Cokin or no-names or whatever). Which means that they may have a greenish or magenta or blue or other color shift to them. On their own, maybe not noticeable or barely noticeable, but when you start stacking two or three you multiply the color shift accordingly.
I always say that you should never cheap out on anything that goes in front of your lens. If you want to try stacking filters, you should only start with the very highest-quality fully multicoated best filters possible.
M. Gilden
Canon DSLR Moderator
So, skimming through this thread, I'm not sure if I understand the advantage of a better filter for video... didn't we conclude early on that the 1080p resolution plus aliasing would pretty much negate most of the difference?
I ask because I'm contemplating just picking up one of those el cheapo chinese filters from ebay just to have in case I need it for a shoot one day. I don't actually need it for anything work related yet so I don't want to spend money on it, and I really don't understand why a different version would make a difference unless you are shooting stills?
I ask because I'm contemplating just picking up one of those el cheapo chinese filters from ebay just to have in case I need it for a shoot one day. I don't actually need it for anything work related yet so I don't want to spend money on it, and I really don't understand why a different version would make a difference unless you are shooting stills?
Did anyone use Marumi brand ND-Filters?
http://www.ricardo.ch/kaufen/foto-u...ight-control-8-graufilter-52mm/v/an635675056/
http://www.ricardo.ch/kaufen/foto-u...ight-control-8-graufilter-52mm/v/an635675056/
Dvader
Well-known member
I too would love to hear what qualifies as the highest quality ND filters in your mind.
That tiffen IR ND sounds promising, can these filters be stacked at all?
http://www.filmtools.com/tiffen-77mm-indie-standard-irnd-kit-w77indstdkt.html
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I'm new to video & this forum. However, I have 30 years as a stills guy shooting large format, & every other format on film & now digital. I had a number of conversations with Lee Filters here in the UK when I was getting some filters made to my own specs. One thing that did come up in these conversations was that it is very difficult to get a TOTALLY neutral ND when going over 3 stops worth - I was trying to get 6 stops at the time for a specific shoot. They reckoned I would be better off with 2x 3 stops & make sure the matte box is well flagged off. The one advantage of a plate camera is, you can stick the filters to the rear lens element. Not much help for video/film. Having been reading through these forums, especially on the topic of vari ND's, I would be wary of anyone offering massive ND reductions for little money. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Why on earth would anyone think a $50 piece of plastic/resin/glass is not going to effect the sharpness of an expensive lens is beyond me. Unless you're after a Softar look of course.
Samuel H
Major Contributor
and still, not being one to be convinced by convincing words, I had to test it myself
I bought a bundle of resin filters from fotodiox (adapter, holder, ND2+ND4+ND8, all for around $25 IIRC)
They arrived a couple of weeks back, but I didn't have time to test them until yesterday
Here are the results with my One Dollar Resolution Chart:
http://www.similaar.com/foto/lenstests/lenstestsn.html
and here are my conclusions:
* The ND fader is terribly convenient, it is a delight to use, much, much, much better than the screw-in tiffen filters. But it will soften all your lenses. On a 35mm, there's a visible difference, but it's not a huge problem. On a 135mm, it is unbearable. So you only want to use it when there's no viable alternative: if you have the time to go through the pain of swapping filters, you want to avoid the fader. (after my test, I sold my fader on ebay)
* The cheap resin ND filters are cheap, and convenient too, not as much as the fader, but close enough, still worlds apart from the screw-in filters. But they still have a very noticeable effect on picture quality, again not much on a 35mm, but sometimes huge on long lenses. And that sometimes is part of the problem, as they offer very inconsistent results: of my three filters, one is extremely horrible, one is horrible, and the other one (the ND 0.9) is surprisingly clear... but nearly two stops darker than it should be (making it an ND 1.5 or something like that, which, in my case, will make it more useful).
* Tiffen makes glass ND filters for the Cokin P system, but they're $100 a pop, so...
* My next DIY project: build an adapter that can allow me to slide the screw-in filters into the cokin P filter holder (buy a bunch of the cheapest resin filters I can find, drill a 67mm hole on them, screw my 67mm-screw-in filters and leave them there); as I've tested already, with my 3-slot filter holder I'll be able to stack two of these frankenfilters (edit: I don't have time for that project, it took me two weeks to test these cheap filters, I think I'm going to buy a Formatt Hitech set instead, it's the cheapest "good enough" alternative for cokinP, and not extremely expensive either, plus will work with wider lenses and with lenses with bigger front elements wrt my DIY thing)
I bought a bundle of resin filters from fotodiox (adapter, holder, ND2+ND4+ND8, all for around $25 IIRC)
They arrived a couple of weeks back, but I didn't have time to test them until yesterday
Here are the results with my One Dollar Resolution Chart:
http://www.similaar.com/foto/lenstests/lenstestsn.html
and here are my conclusions:
* The ND fader is terribly convenient, it is a delight to use, much, much, much better than the screw-in tiffen filters. But it will soften all your lenses. On a 35mm, there's a visible difference, but it's not a huge problem. On a 135mm, it is unbearable. So you only want to use it when there's no viable alternative: if you have the time to go through the pain of swapping filters, you want to avoid the fader. (after my test, I sold my fader on ebay)
* The cheap resin ND filters are cheap, and convenient too, not as much as the fader, but close enough, still worlds apart from the screw-in filters. But they still have a very noticeable effect on picture quality, again not much on a 35mm, but sometimes huge on long lenses. And that sometimes is part of the problem, as they offer very inconsistent results: of my three filters, one is extremely horrible, one is horrible, and the other one (the ND 0.9) is surprisingly clear... but nearly two stops darker than it should be (making it an ND 1.5 or something like that, which, in my case, will make it more useful).
* Tiffen makes glass ND filters for the Cokin P system, but they're $100 a pop, so...
* My next DIY project: build an adapter that can allow me to slide the screw-in filters into the cokin P filter holder (buy a bunch of the cheapest resin filters I can find, drill a 67mm hole on them, screw my 67mm-screw-in filters and leave them there); as I've tested already, with my 3-slot filter holder I'll be able to stack two of these frankenfilters (edit: I don't have time for that project, it took me two weeks to test these cheap filters, I think I'm going to buy a Formatt Hitech set instead, it's the cheapest "good enough" alternative for cokinP, and not extremely expensive either, plus will work with wider lenses and with lenses with bigger front elements wrt my DIY thing)
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