ND Filters and IR Filters

DDirector

Veteran
I haven't used IR filters before. Haven't used and filters above 1.2 before.

For the BMC camera, i
s it best to get the:

Tiffen Full Spectrum IRND
--Or--
Tiffen ND filter + Schneider 680 IR Filter

Also, is it recommended to use the IR filter, whichever it would be with no matter which stop ND you use?

If I have a separate filter, it will be cheaper.
But, I will loose a filter tray in the mattebox, using up all 2 of the trays.
And Im not sure if I'll loose more light by having a second filter or not.

Which is recommended?
 
In my experience, stacking filters should always be the last option. I'd go for the combo ND+IR filters above 1.2.
 
In my experience, stacking filters should always be the last option. I'd go for the combo ND+IR filters above 1.2.

We used to rent regular .3, .6, .9 and IRND 1.2, 1.5, 1.8 for our productions. Now we rent IRND's from .3-1.8. I've seen the ugly side of IR contamination, but I've yet to see the opposite effect when you take too much out, if that even exists. So it's almost always IRND's now, even on the lighter side. Why not?

If anyone has a reason, I'm very open for it because my testing shows that they are just fine through the range. Is there a situation, besides cost, where you would want to use a regular ND over an IRND?

In fact, another reason we always go IRND now, is because smaller rental houses would often not want to break a set of ND's and even at larger ones that did, it always seemed there was a color difference between the regular and the IR's. Although you find inconsistencies even in some matched sets of ND's, we found it was better for consistency to go with all the same series, in our case IRND's.
 
Besides cost…availability.

Depending on where you are, it's a lot easier to find IRNDs in .9 and above. Many places just don't stock them below .9 or 1.2, from what I've seen.


We used to rent regular .3, .6, .9 and IRND 1.2, 1.5, 1.8 for our productions. Now we rent IRND's from .3-1.8. I've seen the ugly side of IR contamination, but I've yet to see the opposite effect when you take too much out, if that even exists. So it's almost always IRND's now, even on the lighter side. Why not?

If anyone has a reason, I'm very open for it because my testing shows that they are just fine through the range. Is there a situation, besides cost, where you would want to use a regular ND over an IRND?

In fact, another reason we always go IRND now, is because smaller rental houses would often not want to break a set of ND's and even at larger ones that did, it always seemed there was a color difference between the regular and the IR's. Although you find inconsistencies even in some matched sets of ND's, we found it was better for consistency to go with all the same series, in our case IRND's.
 
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