ND filters

L

Lor

Well-known member
I need to buy some ND filters. Here are my questions. What is the difference between ND filteres for SLR lens and matte box? I'm deciding between buying ND filters for my Cavision matte box versus my Nikon lenses. I'm leaning towards buying for my Nikon lenses since it is much cheaper than for matte box.

Here are some brands that I'm considering:

B+W
Tiffen
Schneider
Formatt
Cavision

Is Cavision ND filters good enough compare to the other four brand names? What are the differences between digital vs. non-digital and multi-coated vs. non-multi-coated filters? How is .3 (2x), .6(4x), .9(8x) relate f-stop?

Any suggestion is appreciated.
 
.3 -1stop
.6 -2 stops
.9 -3 stops

of your list , I would rank them according to highest --> lowest quality.

B+W
Schneider
Formatt
Tiffen
Cavision

Buy the 4x4 or 4x5.6 filter for your mattebox, so you can have filter for all of your current nikon lenses (regardless of size) as well as your stock camera lens. When you switch camera in the future, you dont have to worry about filters again ever.

Unless, you buy the biggest camera filter (82mm ?) and then buy a bunch of step up ring. Then again, you defeat the purpose of having a mattebox with filter trays.
 
Google for KOOD Pro 100 (they are 4x5,6).

Kood Square Filter Systems are manufactured by Kood in the UK. They have excellent optical flatness and quality controlled colour to within 10% of accepted wratten standards, cheaper or about the same price as Cokin Z. I have two different ND Grad and I´m most happy with them.

Ah, I found it: http://www.kood-international.com/pages/filtersq.html

Frank
 
Last edited:
Dxmetal said:
.3 -1stop
.6 -2 stops
.9 -3 stops

of your list , I would rank them according to highest --> lowest quality.

B+W
Schneider
Formatt
Tiffen
Cavision

Buy the 4x4 or 4x5.6 filter for your mattebox, so you can have filter for all of your current nikon lenses (regardless of size) as well as your stock camera lens. When you switch camera in the future, you dont have to worry about filters again ever.

Unless, you buy the biggest camera filter (82mm ?) and then buy a bunch of step up ring. Then again, you defeat the purpose of having a mattebox with filter trays.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll check B+W and Schnedier then. By the way, any idea ono my question regarding digital vs. non-digital and multi-coated vs. non-multi-coated filters?
 
Postmaster said:
Google for KOOD Pro 100 (they are 4x5,6).

Kood Square Filter Systems are manufactured by Kood in the UK. They have excellent optical flatness and quality controlled colour to within 10% of accepted wratten standards, cheaper or about the same price as Cokin Z. I have two different ND Grad and I´m most happy with them.

Ah, I found it: http://www.kood-international.com/pages/filtersq.html

Frank
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the suggestion. However, I couldn't find the price under the link that you gave me. I'll search on Google.
 
Schneider = B+W. B+W is their brand name for round screw-in filters, Schneider is their name for square drop-in filters. Same glass.
 
I see. Thanks for clearing that confusion, Barry. What's the difference between digital and non-digital? Would it be best to use an external filter like Schneider or to use the built-in internal ND filters of the camera e.g. EX1?
 
"digital" filters? That'd be just marketing nonsense.

As for external vs. internal - I've never had a problem with the internal filters on any camera I've used, I think they're likely fine. External can theoretically be better quality than a small thin sheet of gelatin internally, but external can also be contaminated with dust...

With an EX1 you have an additional problem though, which is infrared pollution, and it gets worse the more ND you add. If you want to use ND filtration with an EX1, look up the big discussion on DVInfo about 486 and 489 filters.
 
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