Talk to me about ND filters: Is variable ND a problem in real world use?

NonFiction said:
The weird results are because the glass in each of these filters is of different colors. I suspect it's a bastard pack that B&H sent me. Not to impugn them, but I just cannot imagine this is how Tiffen sent it out. I MIGHT try again--gonna call B&H today and let them know what I got. It's really as bad as it looks. I took them out of the wrapping and was like, what? Because each filter looked that much differen than the last.
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Might be useful to put them on a lightbox and snap a shot. And since not many people have light boxes these days, a piece of glass from a picture frame with a white sheet of paper on top and a light below.....

Would be really nice to see all the filters side by side like that. It eliminates any issues of white balance being different between images because it's all one image. Could help your case with B&H too.
 
@Keylight: yep, pretty good idea. But my lightbox is at the studio and I'm here, plus B&H has already issued an RMA on it so I'm not feeling the need to do any more testing on these. I'm probably going to go with the new Genustech Eclipse Vari-ND. But perhaps Tiffen will offer up an evaluation set of their Indi PRO filters, checked for good matching... If they work, I'll probably buy them. But they'll have to be pretty impressive for $500. I'd love to do some side by side (casual) testing.
 
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NonFiction said:
@Keylight: yep, pretty good idea. But my lightbox is at the studio and I'm here, plus B&H has already issued an RMA on it so I'm not feeling the need to do any more testing on these. I'm probably going to go with the new Genustech Eclipse Vari-ND. But perhaps Tiffen will offer up an evaluation set of their Indi PRO filters, checked for good matching... If they work, I'll probably buy them. But they'll have to be pretty impressive for $500. I'd love to do some side by side (casual) testing.
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Darn! I mean, good to hear about B&H, but I thought it might be informative and possibly useful for others so they can see and know what to avoid. Oh well.....
 
keylight said:
Might be useful to put them on a lightbox and snap a shot. And since not many people have light boxes these days, a piece of glass from a picture frame with a white sheet of paper on top and a light below.....

Would be really nice to see all the filters side by side like that. It eliminates any issues of white balance being different between images because it's all one image. Could help your case with B&H too.
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Somebody already did that:

tiffen.jpg

http://duncandavidson.com/blog/2011/06/nd_test


Tiffen is pretty overrated IMHO. Just a famous name, but the quality isn't there anymore.

Also keep in mind, that Genus is just a part of Tiffen - don't think they afford ND-Filter R&D for both brands.
 
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Nice frank. Thanks for posting.

You saved me some money - Ill stick with my srb-griturn filters $20 - they seem about the same.

I had been considering a move to tiffen

S
 
Perhaps I am stating the obvious. But with a Variable ND you always have an ND cut on the lens. With a 4x5 or 4x4 you can pull it instantly and have a clean path. I use both depending on the shoot.
 
BrianMurphy said:
Perhaps I am stating the obvious. But with a Variable ND you always have an ND cut on the lens. With a 4x5 or 4x4 you can pull it instantly and have a clean path. I use both depending on the shoot.
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I'm going to try these: http://www.xumeadapters.com
Also getting a mattebox from the good people at Genus, along with the Eclipse VariND. I'll chime in later.

So, what 4x4 NDs (and ND grad) do y'all like? Simple matter of get what you pay for?
 
NonFiction said:
I'm going to try these: http://www.xumeadapters.com
Also getting a mattebox from the good people at Genus, along with the Eclipse VariND. I'll chime in later.

So, what 4x4 NDs (and ND grad) do y'all like? Simple matter of get what you pay for?
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I've got the Xume adapters and let me tell you they are pure genius! An additional benefit is that you can easily rotate them without having to use Franks method of an extra ring to deal with
any polarization. The magnets are plenty strong it is one sweet setup.
 
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