Michael Carter
Veteran
Seems to be more-than-the-usual chatter about ND, variable ND, cheap screw-on ND. Mucho conclusions by people getting started that a Matte box is too pricey, 4x4's will kill your budget, etc.
I dug through my stuff and found my first set of NDs, resin 4x4s.
The .3 is a Lee. The other two are Formatt Hitechs, I bought a set of 3 for $138. The Lee has square corners, the others have cut off corners.
Sharpness is pretty surprising. The only real difference from the Tiffen glass? they're not as accurate. The .3 is about a stop or a hair more, which is fine; the .3 is really about 2.5 stops, the .9 about 3.5 - 4.
This made testing for color casts a little tough, and I'd already broken down the test before I realized they weren't totally accurate exposure-wise. But making mild exposure corrections (using exposure, not levels) in post shows a subtle push to warm as the densities increase - .6 is mild, .9 might take some work in post. (When there's time and ND's will be in play, I try to custom WB for filter changes - but there's not always time...)
In the image attached, the center block is photoshop-generated neutral gray for comparison.
Conclusion for me: if you spot a deal on resin NDs (and they're not the $10 a pop losers) check the return policy and give them a test. Same with screw-ons if that's where you're at.
I dug through my stuff and found my first set of NDs, resin 4x4s.
The .3 is a Lee. The other two are Formatt Hitechs, I bought a set of 3 for $138. The Lee has square corners, the others have cut off corners.
Sharpness is pretty surprising. The only real difference from the Tiffen glass? they're not as accurate. The .3 is about a stop or a hair more, which is fine; the .3 is really about 2.5 stops, the .9 about 3.5 - 4.
This made testing for color casts a little tough, and I'd already broken down the test before I realized they weren't totally accurate exposure-wise. But making mild exposure corrections (using exposure, not levels) in post shows a subtle push to warm as the densities increase - .6 is mild, .9 might take some work in post. (When there's time and ND's will be in play, I try to custom WB for filter changes - but there's not always time...)
In the image attached, the center block is photoshop-generated neutral gray for comparison.
Conclusion for me: if you spot a deal on resin NDs (and they're not the $10 a pop losers) check the return policy and give them a test. Same with screw-ons if that's where you're at.