Help required for Lee big stopper

[post2cd]

1. I have a nikkor 18-105mm (67mm filter) and a Tokina 11-16mm (77 mm filter), the latter being ulta wide angle.
2. i shoot with nikon d5200 (dx format)
3. I live in India, Lee big stopper is not available for me to buy.
4. Will have to ask someone who is travelling to buy one for me. So can anyone help me with the list that I have to provide to the person so that he can bring back my big stopper with the required accessories. Please give me the necessary accessories because if he fails to bring something i will be stuck as these are not available in India.

Waiting for your advice and thanks in advance for the help.

[Shadowman]

Get a part number and a brand name and also try to figure out where your friend is going and see if you can track a store that carries your item.

[Manfred M]

There are certainly other alternatives to the Big Stopper; both B+W and Singh-Ray make 10-stop circular ND filters that don't need the Lee holder and adaptor rings (and are less expensive as well). While I have the Lee system (both ND and two sets of grads); I don't have the Big Stopper, but rather a 77mm B+W 10-stop filter.

Get a 67mm to 77mm adaptor and you are all set with one of the alternatives (quality wise, I would rate both Singh Ray and B+W on par with Lee).

[Polar01]

I am going to tell you something that you won't want to hear. No one is going to walk into some sort or the other camera place and just pick up a Lee Big Stopper they are always on back order by months. It is the one everyone wants and they are hand made, now it depends on what you want to do in the future as to what you get.
If you just want something with the power of 10 stop then the B+W 77mm filter and a step up ring 67mm>77mm is all you need, it is excellent glass and quality in workmanship and materials.
If you want usefulness then the Singh-Ray vari-NG filter is a great choice you go from 2 stops all the way to 8 stops and again one setup ring 67mm>77mm. Costs more but by the time you work in 6 or so Lee GND filters close in price.
Now if you want to use GND filter then you want the 4"x6" ones so you can position them where you want them. If you went with the Lee system you would need the 67mm and 77mm holder rings, Foundation Holder (holds up to 3 filters), Big-Stopper, and either a 2 or 3 stop 4"x6" GND filter or both then you would have equal to 2, 3, and 5 stops plus the Big-Stopper.
I am going to add a link to a place in the US that handles the Lee and also B+W, as there is almost no weight to the items why not order online and pay the postage. It maybe worth it, to find out it will only cost you a phone call or e-mail to find out.
It is just you can not walk into a camera store and pickup a Big-Stopper off the shelf.

http://www.2filter.com/

Cheers: Allan

[Manfred M]

Actually Allan, I was referring to the 10-stop Singh Ray "More Slo", which was recently introduced, rather than the vari-ND. It seems to be the third 10-stop filter on the market.

[Polar01]

Manfred I did not realize that they had a 10-stop will have to check their site, thanks for the info.

Cheers: Allan

[Manfred M]

Look at: http://www.singh-ray.com/mor-slo10.html

They have a 15-stop ND as well: http://www.singh-ray.com/mor-slo15.html


I seem to remember Colin pointing this out a couple of months ago.

[IzzieK]

Can I just remind the OP to fill out his location and name in his profile? After this post, if he doesn't put his details in his message, we will never know...

[Colin Southern]

Get a 67mm to 77mm adaptor and you are all set with one of the alternatives (quality wise, I would rate both Singh Ray and B+W on par with Lee).

Personally, I'd rate both Singh-Ray and B+W well above Lee; the first two are "top shelf" whereas Lee (for filters) is really only middle of the pack.

[Colin Southern]

Manfred I did not realize that they had a 10-stop will have to check their site, thanks for the info.

Cheers: Allan

They have 5, 10, and 15 stop in the MorSlo range, and the Vari-ND does 2 - 8 stop. Personally I never use my MorSlos, and am always using my Vari-NDs.

[shreds]

I am going to tell you something that you won't want to hear. No one is going to walk into some sort or the other camera place and just pick up a Lee Big Stopper they are always on back order by months. It is the one everyone wants and they are hand made, now it depends on what you want to do in the future as to what you get.
If you just want something with the power of 10 stop then the B+W 77mm filter and a step up ring 67mm>77mm is all you need, it is excellent glass and quality in workmanship and materials.
If you want usefulness then the Singh-Ray vari-NG filter is a great choice you go from 2 stops all the way to 8 stops and again one setup ring 67mm>77mm. Costs more but by the time you work in 6 or so Lee GND filters close in price.
Now if you want to use GND filter then you want the 4"x6" ones so you can position them where you want them. If you went with the Lee system you would need the 67mm and 77mm holder rings, Foundation Holder (holds up to 3 filters), Big-Stopper, and either a 2 or 3 stop 4"x6" GND filter or both then you would have equal to 2, 3, and 5 stops plus the Big-Stopper.
I am going to add a link to a place in the US that handles the Lee and also B+W, as there is almost no weight to the items why not order online and pay the postage. It maybe worth it, to find out it will only cost you a phone call or e-mail to find out.
It is just you can not walk into a camera store and pickup a Big-Stopper off the shelf.

http://www.2filter.com/

Cheers: Allan

Allan,

Whilst Lee had production delays a couple of years ago, and everything was on back order, they put in place additional production facilities and I know of places where it is usually available off the shelf in England. Here, for example:-

http://www.dalephotographic.co.uk/ma...2010x%20Filter

And in answer to the OP, you will need a filter holder:

http://www.dalephotographic.co.uk/ma...er%2520Holders

(I have no connection other than being a regular satisfied customer, both in person and by mail order).

together with appropriate sized filter rings (e.g. 67mm or 77mm) for whichever lens you are using.

You only need a filter holder that holds the Big Stopper, but additional slots will allow you to use multiple filters. Generally they come with two/three slots. The Big Stopper is 100mmx100mm.

It therefore does not work with the UWA Nikon 14-24mm, although Lee do make UWA filters at 150mm for other purposes, just not the BS.

[Manfred M]

Personally, I'd rate both Singh-Ray and B+W well above Lee; the first two are "top shelf" whereas Lee (for filters) is really only middle of the pack.

You'd better let the film and video industry know; Lee is where these folks turn to for filters on their cameras (and where Lee got their reputation). Schneider (i.e. B+W) also have a presence, but the rest aren't even on the radar.

[Colin Southern]

You'd better let the film and video industry know; Lee is where these folks turn to for filters on their cameras (and where Lee got their reputation). Schneider (i.e. B+W) also have a presence, but the rest aren't even on the radar.

There are more Fords Falcons on the road than Bugatti Veyrons, but it still doesn't mean that the Ford is better ... it only means it's better value for money

If anyone is interested, here's a tour of the Lee facilities

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMu_m203YaY

[IzzieK]

Very interesting Colin...I only intended to watch a little bit of it, but I ended up watching the whole episode. Thanks. That was very helpful.

[Manfred M]

Colin - I had seen that video before and was somewhat amused by the rather "simple" and basic production techniques. That being said, for the size of the market that they are serving, they obviously don't see the need for any siginficant investment in automation.

One should never equate the production techniques used with quality (and that comes from someone with over 35 years of experinece in all kinds of production / manufacturing engineering across a number of industries). When I compare my Heliopan grads to my Lee grads, the Heliopans do look like they use a more sophisticated production approach.

Have a look at any high end film / video production with the high end Arri, Panavision and Red cameras, and you will see Lee filters sitting in the matt boxes in front of very expensive Zeiss, Cooke, Leica and Red primes.

[Colin Southern]

One should never equate the production techniques used with quality

I'm not - I'm going by their reputation (the video link was just a FYI for anyone interested).

The Big Stopper is an excellent case in point - it has an abysmally uneven spectral response compared to a Singh-Ray MorSlo (Lee even admit to it's cast in their manual).

[shreds]

Colin likes his Bugatti's.

http://singhray.blogspot.co.uk/searc...lin%20Southern