Formatt-Hitech filters - Firecrest or Resin?

[MRCywinski]

I'm looking into upgrading my filter system. The Formatt-Hitech filters has caught my attention; however, I am torn between the IRND PROSTOP resin and FIRECREST filters. Here are a few questions I have to ask, any feedback is greatly appreciated!

1. Which of the material of the two filters are better?

2. What are the pro and cons of each material?

3. How does the firecrest CPL (circular polarizer) compare to a standard version?

4. Does the PROSTOP IRND filters produce a strange colour shift during long exposures?

Cheers,

Matthew

[dje]

I'm looking into upgrading my filter system. The Formatt-Hitech filters has caught my attention; however, I am torn between the IRND PROSTOP resin and FIRECREST filters. Here are a few questions I have to ask, any feedback is greatly appreciated!

1. Which of the material of the two filters are better?

2. What are the pro and cons of each material?

3. How does the firecrest CPL (circular polarizer) compare to a standard version?

4. Does the PROSTOP IRND filters produce a strange colour shift during long exposures?

Cheers,

Matthew

Hi Matthew

I only have the ordinary resin Hitech GND's so I can't speak from experience with the newer versions. You might be lucky to find anyone on this site who is in a position to compare the two versions you mention. You would however be perfectly entitled to put your questions to the company itself and this is what I would suggest.

Have you looked on their website ? There is information there on the new filters including this section here on the Firecrest ND technology. Towards the bottom of this section they produce curves which compare the rejection of Infra Red by the PROSTOP IRND technology and the Firecrest technology. Apparently the former technology is die on resin based but the latter uses glass with rare metal coatings to produce the ND effect. Hitech are basically saying that the more you can reduce the IR before it gets onto the sensor, the less chance there will be of strange colour casts. Their curves suggest that IR rejection is better with the Firecrest but you really need to know how much improvement this gives in colour accuracy (which is probably sensor dependent).

Interestingly they use the same term "Firecrest" in relation to CPL's, even these are quite different to ND's. They talk about their "exclusive ant-reflective multicoatings" which doesn't tell you much but if you ask them, they may give more information to substantiate their claims.

Good luck in making your decision!

Dave

[Manfred M]

I can't comment on the Formatt Hitech line of filters, but I use the Lee line of grad and ND filters, in both resin and glass. I assume that there will be some similarity between the two brands/

1. Resin - lighter weight than glass, but it will scratch more easily than glass. Optically, I see no difference between resin or glass. If you drop resin (I've done this more than once), it won't break.

2. Glass - heavier than resin, more scratch resistant, but drop it and it will break.

Colour shift in high density filters - every brand I've read about has people complaining about this. I suspect that the filters are probably neutral, but your white balance had better be right on, or you will show a cast in jpegs. In raw shots, you can correct any WB issues in post.