10 Stop ND Filters

[John 2]

This is a short but interesting summary of the pros and cons of a couple of 10 stop ND filters. Thought it might be of interest to anyone thinking of trying some long exposure photography. It'd probably of less interest to those of us who already use these filters although there is an interesting comparison between Hoya screw ins and Lee square filters.

http://www.mostly.photos/blog/2017/2...ensity-filters

[Manfred M]

I use a 10-stop B+W 77mm screw in (plus a 72mm step up ring) for the rare occasions that I do this type of shot.

I've avoided the Lee Big Stopper because of colour cast concerns. I had a good hard look at the Nisi line, which is what the tour leader was shooting during the trip into Ladakh, India just over a week ago; although the Lee filter holder looks to be more sturdy and reliable than the Nisi one (I had my Lee one and Jassi had the Nisi). I would definitely consider getting a Nisi 10-stop or 15-stop as the results appear to be quite neutral.

I've also heard good things about the Formatt-Hitech Firecrest line. The Formatt-Hitech filter holder is apparently quite fiddly to use and I would stay away from it.

The biggest issue I have seen with the Hoya line is in their quality control. Some of their products are excellent but I've also seen some downright bad ones (not optically flat).

[John 2]

......................The biggest issue I have seen with the Hoya line is in their quality control. Some of their products are excellent but I've also seen some downright bad ones (not optically flat).

Ditto, not so much optical flatness but their Pro 1 line was difficult to clean without smears. I thought it was the cleaning kit I was using but I have seen other posts saying the same thing.

[DanK]

I bought the Hoya ProND 10 stop precisely because of its color neutrality. My other NDs are Marumis, which I have tested for color cast and are also quite neutral.

I also had some problems cleaning some Hoyas, but I have had so many that I lost track of which. To my surprise, I discovered that they recommended water for cleaning one of their lines (at least, they did when I looked ages ago), and that worked better than the lens cleaning solution I had been using. Might be worth looking up the ones you have on the web to see what they recommend.

[NorthernFocus]

... I had a good hard look at the Nisi line, which is what the tour leader was shooting during the trip into Ladakh, India just over a week ago; although the Lee filter holder looks to be more sturdy and reliable than the Nisi one (I had my Lee one and Jassi had the Nisi). I would definitely consider getting a Nisi 10-stop or 15-stop as the results appear to be quite neutral...

Thanks for this post, Manfred. I've been looking at ND options and the Nisi is at the top of my list. The Nisi holder I've been looking at comes with an 82mm screw in CPL that mounts under(i.e.closest to the lens) the square filters. Seems like a good idea to me because most of the time that I use ND I'm shooting something to do with water when the CPL is also useful. Did your tour leader have the same one? If so did he use the CPL?

[Manfred M]

Yes he did. The NISI filter holder had an attachment that made rotating the polarizer quite easy and accurately. There was a thumb wheel that depressed to rotate the CPL. The main downside seems to be it does not rotate the filter particularly quickly. As I mentioned before, both Jassi and I found the NISI filter holder a bit weak from a design / construction standpoint.

The Lee holder that I have mounts a 105MM CPL in front of the square (or rectangular if using GND) filters and is quite easy to access. When I have the three square filter mount setup, I get a touch of vignetting up to around 27mm when I shoot with the Nikkor /f2.8 24-70mm lens (I just checked). I suspect it will disappear if I take off the three filter setup and put it back to two square filters, but don't have the right screws along with me right now.

[dubaiphil]

I use a 10-stop B+W 77mm screw in (plus a 72mm step up ring) for the rare occasions that I do this type of shot.

I've avoided the Lee Big Stopper because of colour cast concerns. I had a good hard look at the Nisi line, which is what the tour leader was shooting during the trip into Ladakh, India just over a week ago; although the Lee filter holder looks to be more sturdy and reliable than the Nisi one (I had my Lee one and Jassi had the Nisi). I would definitely consider getting a Nisi 10-stop or 15-stop as the results appear to be quite neutral.

I've also heard good things about the Formatt-Hitech Firecrest line. The Formatt-Hitech filter holder is apparently quite fiddly to use and I would stay away from it.

The biggest issue I have seen with the Hoya line is in their quality control. Some of their products are excellent but I've also seen some downright bad ones (not optically flat).

Just did some research on the Firestone holder - company description mentions 'virtually eliminating light leakage', and review that I have come across mention light leakage - such a shame as it looks like a good package with the build in CP.