10 stop filter for £2 - really :D

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jerry12953 said:
...Technical quality is all important for me.
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I'm really glad I take photo's for the sheer enjoyment of doing so... some of the best photographs I've got are technically flawed, but I'd not swap 'em for something technically perfect :shrug:
 
jerry12953 said:
Let us know how the B&W filter compares with the welding glass! I'm thinking of getting one (or the Hoya equivalent).

Technical quality is all important for me.
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Jerry, the welding glass I have (from Machine Mart £3.50) is very green and about 14 stops. Grade 11 I think it is. You can correct the colour of course but it acts like a coloured filter and greens come out a bit lighter, reds a bit darker. You might not like this for landscapes. It's also somewhat flarey and softens very fine detail but all things considered it does the job. I got mine cut circular and fitted into a ring - it was a faff to do (and local glazier bodged it) but at least made it easier to use.

I had the B+W ten stopper which is much better optically but a little bit orange. Unless you want everything to look like an autumnal sunset, it needs correcting. It's also uncoated.

I've also had the LightCraft Vari-II cross-polarisers jobbie and that was frankly unusable with anything remotely resembling a wide angle due to the dark cross pattern that appears at higher ND levels with all filters of this type. Useless, IMHO. That went straight back.

Then I got the LightCraft ND500MC which is nine stops (mine turns out to be 8.5) and multicoated. It's very good, and well priced at £65, but 77mm only I think ATM and doesn't have a front thread. It is very slightly blue (to about the same degree as the Lee Big Stopper which I've also used) but not really enough to worry about. I sold the B+W and kept the ND500 (y) From Premier Ink http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photog...raft-workshop-77mm-nd500mc-filter-p-2927.html

I've not tried the Hoya but I believe it is warmish like the B+W, but coated glass I think. Pricey. And then there's the Heliopan which I've also not tried but looks promising, also coated glass, and not too expensive. Heliopan from TeamWork http://www.teamworkphoto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=10221

Basically, if 77mm suits, the LightCraft ND500MC comes recommended :)
 
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TheBigYin said:
I'm really glad I take photo's for the sheer enjoyment of doing so... some of the best photographs I've got are technically flawed, but I'd not swap 'em for something technically perfect :shrug:
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How about sharp, then, and as near as possible neutral? That is all I'm looking for, and unfortunately the welding glass I had was neither.

And thanks very much to Hoppy for his run-down on all the available options! the Lightcraft filter looks good.....
 
jerry12953 said:
How about sharp, then, and as near as possible neutral? That is all I'm looking for, and unfortunately the welding glass I had was neither.

And thanks very much to Hoppy for his run-down on all the available options! the Lightcraft filter looks good.....
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Jerry, you're very welcome to borrow my LightCraft ND500 if you'd like to try it first. I don't use it much, now that the novelty has worn off :D
 
HoppyUK said:
Jerry, you're very welcome to borrow my LightCraft ND500 if you'd like to try it first. I don't use it much, now that the novelty has worn off :D
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That's very kind of you. I remember about a year ago when everybody was buying 10stop ND's I was a bit sceptical, thinking (and saying) that it was a just a fad. In fact a year or so before that I just couldn't imagine anyone in their right mind would want to actually LOSE ten stops of light!

Now I'm just about coming round to changing my mind....I'm working on a project where it would be nice to have one in the armoury although i can't see myself using it that often.

You've done the research for us all and it looks like you've come up with a winner, so that's really useful. Had you ever thought of going into journalism? ;););););););) and another ;).

If your offer is still open despite my possibly tasteless joke, I'll take you up on it. Or perhaps you'd rather just sell it on? I'll PM you my address and we could take it from there?

cheers, mate.
 
jerry12953 said:
That's very kind of you. I remember about a year ago when everybody was buying 10stop ND's I was a bit sceptical, thinking (and saying) that it was a just a fad. In fact a year or so before that I just couldn't imagine anyone in their right mind would want to actually LOSE ten stops of light!

Now I'm just about coming round to changing my mind....I'm working on a project where it would be nice to have one in the armoury although i can't see myself using it that often.

You've done the research for us all and it looks like you've come up with a winner, so that's really useful. Had you ever thought of going into journalism? ;););););););) and another ;).

If your offer is still open despite my possibly tasteless joke, I'll take you up on it. Or perhaps you'd rather just sell it on? I'll PM you my address and we could take it from there?

cheers, mate.
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No worries Jerry, just drop me a PM.

I don't think it's a fad, the guys at Lee told me they thought it was too, but I think it's a new 'digital' technique. Very long exposures with film is just so unpredictable with reciprocity failure etc that in practise nobody ever did it much. Except those guys using large format who didn't have much choice at f/45 anyway ;)

Same as this strobist business. That too is impossibly difficult with film - you need to see what you've got and adjust everything as you go along, and digital makes that easy. Well, easier.

I'll pop it in the post to you :)
 
jerry12953 said:
You're a gent!

jerry
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It's in the post Jerry. Let me have it back in a month or so and that will be fine - I've got a decent four-stopper meanwhile. You'll love the coating - it marks very easily and is a pig to clean!

I've had is specially engraved so that every shot taken with it reads Copyright Hoppy :D
 
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HoppyUK said:
It's in the post Jerry. Let me have it back in a month or so and that will be fine - I've got a decent four-stopper meanwhile. You'll love the coating - it marks very easily and is a pig to clean!

I've had is specially engraved so that every shot taken with it reads Copyright Hoppy :D
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I'm a pretty crap photographer actually.....you'll regret the engraving......:LOL:
 
hi all, I dont post very often but have been reading your threads with interest. have bought myself a welding glass and took a shot. How do I determine how many stops my particular piece of glass is as I read that they all vary a bit?
 
shopaholic said:
hi all, I dont post very often but have been reading your threads with interest. have bought myself a welding glass and took a shot. How do I determine how many stops my particular piece of glass is as I read that they all vary a bit?
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I sort of calibrated mine by shooting the same scene locked off on a tripod, and advancing the time by one stop until the histogram of the picture looked about the same as the original.

you end up with a series of shots as in this link

Then, once you've worked out what the stop factor for your glass is, you can use the chart linked to by jockwav to work out your shots in future.
 
shopaholic said:
hi all, I dont post very often but have been reading your threads with interest. have bought myself a welding glass and took a shot. How do I determine how many stops my particular piece of glass is as I read that they all vary a bit?
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Take the same shot with and without the filter in place. Use the histogram to fine tune the exposures so that they match as closely as possible.

Calculate the difference between the two exposures in stops.

Taking 2 minute exposures with the welding glass as part of this process can be a bit long-winded. So make full use of all three exposure settings (ISO, aperture, shutter speed) to get the comparison shots within a more convenient amount of time.

If you already have a welding glass shot taken in daylight, then you could make a very rough guesstimate based on the Sunny 16 rule. Calculating the difference between the welding glass settings and sunny 16.
 
Ive just got a shade 10 piece of glass but it wont focus on anything through it. Is it too dark?!
 
Kyle. said:
Ive just got a shade 10 piece of glass but it wont focus on anything through it. Is it too dark?!
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Focus before fitting the welding glass, then switch to manual focus, and DON'T knock the focusing ring :LOL:
 
darkmutton said:
Got the auto acceptence set up correctly now so £1 offers will automatically be accepted.

As i said in my 1st post i've been having pc problems so bear with me a little, especially as i now have so many to post.

With glass being glass they do sometimes get broken in the post, if they do let me know and i'll sort it out.

I wondered what the hell was going on, i only sell 1 or 2 a week and i knew there was no eclipse coming up so really thought it was ebay account that had been hacked but it threw me when the addresses were all over the place and people seemed to be genuinly asking for different shades lol.

I dont do much photography now, i've moved onto more video as i shoot incar footage from my race car and play around with that when i get the time. There is some of the footage under darkermutton on youtube or on my website
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Ive been making offers of £2.00 and still not accepted. Can you shed any light?
 
woohoo just been on ebay and got one for £1.30, I can't w8 for it to come and give it a go...
 
I think my minimum price is now £2.10 but fluctuates with competition. I always try to be the cheapest but postage has gone up twice since that old post you know. Can I just ask that as these are welding lenses please if you have any chips, scratches etc let me know before leaving neutral or neg feed back and as usual I will do my best to sort it out for you guys as other wise it can effect my eBay status. Occasionally some do break in the post again drop me a line please

Mark d
 
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went away for a few days last week and took welding glass in the hope of using it. this is mysecond attempt at taking one and thought i would try to keep it in colour as best as I can. it turned out better than I thought it would
castle_ruins-webjpg.jpg
 
Just trying this with a shade 11 but it seems VERY optically thick. 10 minute exposures of a typical overcast scene (i.e. pointing our the window :p) are still very dark (and quite noisy).

Anyone had any success with this?
 
Broric said:
Just trying this with a shade 11 but it seems VERY optically thick. 10 minute exposures of a typical overcast scene (i.e. pointing our the window :p) are still very dark (and quite noisy).

Anyone had any success with this?
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You can get different grades of glass I have them from 5 to 13 and so using a lighter grade on dull days would work better, you are trying to increase the exposure to around 1-4 mins if possible to do general stuff so get some other grades or increase you iso but remember the higher the iso the noisier your shots will become.
 
I tried it at ISO 400 and 800 and was doing 10 min+ exposures just to get a dark green noisy image :p

I've ordered a grade 9 off ebay which I hope I have a bit more luck with. Where'd you get the grade 5?
 
Mine was £2.10 all in. Looking forward to damaging some Royal Mail red elastic bands...
 
Bit late to the party but that's brilliant. I've always wanted to try long exposures.. now I might give it a go for just a couple of quid!
 
Broric said:
Just trying this with a shade 11 but it seems VERY optically thick. 10 minute exposures of a typical overcast scene (i.e. pointing our the window :p) are still very dark (and quite noisy).

Anyone had any success with this?
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I measured my shade 11 at around 13-15 stops. They are VERY dark. Rough example is I weld at shade 10-11 ish and that light will burn your retinas VERY fast.

Edit: Just did a 10-15 stop run, looks like it may even be 15.5 or 16 stops. Guess I need to order a shade 9!
 
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