Heliopan 10 stop ND Filter

chocky

chocky

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Name
Si
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Hi all, im after a bit of help here regarding the above. Im absolutely madly in love with long exposure photography atm after buying a dirt cheap 2 stop ND filter on fleabay. The filter itself was horrible and had a dirty colour cast on the final photo but i got the general idea of it. After ditching that filter i instead turned to my Hoya CPL and got better results (as its basically the same as a 2 stop) without the colour cast. So, and heres the thing, im considering a mighty 10 stop ND filter to play with on my kit lens (Sony A450 and 18-55mm lens) as i cant afford other lenses. Now then teamwork photo (http://www.teamworkphoto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=10221) have the heliopan ND 3.0 at £40.70 with a 55mm thread which to me is expensive but after seeing the prices for lee and B+W systems im convinced this is a steal, what im struggling with is finding reviews online for this filter, has anyone in here used or know anyone who has used it or even have any info at all at how this compares to other 10 stoppers. I really cant afford to buy a lee or B+W or singh-ray (obviously) so this seems like the only other option to me (as ive heard the cokin ones blow big time). Any help appreciated :shrug:


Si
 
btw heres an example of the photos ive taken using the CPL instead of a 2 stop ND which should explain why im loving long exposures and why i MUST have a 10 stop in my kit :D

4916712182_2bccd57e5c_z.jpg
 
birdy961 said:
Might be worth trying this

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=151141&highlight=welding+glass&page=11

Bit cheaper:thumbs:
Click to expand...

lol thanks for that :) Funnily enough ive already got a piece of welding glass and ive used it a few times but it just isnt practical enough for me, the edges are too sharp so my rubber bands keep snapping and then it drops and and gets caked in scratches :D lucky it was only £3 really :D On top of that im not great in photo shop so i havent got the expertise needed to remove the greeny colour and ive only been shooting 5-6 months so im not into custom white balances yet :( So in other words the welding glass just isnt working for me :(

Thanks anyway though

Si
 
No Worries Si

Was worth a shot:lol:

I have the Cokin P filters, seem to be ok for what i do occasionly use them for.
I know some have said they add a cast etc but I find them ok for my use.:thumbs:
 
I would put money on that Heliopan being identical to the B+W. Looks like a good buy, and ther's not much choice anyway in that filter size. (LightCraft ND500 is good and cheaper than B+W, but 77mm only; Hoya X400 is expensive and special order only.)

There is still a slight colour cast with all these dark ND filters. The B+W is a tad orange, maybe not enough to matter, but still there. You don't need to post process to correct it, just to a custom white balance if it's a problem.

Just a thought, ten stops is a lot if you're just doing waterfalls and things and getting away with just two stops at the moment. B+W also do a six-stopper.
 
HoppyUK said:
I would put money on that Heliopan being identical to the B+W. Looks like a good buy, and ther's not much choice anyway in that filter size. (LightCraft ND500 is good and cheaper than B+W, but 77mm only; Hoya X400 is expensive and special order only.)

There is still a slight colour cast with all these dark ND filters. The B+W is a tad orange, maybe not enough to matter, but still there. You don't need to post process to correct it, just to a custom white balance if it's a problem.

Just a thought, ten stops is a lot if you're just doing waterfalls and things and getting away with just two stops at the moment. B+W also do a six-stopper.
Click to expand...

Sweet thanks for that, no its not waterfalls im going to be shooting, its just seeing results like that make me wonder how cool a winter photo from the side of a lake with loads of cloud movement would be. Im going to be buying a range of them though not just the 10 stopper. Just gotta figure out which brand to go with. Probably Hoya tbh but the ten stopper ill just go with heliopan by the looks of it. Thanks mate :) :thumbs:

Si
 
It's only when you get up to the bigger thread sizes that the B+W costs a lot. the 58mm from Amazon is only £35.70. not sure if they do a 55mm. But a 55-58 ring from ebay shouldn't be more than £2
 
Barrysprout said:
It's only when you get up to the bigger thread sizes that the B+W costs a lot. the 58mm from Amazon is only £35.70. not sure if they do a 55mm. But a 55-58 ring from ebay shouldn't be more than £2
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ooh, could be an option, although what does uncoated mean? would it be better to get a coated one?
 
chocky said:
ooh, could be an option, although what does uncoated mean? would it be better to get a coated one?
Click to expand...

My useful contribution is at an end and I will step back to let someone who knows what they are talking about field that one. :exit:
 
chocky said:
ooh, could be an option, although what does uncoated mean? would it be better to get a coated one?
Click to expand...

Coating is good. Reduces flare and ghosting. Multicoating is better.

Only dark NDs that I know of that are coated are the LightCraft and the Hoya, mentioned above.
 
HoppyUK said:
Coating is good. Reduces flare and ghosting. Multicoating is better.

Only dark NDs that I know of that are coated are the LightCraft and the Hoya, mentioned above.
Click to expand...

thanks man, does that mean an uncoated one would be poo or not?

Si
 
chocky said:
thanks man, does that mean an uncoated one would be poo or not?

Si
Click to expand...

And I'm back. I had a B+W ND110 58mm which I used with my Canon kit lens. I did need to adjust the white balance on the PC after the shot but it wasn't a major hassle. I never had a bother with flare but I suppose it depends on which way you point the camera.
 
chocky said:
thanks man, does that mean an uncoated one would be poo or not?

Si
Click to expand...

No. Coating is better, no question, but uncoated is usally okay.

You don't often get much choice with effects filters, most of which which are resin/acrylic and hard/expensive to coat. Glass is much easier.
 
sweet, thanks all, although ive just seen this on the heliopan english PDF

• The highest quality optical glass from the German Schott Group

• The longest life expectancy thanks to brass filter rims

• Minimal reflections because of matte black filter rings

• At least one high quality hard coating on each filter side to reduce
stray light, to maintain high contrast and to avoid flare (Reflections are
reduced from 8% to only 2.5% for each glass to air surface on each
side of the filter).

• SH-PMC broadband coatings of 8 layers per side for the highest reflec-
tion reduction (below 0.2%) and:

• Dust and moisture repellent top coating on each side of the SH-PMC
coated filters for easy cleaning and longest life.

Is this the coating that is being referred to or is it something else?

Si
 
chocky said:
sweet, thanks all, although ive just seen this on the heliopan english PDF

• The highest quality optical glass from the German Schott Group

• The longest life expectancy thanks to brass filter rims

• Minimal reflections because of matte black filter rings

• At least one high quality hard coating on each filter side to reduce
stray light, to maintain high contrast and to avoid flare (Reflections are
reduced from 8% to only 2.5% for each glass to air surface on each
side of the filter).

• SH-PMC broadband coatings of 8 layers per side for the highest reflec-
tion reduction (below 0.2%) and:

• Dust and moisture repellent top coating on each side of the SH-PMC
coated filters for easy cleaning and longest life.

Is this the coating that is being referred to or is it something else?

Si
Click to expand...

Yes Si, that is indeed proper coating. Multicoating of the best kind by the sounds of it, with an easy-clean finish that not many filters have :thumbs: Which means that Heliopan filter you've found is new (or new to me at least) and is not the same as the B+W as I suspected. Apologies for that. Cool find! It should be good :)

Edit: on second thoughts, that text has been lifted from the Heliopan brochure and refers to their general filter range, not to their ND filters in particular. And on checked those, they do not state that they have that multi-coating. Which they would if they did, so they do not! However, they do seem to say pretty clearly that all their filters are glass and have at least single coating, so still a pretty good result :thumbs:
 
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HoppyUK said:
Yes Si, that is indeed proper coating. Multicoating of the best kind by the sounds of it, with an easy-clean finish that not many filters have :thumbs: Which means that Heliopan filter you've found is new (or new to me at least) and is not the same as the B+W as I suspected. Apologies for that. Cool find! It should be good :)
Click to expand...

Awesome, ill be getting me one of them there filters then :D

Thanks mate :clap:

Si
 
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