ND Fader Filters

cherryrig

cherryrig

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Matt Thomas
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I'm looking to try and pick one these up, but they seem so hard to find in the UK. Anyone know of the best place to find one of these bad boys.

Also what's the best make to go for as with my normal ND 110 I've got the B+W but they don't seem to make the fader models.

Cheers
 
There's loads of them about. Try LCW (Premier Ink).

But none of them is very good, and frankly unusable with a wide-angle lens at anything above mid-density before a dark cross appears right across the image - inherant characteristic with cross-polarisers.

You're much better off with your B+W ten stopper.
 
I would adivse not to get a variable one. If you need the precision of having lots of option si suggest you use cokin filters for the lower stops and then a couple of B&Ws with step downs for your lenses for the higher ND stops.
 
The reason why I'm after a variable one is I'm wanting to get shallower DOF when shooting flash, however as each lighting set-up is different I thought it'll be easier to get a variable one rather than loads of different ones.

Why do people advise not to then? Not a fan of Cokin and it's not going to be used on wideangle lenses. 77mm thread on lens like 85mm, 28-70mm and 70-200mm
 
cherryrig said:
The reason why I'm after a variable one is I'm wanting to get shallower DOF when shooting flash, however as each lighting set-up is different I thought it'll be easier to get a variable one rather than loads of different ones.

Why do people advise not to then? Not a fan of Cokin and it's not going to be used on wideangle lenses. 77mm thread on lens like 85mm, 28-70mm and 70-200mm
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See above. But on longer lenses you'll probably be okay.

Sharpness can be an issue at longer focal lengths that magnify imperfections (and there are two filters in there) but if it's kinda portrait range again you probably won't notice anything.

How much density do you need though? Viewfinder gets pretty dark over about three stops.
 
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Well I was shooting photos the other at around f/11 and I would rather get around f/3.5 so how many stops is that. 3 stops?

I guess I could actually only get away with having a 2 or 3 stop ND then?
 
cherryrig said:
Well I was shooting photos the other at around f/11 and I would rather get around f/3.5 so how many stops is that. 3 stops?

I guess I could actually only get away with having a 2 or 3 stop ND then?
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Yes, a bit over three stops. To see what that looks like, set the lens to f/11 and press the stop-down button. It will be dark!
 
Just don't get a cheap filter. Some of the more expensive ones are better.
 
cherryrig said:
Yeah but then I'm not going to be shooting at f/11 I would then have to allow more light in and open up the aperture to then get a shallower DOF
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I'm just saying, to simulate what the viewfinder will look like with 3 stops of ND on board, set the aperture three stops down from max and press the depth of field preview button.
 
HoppyUK said:
I'm just saying, to simulate what the viewfinder will look like with 3 stops of ND on board, set the aperture three stops down from max and press the depth of field preview button.
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Oh I see what your saying now. Sorry I miss read it first of all.

I'll try tonight and see which way to go. Fader would be nice as I'd have a bit more to play with but if it's just going to miss out on image sharpness I'll stick to getting a 2 or 3 stop ND……B+W of course ;)
 
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