ND Filter quality

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Hi People,

I've currently got a ND filter which was a cheap and cheerful one off ebay which I bought as I just needed one quick and cheap.

Now with this ND filter the quality is very poor (rubbish colour balance and contrast).

I would like to buy a good quality one, but would like people's advice as to what the optimum amount is to spend with £ vs quality. Examples would help too!

Thanks :)

George
 
I'm also looking to get good quality ND filter, and I came across this:

http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photog...raft-workshop-77mm-fadernd-filter-p-2828.html

It is a FaderND and can be rotated between the ranges of ND2 and ND8 I think.......they released the Mk1 version which than got pulled because it had a few issues that they wanted to iron out and quickly releasing the mk2. It is said to be released within the next couple of days, and some reviews seem to say good things, and the fact that it is a variable ND and not have to carry different filters for different darkness is a big bonus. I have been waiting for the past month and hopefully they will be available very soon.

I also considered getting the standard square filters but they are either cheap and not that great (Cokin) or really expensive (Lee)..........especially if you want to buy a whole range and the holder kit etc.
 
I've got a 77mm Fader ND MK II on order from Premier Ink. I'll give it a workout and post some results when it arrives.

Apart from that, I don't see why choosing an ND filter is any different from any other kind. You want good glass with multiple coatings. Something from the upper ranges from Hoya or B+W ought to be just fine. If you want to identify generally solid suppliers of filters in general then the UV and CPL reviews at Lenstip might give you a useful steer....

http://lenstip.com/113.1-article-UV_filters_test.html
http://lenstip.com/115.1-article-Polarizing_filters_test.html

I think you also need to be sure that whatever you buy is the genuine article. There are many tales of fake filters on sale on eBay. Now I buy a lot of stuff from eBay, most the far east, but where the Fader ND was concerned I felt happier placing my order with the authorised UK distributor, even if it does cost a bit more. My other filters are Hoya Pro1 or HD grade. I also have some Cokin Z-Pro ND grads.
 
tdodd,

have they given you a date of when it will be shipped out? I was considering pre-ordering one today but I need it to arrive before the end of the month for a trip.......
 
No date provided. I need mine for a trip in mid June, so I'm hoping it will arrive by then. The latest news on the website suggests they will be arriving within the week, but I have no idea if there is an issue with back orders and limited supplies once stock does arrive.

Here's the latest news....

Further Delivery Update (27/04/2010) - Good news and bad news.
Good news - The first production batch of 77mm diameter LightCraftWorkshop FaderND Mk II are now ready, and are on their way to the UK. The UK will be the first country in the world to receive the new Mk II filters!
Bad news - We still don't have an exact date for when they will arrive here. There's still some disruption to airfreight, as the freight companies try and clear the backlog resulting from the volcanic ash disruption a week or so ago. Our best estimate is midway through next week - somewhere around the 5th-7th May. We will update this page as and when we receive more news.
--------------------
Delivery Update (15/04/2010) - Now expected late April or early May 2010.
LightCraftWorkshop are in the process of switching all production from the original FaderND filters to the new MkII versions (see explanation below). This has led to a further delay in our next shipment of these filters. We're of the opinion that its best to wait for a better quality product, rather than rush across stock of a product which, although very good, can and is being improved.
Anyone who has a MkI FaderND filter on backorder with us will automatically be upgraded to the new (and slightly more expensive) MkII version at no extra cost when stock arrives.
 
I shot using Cokin for a while and they were fine to get to grips with and learn how to use filters but the quality isn't spectacular unless you for the X/Z-Pro stuff. I've been using Hitech ND filters for the last 5 or 6 months now and I can't fault them! (y)
 
I to went for 2 ND filters on the cheap from eBay, still have them somewhere. Both were OK but produced a sivere colour cast and horrible flare at certain angles. Since then I have bought both a B&W 10 stopper (£80) and a Hoya ND8 (£30), both are great, good solid build and excellent optical coatings. The Hoya has a slight colour cast but easily fixed in PP. I would recommend both espeically the B&W, yes it is exspensive but if landscapes are your thing, espcially at the coast or rivers, then it adds a whole new dimension to your photography.
 
LightCraft Fader MkII should be here any day now (see below) volcano permitting :) I have tried the MkI and that was good enough for me to place an order, they'd sold out, and I already have the B+W ten stopper which is also pretty good (slightly orange).

I think this new Fader is likely to be pick of the bunch, but Light Craft also do a fixed 9-stop which is multicoated (see Premier Ink website). Not tried that one but if it's neutral it will be great value and the multicoating is promising. The only other dark ND filter that has any coating at all that I'm aware of is the Hoya X400 but that is very expensive and hard to get.

If you've got a square filter system, the Lee 10 stopper is the obvious choice. It's good, has a neat light-sealing gasket, and is only very fractionally bluish.

This was posted on the Premier Ink website yesterday re the LightCraft Fader :


----------------------------------------------------------------

LightCraftWorkshop Fader ND - New Mark II Version

Further Delivery Update (04/05/2010) - Due 6th May
We've had confirmation from the freight company that the shipment is scheduled on a flight that arrives into Birmingham airport on the morning of 6th May. Whether we'll get them cleared through customs in time to send them out on the 6th May, we can't be sure - but it looks like we will be able to send them out by the end of this week. If we receive any further news - we'll post it here straight away.
 
Latest update from website....

LightCraftWorkshop Fader ND - New Mark II Version

--------------------
Further Delivery Update (06/05/2010) - They're here!
They have arrived, they've been checked, and all back orders for 77mm versions have been despatched today. We are still waiting for a confirmed date for the arrival of all other sizes.

I've ordered the 77mm filter so fingers crossed I'll have it for the weekend.
 
Latest update from website....



I've ordered the 77mm filter so fingers crossed I'll have it for the weekend.


WooHoo

Nice spot...... hopefully mine will follow as well!! (y)
 
Mine has arrived today and I've been trying to get to grips with it. At its palest setting I reckon it is losing 1.7 stops of light rather than 2, which is fine, but I am struggling to get 8 stops of filtration without running into problems of edge/corner darkening at 24mm and even 35mm on my 5D2, and stopping down does not seem to help. At 100mm on my 1D3 there does not seem to be such a problem.

Unfortunately I don't have a decent continuous lighting setup and the broken cloud is causing great frustration trying to pin down my exposures outdoors, so I really need more stable conditions in order to make proper tests, but preliminary results are rather mixed. It will be nifty for slowing down my shutter speed for motorsports, but I'm not sure whether it will do an adequate job for its main intended purpose, which was for landscape stuff.

I'll post some more definitive results when I can perform better testing. If anyone else can chip in I'd be interested in your findings, especially at wide angles on full frame.

For now, here is a series I took at 24mm. Top left is without the filter, and the one beside it is with the filter at its palest setting. You can see that by the end of the sequence there are some quite odd things happening. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell at the moment, those odd things are evident before I reach 8 stops of filtering. But I do need to check more thoroughly whether I am pushing beyond 8 stops without realising it.

20100507_125633_.JPG
 
Well I've now had another go at trying to use the filter at 24mm and it is unusable. I will need to talk to Premier Ink but it looks like this will be going back. I have uploaded an album of test shots showing an image without the filter and then shots at 8 stops through to 2 stops of filtering in 1 stop intervals. Here is the album....

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/EezyTiger/FaderNDII77mm?authkey=Gv1sRgCIy-24avo67HRw

Example at 1/250 without filter :
20100507_165332_3441_LR.jpg



Example at 1 second, with the filter at 8 stops to achieve that :
20100507_165434_3442_LR.jpg



Even at 5 stops the results are very disappointing :
20100507_165529_3445_LR.jpg
 
Really, I'd always go for Lee-but you may have to wait.....
 
I have just had a most pleasant conversation with a chap called Andrew, from Premier Ink (He phoned me, which I consider to be outstanding customer service), and they are quite prepared for me to return the filter for a full refund. Unfortunately, until today, they were completely unaware of the problems when shooting with a wide angle lens, having only tested it themselves with an 80-400 lens, on a crop body. They are going to perform more thorough testing of their own to determine which focal lengths are usable and at what level of filtration.
 
Have a look at this one

http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photog...raft-workshop-77mm-nd500mc-filter-p-2927.html

It is made by Lightcraft, but it is just a standard 9 stop ND, and not the rotating/adjustable fader version from Lightcraft. Mine arrived today, but unfortunately it was delivered after I left for the day with my camera. Anyway had a quick try with it in the garden, and so far I can't see any colour cast or any other issues with it. It is a good bit cheaper than the B&W 10 stop ND, and it would appear to available from Premier Inks.
 
Mine has arrived today and I've been trying to get to grips with it. At its palest setting I reckon it is losing 1.7 stops of light rather than 2, which is fine, but I am struggling to get 8 stops of filtration without running into problems of edge/corner darkening at 24mm and even 35mm on my 5D2, and stopping down does not seem to help. At 100mm on my 1D3 there does not seem to be such a problem.

<snip>

Mine also arrived this morning and I found the same thing :( The cross pattern starts to intrude unacceptably from about four stops of light reduction. That's on a full-frame Canon 5D2 with 17-40L at 17mm. You see it most at ultra-wide but it's not acceptable at any focal length, and anyway, I want to use this thing with wide-angles. However, it's worse than that - I'm also getting quite bad flare and softening with longer lenses :( :(

The good news is that I also got another ND filter today - the LightCraft X500 which is a fixed nine stops multi-coated ND, and that is excellent all round, and great value at £58 in 77mm (only size ATM) :)

I have just compared side by side the new Light Craft Workshop Fader-ND MkII, with the same company's MC ND-500 (x500 = nine stops, I reckon it's about 8.5), and also the uncoated B+W 110 (ten-stops, nearer 10.5 I think) and for good measure also a top of the range Tiffen HT 1.2 which is a multi-coated four stops ND.

The fader MkII is nice and neutral in colour, the best I've tried for that, but that dark cross shape - the result of the two polarising filters rotating against each other - begins to show itself after about four stops of darkening ND effect and then just gets worse.

For colour, the LCW X500 was very slightly blue, but it's very slight. I wouldn't even bother to white balance it normally. (Colour is similar to the Lee Big Stopper, from memory.) The B+W is well known to be a bit warm/orange, to the extent that it needs custom WB. The Tiffen is a bit green - marginal on whether that needs custom WB as a matter of course IMO.

I then pointed all the filters at a bright desk lamp to see how they handled a bit of flare provocation. The LCW Fader MkII was by far the worst, not good at all, but the best was its sister product, the multi-coated X500 which was really very good. Next was the multi-coated Tiffen which was more than acceptable, and the uncoated B+W which flared quite a bit and emphasised ghosts too.

Final test was for sharpness, which really only shows up on longer lenses, which magnify any imperfections as they only look through a small central area of the filter. Camera was a 5D2 with 70-200L 4 IS with a Kenko Pro 1.4x telecon - at 280mm the longest combo I've got, all at f/8.

In terms of sharpness, all these filters performed very well - except the Fader. It was bad, but then it is two filters in one, plus two polarising layers inbetween. When I did the same test at 24mm I couldn't really detect any softening.

I also noticed some slight residual polarising effect with the Fader, as it was rotated.

I guess the idea of the Fader is just too good to be true - 2-8 stops variable ND. I can't recommend it on this showing. What is still puzzling me is that when I tried the MkI Fader at the Focus show recently, I didn't notice it being anything like as poor as this - I wouldn't have ordered one if I'd noticed these problems. I don't know what has gone on in the manufacture between the MkI and MkII, but this one is going back.

On the other hand, the LCW X500 (*) is really excellent - the best ND filter I've tried by a good margin, and also the cheapest. It's only available from here I think, and only in 77mm for now http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photog...raft-workshop-77mm-nd500mc-filter-p-2927.html It doesn't have a front thread so you can't fit a lens cap with it on, but that also means it is super-slim so there's a good chance you could also screw it into the front of another filter and still get a very wide angle view before it vignettes.

Edit: * this is the X500 filter that Peter refers to in the post above :)

Double edit: the polarising effect with the Fader referred to above is not just 'residual' but pretty much like a regular polariser as far as I can tell.
 
Hmmm.......this definitely doesn't look good for the fader. I have one on pre-order which "should" have arrived yesterday/today.....but I have not received it yet for some reason.......

By the looks of it, it may need sending back unless I'm really lucky and get one that is not flawed. This is annoying because I really wanted a decent adjustable ND Filter for my trip at the end of the month!

I may have to purchase one of those 9 stop filters instead
 
Hi

I received my FaderND filter today, and I don't seem to have the problems you have described?

At the max setting, there is a bit of darkening at the corners at 17mm on my 17-55 lens.....although I am on a crop body (40D). I definitely don't have any big cross.......if I set it to the little notch right next to the "Max" setting, this darkening at the corner seems to go away and any setting up to that seems okay too.

Are you both on full frame? Maybe it is a problem with full frame wide angle.
 
Hi

I received my FaderND filter today, and I don't seem to have the problems you have described?

At the max setting, there is a bit of darkening at the corners at 17mm on my 17-55 lens.....although I am on a crop body (40D). I definitely don't have any big cross.......if I set it to the little notch right next to the "Max" setting, this darkening at the corner seems to go away and any setting up to that seems okay too.

Are you both on full frame? Maybe it is a problem with full frame wide angle.

It's more noticeable at wide angles. I don't think it's a format thing.

Try shooting a plain wall to see the patterns forming more clearly. You can sometimes see what's happening best in live view, as you rotate the filter.
 
Yep, I've been using it at 24mm, 35mm and 70mm on full frame and I'm dissatisfied with the performance at all those focal lengths. At 70mm the problem is not as obvious, but the results are disappointing and not what you would want to see from a 5D2 and L lens.

There is a thread on POTN, seemingly regarding a Fader knockoff, where similar results to mine have also been seen with a 17-50mm lens on a crop body....

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=867355

Anyway, mine went back this morning for a refund.
 
I think this might just be a fundamental problem with this kind of ND filter trick - two polarisers rotating against eachother. I notice that the similar (and very expensive) Singh Ray jobbie also mentions it.

I also have two regular polarising filters and have linked them together with a stepping ring to get a similar effect. That creates a cross pattern when it gets really dark too... :(
 
I've had a bit more of a play, and there is definite darkening on the corners as you turn the filter, but at 17mm, it is definitely usable until at least half way between the MIN/MAX and maybe bit more.....it is noticable once you get nearer the MAX. That big black cross effect only happens if you go PAST the "MAX" arrow.......which is detailed in the instruction booklet that came with the filter.

It is a bit misleading, because if you align the dot with the actual word "MAX" instead of the arrow, then it will result in this cross. I think I will experiment with it a bit when outdoors before sending it back.
 
Yep, I've been using it at 24mm, 35mm and 70mm on full frame and I'm dissatisfied with the performance at all those focal lengths. At 70mm the problem is not as obvious, but the results are disappointing and not what you would want to see from a 5D2 and L lens.

There is a thread on POTN, seemingly regarding a Fader knockoff, where similar results to mine have also been seen with a 17-50mm lens on a crop body....

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=867355

Anyway, mine went back this morning for a refund.


i check the link you provided the guy ordered from "the original fader" not made by lightcraft.

i just ordered lightcraft ultra 77mm because i know it wont work at max setting after reading few post.

I will post up the review when i get it.
 
On the other hand, the LCW X500 (*) is really excellent - the best ND filter I've tried by a good margin, and also the cheapest. It's only available from here I think, and only in 77mm for now http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photog...raft-workshop-77mm-nd500mc-filter-p-2927.html It doesn't have a front thread so you can't fit a lens cap with it on, but that also means it is super-slim so there's a good chance you could also screw it into the front of another filter and still get a very wide angle view before it vignettes.

Edit: * this is the X500 filter that Peter refers to in the post above :)

Double edit: the polarising effect with the Fader referred to above is not just 'residual' but pretty much like a regular polariser as far as I can tell.


Richard,

Did you notice any issues with the above @ 17mm........ and also, is this a straight 77mm fitting or is it similar to the Fader with it stepped down to a 77mm.....

Many thanks in advance...... I too am getting this patchiness from the Fader that I had delivered the other day.....I'm interested in getting a half decent ND filter.....so that I can have a play..

Cheers

Phil
 
Richard,

Did you notice any issues with the above @ 17mm........ and also, is this a straight 77mm fitting or is it similar to the Fader with it stepped down to a 77mm.....

Many thanks in advance...... I too am getting this patchiness from the Fader that I had delivered the other day.....I'm interested in getting a half decent ND filter.....so that I can have a play..

Cheers

Phil

It's as illustrated on the link Phil. It's a regular 77mm filter although the lack of front threads on the mount is slightly unusual. There are upsides and downside to that, like you can't fit a lens cap, but it also means that it's so slim you can stack it with another slim-mount filter and still shoot super-wide. For example, at 17mm on my 5D2 it just about clears with a Hoya HD CPL behind it.

It doesn't have any of those dark patterns like the fader as it doesn't use that cross-polarising technology. The only thing I would say is that, like all coloured filters on super-wide lenses, it does create quite a bit of optical vignetting (as distinct from mechanical vignetting). That's because at wide angles the lens is looking through the edges of the filter at an angle, so the effective thickness of the filter is increased and the ND effect rises correspondingly. I've not done any measurements but basically when the exposure is right in the centre, the edges and corners are at least a couple of stops under exposed.

Like I say, that's not a fault of the filter, they all inevitably do it. You can get rid of it completely in post processing easily enough, but be sure to shoot at low ISO because it increases noise in the lightened areas.

I have a cunning plan to get around this by rear mounting the filter, but it's not easily done!
 
Anyone have experience of a Jessops Digital pro UV for lens protection?


pete
 
Looks like I'm going to have to give mine a proper test before I go away. The only quick initial check I did was for vignetting on my 11-16 and it seemed ok. It'll be a shame if it's not up to scratch as I wanted to try ND without the hassle and expense of multiple filters, holders etc.
 
I've just done some quick tests with my 11-16 on my 50D and it's looking like up to about 5 or 6 marks on the scale (I've yet to check the exact number of stops) it's ok. On the ninth (max) mark on the scale there is the crossing. Though much more apparent at 11 mm than 16 mm, it is still there at 16 mm and very bad when set to max (and I mean the mark not the word). I might post the pics if I have time - I just pointed the camera at the lawn on a tripod and dialled using f4 and ISO 100.
 
I think I'll probably do another test series pointing at a plain painted wall with no shadows if there's one to hand and try both the 11-16 again and my 17-55 and try and find out the maximum number on the scale you can get to at various focal lengths without problems and also the minimum focal length at maximum where there are no problems. I'll then make my mind up as to whether it's worth keeping or not (perhaps with some help from those with experience on here).
 
It's as illustrated on the link Phil. It's a regular 77mm filter although the lack of front threads on the mount is slightly unusual. There are upsides and downside to that, like you can't fit a lens cap, but it also means that it's so slim you can stack it with another slim-mount filter and still shoot super-wide. For example, at 17mm on my 5D2 it just about clears with a Hoya HD CPL behind it.

It doesn't have any of those dark patterns like the fader as it doesn't use that cross-polarising technology. The only thing I would say is that, like all coloured filters on super-wide lenses, it does create quite a bit of optical vignetting (as distinct from mechanical vignetting). That's because at wide angles the lens is looking through the edges of the filter at an angle, so the effective thickness of the filter is increased and the ND effect rises correspondingly. I've not done any measurements but basically when the exposure is right in the centre, the edges and corners are at least a couple of stops under exposed.

Like I say, that's not a fault of the filter, they all inevitably do it. You can get rid of it completely in post processing easily enough, but be sure to shoot at low ISO because it increases noise in the lightened areas.

I have a cunning plan to get around this by rear mounting the filter, but it's not easily done!

Big thanks for that Richard(y)

I've put my order in .......

I had a very pleasant chat via email with Premiere Ink and they were very customer focused with dealing with my purchase/return.... hence my further purchase of the mention ND....

hope it turns up soon...

thanks

Phil
 
Due to HoppyUK's glowing review of the Lightcraft X500 ND filter, I've decided to order one to give it a try. I've still got my FaderND as I'm still to be convinced that it is completely unusable. Even if it means it is unusable at MAX 8 stops.........if it is usable between 2 to 6 stops, I'd be happy to keep it because it means I don't have to buy 3 seperate ND filters for 2,4 and 6 stops.

I must go out and give it a proper test run to see if it is usable at these.........also, the darkening seems a lot more prominent at wider angles, so using it at 55mm should probably be no problem even close to the MAX.
 
Due to HoppyUK's glowing review of the Lightcraft X500 ND filter, I've decided to order one to give it a try. I've still got my FaderND as I'm still to be convinced that it is completely unusable. Even if it means it is unusable at MAX 8 stops.........if it is usable between 2 to 6 stops, I'd be happy to keep it because it means I don't have to buy 3 seperate ND filters for 2,4 and 6 stops.

I must go out and give it a proper test run to see if it is usable at these.........also, the darkening seems a lot more prominent at wider angles, so using it at 55mm should probably be no problem even close to the MAX.

I'm trying to make the same decision myself but was hoping to use it with my wide angle lens if possible. If it will work at fairly wide angles all the way through the range and still be good for half the range at very wide angles then I may well keep it - I just need to properly investigate its limits.

Hopefully I'll get a chance over the next day or two and I'll try and post the pics. It's just getting the time to resize etc as I'm a bit busy at present.
 
Ok, so I took a load of photos of a wall at various focal lengths from 11mm to 55mm at each of the marks on the vari ND from min to max.

The following link is to the album containing the results. The best thing to do is to run the slideshow but to reverse the order.

It will then start from 11mm then go through focal lengths in the order 13.5mm, 16mm, 17mm, 20mm, 28mm, 45mm, 55mm, 35mm. Apologies for 35mm being at the end - this was to do with the file name and it's a pain to change the order on photobucket (unless someone can explain a very quick way).

I couldn't get a completely shadow free wall but you can use the lowest setting or no filter pics as a reference.

I haven't analysed the results or decided whether to keep te filter yet. More expert opinion than mine would be helpful for me in this respect.

The piece of tape on the wall was to enable autofocus to work.

I hope this helps as it took me ages to sort out!


http://s612.photobucket.com/albums/tt210/1502dan/Variable ND Filter Test/
 
Nice Work Dan ! Nice analysis :D

Yes, you can see that the 'shadow' is there from the beginning, right through the variable setting on the fader and also through the zoom range.... and creeps More and more your move towards '8 stops'....

My personal use would have been more at the wider focal length, so not really useable for me......

(y)

Phil

PS - Nice tape ! ;)
 
Just bear in mind that at the wider angles there is some shadow towards the bottom right to start with. I couldn't find a big enough surface that was shadow free to avoid this so worth looking at the top left too.

I suppose with the benefit of hindsight I could have moved the camera a bit nearer the wall but there you go.

I'm just trying to go through them and work out an effective working range now and how many stops you get at certain focal lengths as I've not yet checked how well the scale relates to stops.

Bear in mind mine's a cropped camera too (1.6 x).

I'll probably get an idea from the slideshow then look at the full size images to check. I can provide these if required if anyone wants a few to analyse (the full set would be a very big email!)
 
I've now looked at the larger images I have a few times and though it's difficult to be sure, the following is a summary of the first setting on the scale for various focal lengths where the problem shows itself. The scale is 0-10 inclusive, 0 being the min mark and 10, the max.

11mm 4-5 (3 stops)
13.5mm 5 (3 stops)
16mm 6ish (4-5 stops)
17mm 7-8 (4-5 stops)
20mm 8-9 (5.5 stops)
28mm 9 (6 stops)
35mm 10 (8 stops)
45mm 10 but not bad (8 stops)
55mm No problem that I can see (8 stops)

Note that the stops are very roughly estimated and they are the stops where there is a problem so usable maximum is below that stated.

Clearly the condtions weren't all that controlled but hopefully my efforts are helpful.

I might retest the wide angles with the lens much closer to the wall to reduce shadows if I get time.
 
Great work there, Dan. Of course, being on a crop body, the results you've seen are probably more favourable than they would be on full frame. Personally I don't think this thing should be on the market without some very strong warnings about its limitations prior to purchase. A table of limits such as yours would surely be more honest.

On the plus side, I've received my refund from Premier Ink, including postage, so thumbs up to them for doing the right thing without a fuss. Unfortunately I have just checked their website and there is still nothing I can see to caution potential purchasers of the limitations of the filter for practical, real world use. I wonder how their sales would be if they showed some of the sample images that we have obtained.
 
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