New Formatt Hitech 100mm filter holder

rob-nikon

rob-nikon

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Just seen this, I can't find any threads about it so I thought I would post one. I would love to hear what people think. At first I thought the price was quite high until I saw it came with an inbuilt polariser that can be turned by a wheel on the holder. The design makes sense why Hitech haven't been putting gaskets on the filters.

http://www.formatt-hitech.com/hardware/firecrestholder
 
Wissel said:
I had an email on this a few weeks back. Does look good, but I'd worry having the polariser behind the filters could cause vignetting?
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That is an interesting point. I did notice they mention their 165mm filter kits for ultra wide lenses. I'm not sure what focal length the standard holder goes up to until you need the larger setup. My widest is 24mm at present so Im wondering if this would work ok. I'm currently think of a polariser so this is interesting.

The other problem is it's so easy to put on and take off the Lee holder especially when don't long exposures. I like to check for any changes in exposure times every few images. It looks like the hitch holder would need to be unscrewed or taken apart and the filter removed. I guess the polariser has to be fitted as is an integral part of the holder construction.
 
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Does it matter if the polariser is fwd or aft of the filters? I've had the Heliopan screwed onto the lens prior to the filters but now have the Lee system and don't remember any issues. I would be a bit wary of the lens adapter though and probably make sure its the ultra wide one for the wide angle lens.
 
Looks nice but seems a bit overkill, lots of faffing. I'll stick my original hitech holder for the time being!
 
The video shows the polariser being rotated yet in the list of items shipped with the holder it states non-rotating. This puzzles me. Does it rotate or not as the whole idea of a circular polariser is to rotate it to adjust the polarisation.

Also do you have to use the polariser every time you use the holder? It seems part of it once assembled.

Another issue I have just thought about, how do you see the image in the view finder or live view to adjust the polariser once assembled as you cannot see through a 10 stop never mind a 16 stop firecrest.
 
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ChrisWXM said:
The video shows the polariser being rotated yet in the list of items shipped with the holder it states non-rotating. This puzzles me. Does it rotate or not as the whole idea of a circular polariser is to rotate it to adjust the polarisation.
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I think it's because the holder for the polariser does the rotating, so it would rotate independent of the holder.

To me the system does look a bit OTT. I like my Lee holder. I leave the adaptors on all my lenses, so when I want to use it I just clip it on (with the polariser attached). I use the Firecrest filters and never had any light leakage issues tbh.

I am interested to see how it works in real life though. Hopefully it will be at the show in March.
 
Also do you have to use the polariser every time you use the holder? It seems part of it once assembled.

Another issue I have just thought about, how do you see the image in the view finder or live view to adjust the polariser once assembled as you cannot see through a 10 stop never mind a 16 stop firecrest.[/QUOTE]

You can see through a polarising filter easy enough although you would probably look through the view finder for the effect you require first.
 
Wissel said:
I think it's because the holder for the polariser does the rotating, so it would rotate independent of the holder.

To me the system does look a bit OTT. I like my Lee holder. I leave the adaptors on all my lenses, so when I want to use it I just clip it on (with the polariser attached). I use the Firecrest filters and never had any light leakage issues tbh.

I am interested to see how it works in real life though. Hopefully it will be at the show in March.
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I do similar, it's so easy to swap lenses if you have an adaptor on each lens (the big lens caps are also very useful). The clip on and off is great for quickly checking exposure.
 
paul100 said:
Also do you have to use the polariser every time you use the holder? It seems part of it once assembled.

Another issue I have just thought about, how do you see the image in the view finder or live view to adjust the polariser once assembled as you cannot see through a 10 stop never mind a 16 stop firecrest.
Click to expand...

You can see through a polarising filter easy enough although you would probably look through the view finder for the effect you require first.[/QUOTE]

I understand you can see through the polarising filter, I have never had a problem with that but what I am referring to is seeing to polarise the image through the ND filter as well. It's too dark to see anything once the ND filter is installed. It seems a lot more of a pain that the original system. At least you can polarise the image and THEN slide in the ND filter on the older system.
 
ChrisWXM said:
The video shows the polariser being rotated yet in the list of items shipped with the holder it states non-rotating. This puzzles me. Does it rotate or not as the whole idea of a circular polariser is to rotate it to adjust the polarisation.

Also do you have to use the polariser every time you use the holder? It seems part of it once assembled.

Another issue I have just thought about, how do you see the image in the view finder or live view to adjust the polariser once assembled as you cannot see through a 10 stop never mind a 16 stop firecrest.
Click to expand...

It does look like you can unclip the filter holder from the polariser holder that's attached to the lens, so could take off only the 10 or 16 stop filter. It would mean having to unscrew the adaptor ring on the lens every time you change lens. That could be a pain if they were different thread sizes as that would mean a lot of fiddling.
 
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rob-nikon said:
It does look like you can unclip the filter holder from the polariser holder that's attached to the lens, so could take off only the 10 or 16 stop filter.
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Good point Rob, I never thought of that. It would then just be a case of making sure you don't disturb the CPL when you re-attach the holder.
 
ChrisWXM said:
You can see through a polarising filter easy enough although you would probably look through the view finder for the effect you require first.

I understand you can see through the polarising filter, I have never had a problem with that but what I am referring to is seeing to polarise the image through the ND filter as well. It's too dark to see anything once the ND filter is installed. It seems a lot more of a pain that the original system. At least you can polarise the image and THEN slide in the ND filter on the older system.
Click to expand...

The video at 1:41 shows you can in clip the filter holder from the polariser. Whether the polariser does spin independently of the holder I'm not sure. It would make sense if it did but their website and video seem to contradict each other. Yet on the video at 1:31 it shows the person rotating the polariser without the holder fitted.

Edit: looking at the parts list that comes with the set. It includes:
  • Rotating 82mm Adaptor Ring
  • 82mm Firecrest Ultra-slim (non-rotating) Circular Polariser
Reading between the lines it's the 82mm adaptor ring that rotates and not the polasiser. I would guess you can choose whether you attach the polariser or not. As the holder unclips from the adaptor ring then that's similar to the Lee design. If they had the 82mm rotating adaptor, 82mm to 77mm adaptor and a lens cap available as additional parts I would think about it this as I would like to get a polariser that fits the square filter holder. That's one thing I like about the Lee holder is the ease of swapping lenses when you have adopters on each lens and the Lee lens caps protect the glass element too.
 
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Having looked at this more and the equivalent Lee polariser costs it's starting to be very intriguing. I emailed Formatt-Hitech earlier expecting them to response later in the week after the bank holiday. I got a response within 2 hours on the Sunday of a bank holiday weekend! I'm hoping to soon add a polariser to my filter holder, the cost of the Lee equivalent is much more than the new Hitech holder and polariser. It's definitely a more difficult decision to make now.
 
Here's a more in depth video showing the breakdown of the parts.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B51x23DgQ58&feature=youtu.be


I'm still very undecided about this holder or getting a Lee landscape polariser for my current Lee holder. I would like to get a polariser and I'm not sure which way to go. The Hitech price of £129.99 doesn't include VAT, VAT is added at checkout so it comes out around £160. Of course the Lee setup is much more once you add the holder, adapter rings but as I already have them the difference is roughly £30-40. A hard decision what to do, both setups seem to their advantages/disadvantages.
 
I should have one coming this week as I've picked up some Firecrest filters and the 20% off additional filters is a nice bonus!
I have thought that the 82mm polariser might lead to vignetting (as I have experienced this with even a 105mm) but having switched to all Fuji I'm hoping it might not be an issue, will add my thoughts once it comes!!
 
chrism_scotland said:
I should have one coming this week as I've picked up some Firecrest filters and the 20% off additional filters is a nice bonus!
I have thought that the 82mm polariser might lead to vignetting (as I have experienced this with even a 105mm) but having switched to all Fuji I'm hoping it might not be an issue, will add my thoughts once it comes!!
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Thanks Chris, would be very interested in what you think. I did see their 20% offer, I already have the filters I need so it wasn't going to be very useful to me but could see that being very useful to others. WEX are still doing 10% discount code so that takes the Lee landscape polariser down a little. The Lee is supposed to go down to 16/17mm without big netting arising. I was hoping to pick up a polariser before a trip to Norfolk but I've decided to hold off purchasing until I'm 100% sure either way.
 
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