Review Screw in Filters (and their suppliers)

Kerioak

Kerioak

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Christine
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Not being ready to spend out on Lee filters and wanting to do more landscape I set myself a £200 limit to invest in some filters.

After seeing the ten stop Haida recommended on the forum from Camera Gear UK I decided to start with that - they were extremely helpful, dispatched fast, exceptionally well packed and I would use them again.

I used my 50D on a tripod with the Canon 10-22 (very sharp) lens at 10-11 mm - it sometimes moved a tad while I was changing filters. I taped a white feather and a flower to the chair so I had something to focus on. My main interest is to see how sharp the pictures are so I have done this informal test and thought I would share in case anyone interested. They are shot raw, output from LR to PS, re-sized with two full sized crops added, one from the focus point and one from top left. No processing at all other than this unless stated

1. No filter at all 1/200 sec at f/9.0 10mm
test1.jpg


2. Hoya Pro Digital MC Protector (which apart from today spends all its time on the camera) 1/200 sec at f/9.0 10mm
test2.jpg


3. Hoya Circular polariser and my finger, had this for ages but thought I would included in this test, slight vingnetting at 10mm which disappears by 12ish-mm
1/25 sec at f/6.3 10mm
test3.jpg


4. Haida Graduated Grey. Comes in nicely padded quite rigid plastic box,
This lens turns in its frame so you can change the angle of the graduation from top/bottom/side but is stiff and had dust on it and a small mark on the edge I have not been able to gently remove, might have to contact supplier about this but I cannot see it on picture - and I have looked (from Premier Ink and Photographic, next day delivery)
1/60 sec at f/8.0 10mm
test4.jpg


5. Haida Slim Pro II MC ND3.0 1000x
Comes in nicely padded quite rigid plastic box. I have used curves on a small part of the full size crop just to lighten it for closer look.
1/4 sec at f/3.5 10mm
test5.jpg
 
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I also purchased a Marumi DHG Vari. ND2-400 filter (1-9 stop) this has a 77mm thread at the back and an 82mm thread at the front which means I can use it at 10mm on my wide angle without vignetting from the filter. It is double and turns like a polariser but think has more space between the two bits of glass. The box is a clear plastic with a stiff plastic insert, I think both of these might split if treated less than gently.

Now the pictures taken with it

6. 1/25 sec f/6.3
test6.jpg


7. 1/100 sec f/6.3
test7.jpg


8. 1/80 sec f/5.0
test8.jpg


9. 1/50 sec f/4.0
test9.jpg


10. There are Min - Max markings with graduations in between - you cannot rely totally on this as if you go over the max too far you get the crossover like this - second one was not on tripod as you may have guessed, as you turn the filter they move and I imagine that they could come in useful if you used it a lot and got really used to it as graduated when shooting at various exposures
1/25 sec f/6.3
test10.jpg




After spending a few days looking at various filters and reading up about them and trying to work out which to get/which I could justify spending money on, I was expecting much more of a colour cast than these appear to show - maybe it is because I have chosen one of the sunniest days of the year to try them out ?
 
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A very good review, the images in particular are useful. Cheers for putting in the effort :)
 
This is excellent, and it's a thread I'll definitely point folks to, particularly when they are perhaps thinking about investing in their first set of filters.
 
Kerioak said:
Thanks John and Les - was beginning to think no one visited this section :)
Click to expand...

Oh they do, but your thread title is too boring, change it too 'Screw in Filters and Prince Harry's bum', and you will get loads of visitors, hundreds of comments, none of them relevant, but a lot of laughs ;)
 
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