I'm looking for experiences with ND filters. I'm trying to improve on my current 100mm Lee setup.
I have used them with great success in the last ten years in all but two situations:
1. Heavy rain
2. Wide angle shots (17-24mm)
I suppose, you really can't do anything about #1 but I really would like to improve on #2.
I have dark corners in some of my 17mm shots and I'm wondering if there are other solutions out there that do not have this problem. Also, polarizers don't really go well with the filter holder. The Lee screw on polarizer is very expensive because of its size and also causes dark corners in some situations.
Has anyone experience with the Lee 150mm system or other manufacturers? I'm hoping that the 150mm system can help because of the wider filters. Maybe other manufacturers help with the polarizer situation. So, what are your experiences?
Hi,
The vignetting you have noticed, is caused by the thickness of the filter. That thickness will cause very oblique rays (as in Wide-angle shots towards the corners) having to travel a longer distance through the filter medium, thus attenuating the light that gets through more than in the image center.
So the only solution is to use a thinner filter, which is an issue for large glass filters.
Using polarizers on wide-angle lenses is rarely successful, because the amount of polarized light changes with the angle to the sun or to surfaces. That will guarantee a difference across the Field-of View. So there I'd suggest to look for other solutions (if possible, which it sometimes isn't). If the Pol-filter is just used for darkening the blue sky, then that can also be achieved in postprocessing by reducing the Lightness of Blue with an HSL filter. If the pol-filter is used to reduce glare or reflections, then that will only be possible with such a filter and Wide-angle lenses will keep causing issues. One can try boosting local saturation on foliage, and reducing the Lightness a bit to mimic the effect of the pol-filter.
Cheers,
Bart