Thanks guys
I will just say that a lot of people on boards will reflexively tell you B+W are the best filters. This was true 20-25 years ago when grinding and polishing glass flat within tight tolerances was tough and the Schot glass is very good. But now, with the proliferation of quality manufacturing technology, it just isn't that hard anymore. B+W other claim to fame has been brass rings instead of aluminum. But no matter which, if you tighten a filter too tight it is going to stick and be tough to get apart.
My CPL recommendations would be the Nikon CPL II or B+W KSM CPL. But with ND, I would recommend Hoya. If you really want to spend a lot of money, the Singh-Ray are good as are the B+W, but Hoya's top line are very good and usually much more affordable. Hoya is the number 1 manufacturer of optical glass in the world. I am also interested in the Formatt-Hightec Firecrest IRND line which also uses Schott glass. The 16 stop thing gets good reviews, but have not seen the lower densities yet.
In the Variable Faders, I would go with the Schneider (B+W parent) that goes from 3-11 stops (it is only single coated).
Real key is there is some trial an error until you find how much ND you tend to need. Most people are in the 3-6 stop range while others doing really long exposure are up in the 10-16 stops. But until you figure that out, I wouldn't spend really big money on single stop ND.
