Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: chandsa on July 19, 2013, 03:08:51 pm
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Hey folks,
Has anyone used Singh Ray's version of the 10-stop ND filter? I've not done a search to see what reviews are there about this filter, but thought i'd check here first. At a little under $400, these are expensive and I would like to hear first hand opinions about the filter before I go and buy it. Please share your thoughts.
Thank you!
Sai
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Hi
Also check out formatt filters.
I've been playing with them and love the concept of one set for several lenses.
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You could have a Lee Big Stopper and a lot of change for that money. I use the Big Stopper and other than a very slight cold cast which is easily removed in post it is very good.
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Hello,
I would suggest one of these filters
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ND-1000-filter-77mm-10-stop-ND-/221252255539?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN&hash=item3383a97f33
I have a 6 stop and 10 stop ND filter in my kit and they are very good with no colour shift.
Cheers
Simon
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You could have a Lee Big Stopper and a lot of change for that money. I use the Big Stopper and other than a very slight cold cast which is easily removed in post it is very good.
Thanks for the suggestion Mark! I'll look into this, though from initial searches I've found that there's usually an extremely long wait time to get this, sometimes up to 6 months. I saw that message on 2filter.com website however i'm yet to call them to find out about the availability.
Cheers!
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Hi
Also check out formatt filters.
I've been playing with them and love the concept of one set for several lenses.
Frank, I've heard that the Hitech 10-stop ND filters are extremely good as well! Thanks for the suggestion!!
Cheers!
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http://www.ebay.com/itm/ND-1000-filter-77mm-10-stop-ND-/221252255539?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN&hash=item3383a97f33
I have a 6 stop and 10 stop ND filter in my kit and they are very good with no colour shift.
Simon, thanks for the recommendation! I've got the Lee filter holder set up currently and am leaning towards the filters that I can use with the filter holder.
Cheers!
Sai
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During the workshops this week I played around with the filters and now have a complete kit in my bag ;)
No color casts and one kit for several lenses.
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I'd like to second the suggestion to look at HiTech (Formatt) filters. I've recently acquired a set of NDs and GNDs and find them very high quality and easy to use.
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If you're struggling to find stock of Lee have a word with Teamwork Photographic or Dale Photographic, both here in the UK who often have stock when no one else does. I deal with them both, feel free to mention I recommended you!
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Hello Sai - I have one of the new ones (77 mm, thin ring mount) and it's a great filter, with no observable color cast issues so far, although in the newest entry on the Singh-Ray Filter Blog, Tony Sweet reports the filter rends a slightly warm cast, easily correctable via the camera's custom white balance setting or in RAW conversion in post processing. Apparently their older filters displayed more problematic color cast issues but that appears to have fixed with this latest model and only the new one is now sold.
Singh-Ray filters are arguably the highest quality filters available, but they're expensive, and other brands may well offer comparable quality at less cost and therefore be a better value. Among a few others from Singh-Ray, I also own the Vari-ND and the Vari-N-Duo, both of which I use a lot.
Trying before buying is usually wise, if at all possible. If you have any specific questions, the people at Singh-Ray are reportedly very helpful.
I hope this helps and good luck on your search,
Phil
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If you plan to buy one of the Formatt HiTech filters, be warned that they have a "normal" version, a "ProStop" version, and a new "IRND" version. The "ProStop" and "IRND" versions have a foam gasket that prevents light from entering between the lens and the filter; and thrust me that with a 10 stop filter you need that gasket.
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All,
I own and have used all 3 of the major 10-stop filters. (BigStopper, Hi-Tech, and Sing-Ray).
I can safely say, the Sing-ray is the best of the bunch. It is an excellent piece of glass and fits very well in the holder.
- The Flange around the outside covers the entire area, so there is no problem with slight mis-allignment causing a light leak (a problem with the LEE)
- I have noticed it can be slightly warm. (50-100 degK or so), but no discernible colour cast, certainly not the horrendous blue of some others.
I recently took the SinghRay 10 stop and 5 stop More-Slow through Iceland, and they performed very well with one exception.
The 5-stop is paper thin, and very fragile. It broke in my case near the end of the trip, when it was between two other filters. I still have no idea how.
The filter itself was excellent, and performed very very well as a filter, but I just can't recommend it due to fragility.
The 10-stop is normal thickness and works just fine.
The lee Bigstopper is pretty damn good, but I prefer the slightly warm of the Sing-Ray, vs the slightly cool/blue of the Lee.
The Hitech, I am afraid is, in my experience, complete rubbish. I have used/seen 3 of them, and they all had a horrendous colour cast, especially during long exposures. It is now a coaster.
Here is a blog of another comparison: http://blog.jholko.com/2012/06/24/battle-of-the-big-stoppers-lee-vs-hi-tech-10-stop-nd-filter-showdown/
Regards
Mark.
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It's likely possible to eliminate the colour cast - if indeed there is one - with a custom white balance. I've experimented with a piece of welding glass (very green) as a high intensity ND filter. It works well and the colour cast can be completely eliminated with a custom WB preset in processing, or in camera.
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I think that Singh ray filters are way over priced. I use Lee and Formatt filters and I am quite happy with them. For my Fuji I also use B+W ND screw on filters, they work great too, and any of those are a lot cheaper than Singh Ray filters.
Alan
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It's likely possible to eliminate the colour cast - if indeed there is one - with a custom white balance. I've experimented with a piece of welding glass (very green) as a high intensity ND filter. It works well and the colour cast can be completely eliminated with a custom WB preset in processing, or in camera.
I have also used welding glasses before, and achieved reasonable results, but only in black and white. On one side, the type of long exposures that I tend to shot always call for black and white; on the other side, correcting the heavy color cast produced too much noise, especially in the red channel.
When shotting wide / ultra-wide, ND filters tend to produce vignetting (as far as I know, this is common to all ND filters, as light that crosses the filter diagonally has a longer path inside the filter); if the filter also produces some color cast, then the image comes out with a color cast that is more pronounced on the sides than on the center. And that can be much harder to fix than simply using a proper white balance.
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I have also used welding glasses before, and achieved reasonable results, but only in black and white. On one side, the type of long exposures that I tend to shot always call for black and white; on the other side, correcting the heavy color cast produced too much noise, especially in the red channel.
Not something I've experienced.
When shotting wide / ultra-wide, ND filters tend to produce vignetting (as far as I know, this is common to all ND filters, as light that crosses the filter diagonally has a longer path inside the filter); if the filter also produces some color cast, then the image comes out with a color cast that is more pronounced on the sides than on the center. And that can be much harder to fix than simply using a proper white balance.
Vignetting typically occurs due to the filter ring getting in the way or the filter holder with something like the Lee system. Nothing to do with how the rays of light travel. I've avoided by using a trick others have; use elastic bands to affix the welding glass around the petals of a reversed lens hood. No vignetting. There can be light leaks but that can be eliminated by making sure the bands are tight enough or by gluing a bit of closed cell foam to the front of the lens hood to act as a gasket.
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The cast varies depending on the transmission of infra red hence Hitech selling their new filter on the basis that this IR issue is fixed and any cast that does occur will be uniform so fixable with a custom WB.
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At that ridiculous price definitely get the B+W 10 stop, only 105 bucks!
I stopped using square ND filters a while ago as occasionally I would get reflections on the back of the filter that would ruin the shot.
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At that ridiculous price definitely get the B+W 10 stop, only 105 bucks!
Hi Jason,
Last thing I heard was that they introduce a huge color cast, presumably due to the IR transparency issue ...
I stopped using square ND filters a while ago as occasionally I would get reflections on the back of the filter that would ruin the shot.
You usually get reflections when there is no gasket used against light coming in from the sides of the filter.
Cheers,
Bart
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I often lay a small black towel over the top of my camera, initially to keep it dry when out in bad weather, now most of the time to eliminate light leaks.
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I often lay a small black towel over the top of my camera, initially to keep it dry when out in bad weather, now most of the time to eliminate light leaks.
Hi Mark,
Indeed, real photographers don't bitch, they find solutions ;) .
However, there can be reflection issues when the outer surface of the most front element of the lens is relatively reflective, and the rear surface of the ND filter also is reflective. Internal absorption inside a high ND filter should not affect its front surface being coated or not too much.
Cheers,
Bart
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I absolutely love my Big Stopper and the whole Lee system. But, I had the BigStopper on back order from B&H for a few months and finally gave up. I paid a little more for it, but got it in two days from Henry's (Canada).
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At that ridiculous price definitely get the B+W 10 stop, only 105 bucks!
I stopped using square ND filters a while ago as occasionally I would get reflections on the back of the filter that would ruin the shot.
fair point for some.
However, to be clear where I am coming from. When I'm putting filters in front of $6,000-$9,000 medium format lenses, personally I aim for the highest quality possible, rather than shopping by the price.
To my mind, the best is the SinghRay More-Slow, or the Bigstopper.
The results from either are excellent, with, in MY oppinion, the SinghRay being better.
The 5 stop image quality is also excellent, just the robustness of the filter in the field is horrendous.
So it depends what each person are trying to achieve / use case.
Regards
Mark.
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I've not tried the SinghRay (I don't know of a distributor here in the UK) but will keep an eye out on my travels.
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I have the B+W 110 10 stop filter, and yes it has a huuuuuge color cast due to IR leakage. I have still had fun with it but had I known about the color cast issue I would not have bought it, there are better alternatives now.
Personally I'd look into Simon's suggestion as screw-in filter is fool-proof concerning light leaks and with 10 stop you cannot have light leaks. I use square filters only for grads, and screw-ins for polarizer and NDs, as I find I have more choices and better coatings on the screw-ins (and more economical too). If I need both grads and screw-ins I attach the screw-ins first and then the square filter holder. Not as generic and fast to work with as square only with pre-mounted holders on all lenses, but it suits my workflow well enough as I don't use filters that often.