One filter setup to rule them all? Color neutral ND filters?

[6x6Thor]

Thinking about filters and filter holders today.

I shoot with a 6x6 Rolleiflex SLR, 4x5, and 8x10 monorail cameras with a wide range of lenses, both color and B&W. I've had the Lee 100 system (wide hood with filter holder) for years, and find that it falls apart regularly, and I fix it, and it falls apart again later. I've been lucky in that I usually catch it and haven't lost any parts. I also use the Lee colored gel set for B&W, and have both hard and soft grad Lee ND sets, as well as a variety of 95mm, Bay VI and other circular filters.

Personally I prefer to assemble a system I can use for all cameras, rather than duplicating my efforts (as I've done in the past).

Anyway, I've standardized on a cinema style matte box with a few adapter rings to cover all my lenses on all cameras, with 4x4" (100 x 100mm) and 4x5.65" (100 x 143.5cm) filters. I've already picked up many of the ones I use the most.

As other's have pointed out in other posts, when using a 2 or 3 stop graduated ND, it's unlikely to cause any color cast.

My next purchases will be a 1.8x (6 stop) and 3x (10 stop) filter for emphasizing moving water, clouds, and erasing people from long exposures, like with the Lee Little Stopper and Big Stopper. They seem to be among the worst for color cast, so I've been looking at other brands like Tiffen, Schneider, NiSi, Format-Hitech, Arri, TrueND and others.

Since I shoot both color and B&W, and may at some point lose my mind and go digital, I'd like to get something that will be as color neutral as possible. All the reviews I've seen online and on YouTube are typically 4-5 or more years old, and most manufacturers have revised their ND offerings one or more times since then, largely due to how they approach the IR spectrum.

Secondly, many modern filters stress that they either remove all IR, or more recently are Full Spectrum and attenuate IR along with the visible wavelengths. Are either of these an issue with B&W or color film, or are they strictly relevant to digital sensors?

Would like to hear what other's have found work well, and what brands or models I might want to look into.


Thanks!

 

[JensH]

My next purchases will be a 1.8x (6 stop) and 3x (10 stop) filter for emphasizing moving water, clouds, and erasing people from long exposures, like with the Lee Little Stopper and Big Stopper. They seem to be among the worst for color cast, so I've been looking at other brands like Tiffen, Schneider, NiSi, Hitech-Formatt, Arri, TrueND and others.

Since I shoot both color and B&W, and may at some point lose my mind and go digital, I'd like to get something that will be as color neutral as possible.

Hi,

for neutral ND filters I can recommand those from the Hoya ProND line.

Neutral means for me not introducing any change in color balance when checked by a Gossen Colormaster 3f. Most nd filters introduce a greenish color cast like a build in CC10G, some are magentrish, even made by good brands...
I checked many filters (more than 12) for a microscope condenser project... worst was a nd 8x giving like a CC30M(!) cast.

Jens

 

[Shaps]

In my experience you will never find the perfect version of anything. So you adapt or try new ones hoping for the best.
In regards to filters and color shift I’d just go with a system that works well with my lenses and fix any shifts in post.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Very few ND filters are truly ND. A greenish cast is in fact more common than not. Nor are they necessarily the actual ND value they're labeled as, unless specifically densitometer confirmed. Nice to see that someone besides me has actually checked.

"Post" isn't always an option; and seldom is it ideal.

Perhaps you're just trying to solve too many problems at once, Thor. Do you really need this for film photography? I realize ND's are something of a fad right now; but truly neutral ones are going to cost you a lot more. You might look into Heliopan.

 

[Shaps]

I agree fixing in post doesn’t always work. But rather than spend a lot of time and money on some things that I’ll likely never fix I’d rather spend my time making photographs.
Things are always changing in the world of photography, equipment, expenable supplies, sources. So I just move on with whatever is on hand and work the vest I can.
A friend of mine blows everything up on his screen 300% and looks for problems that you will never see at normal viewing scale. To me that is a waste of time.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Well, I print optically. Nothing is digital. But regardless, either way, any step or correction which can be taken at the time of the shot will make life easier afterwards. One problem with these ND's is a lot of them are acrylic resin, which is easily scratched, attracts dust electrostatically, and doesn'g control glare well.

Another reputable but expensive option you might consider is Singh-Ray. But they've got a line of ND filters named for a guy whose ND work looked fake as heck, so that's hardly an endorsement. (He was a local, so I knew his habits.)

 

[Shaps]

Well, I print optically. Nothing is digital. But regardless, either way, any step or correction which can be taken at the time of the shot will make life easier afterwards. One problem with these ND's is a lot of them are acrylic resin, which is easily scratched, attracts dust electrostatically, and doesn'g control glare well.

Another reputable but expensive option you might consider is Singh-Ray. But they've got a line of ND filters named for a guy whose ND work looked fake as heck, so that's hardly an endorsement. (He was a local, so I knew his habits.)

Have you looked at filters made for the film & TV industry? From my days as a set photographer for shows I was impressed at the quality of the equipment they used. Much better than made for photgraphers. But they did cost more generally but were excellant.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I doubt they would be any physically better made than good multicoated glass filters today. Old Harrison and Harrison filters did have the especially consistent tints cinematographers expected. One of those guys used to hang out at my workplace quite a bit; and I learned a lot about lenses, films, and filters from him. He only needed to make about one shoot a decade to be well off, and gave his mother both a house and red Ferrari to drive around in, plus a lot of facelifts. With her blonde Jean Harlow wig, and filled puffy red lipstick lips, you'd never know she was over 90 zooming around, if it weren't for her "tortoise neck" giveaway!

But back on topic - quality control of tint per se varies with brand and vintage. I have driven right over to Tim's little filterfind.net warehouse just across town to compare filters in person,
when necessary.

Some of these companies like Hoya also maintain an industrial division you can special order just about anything from, at due cost, of course. The largest optical coating plant in the world used to be right around here, and could come up with just about anything on demand,
including for aerospace applications.

ND's and polarizers seem to be the ones which have the most problems in terms of color neutrality and rated density. I'd take special care purchasing any of those.

 

[Bill Burk]

I’m heading the other direction and fleshing out a set of Series VI filters and adapters for various cameras. On a recent trip I jerry-rigged a 49mm filter thread to the Bessa II so I could share one set of filters with the OM-1

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I like glass filters rather than resin type and have a set of 77mm for my Mamiya RB67 medium format. Mamiya lenses are almost all take 77mm filters. I use resin only for graduated neutral density filters. When I started 4x5, I found I could use step-up adapter so these expensive filters could be used with my new 4x5 if I used lenses smaller than 77mm. filter threads. You could use this approach and buy larger glass filter that would fit all your lenses, useing adapters sized as required. Adapters are very cheap. I leave them on each lens. Of course the larger filter is more expensive but you only need to buy one of each type for all your lenses. Less to carry as well.

 

[Rick A]

I purchased quality glass filters for the largest lens I own (77mm) and step up rings to fit my other lenses, cuts down on weight and clutter.