Anyone use solid ND filters?

rayonline_nz · Dec 30, 2016

I got some filters ie - so I have a bit more grads at my arsenal and a Skylight 1B for Provia and a few B/W color filters. However ... do any people photograph with solid ND filters?

I have tried this in the past unsuccessfully. My Hitech 4 stop had a red cast. My B+W 6 stop had a brown cast. I hear the Lee's Big Stopper has a blue cast. I haven't tried Hitech's Firefly or Hoya's filter and know no one who has used them with film to know an answer.

Using with color slide film.
FWIW my old digital camera had similar cast too, the newer ones tend to be quite neutral. Perhaps a sensor design but that doesn't help my film photography.

Anyone have any experience?

Thanks.

Darko Pozar · Dec 30, 2016

I use Kodak Wratten Gelatin filters N.D 0.30 and 0.60.

I have never found any significant colour cast and prefer the thinness reducing any diffusion and distortion.

AgX · Dec 30, 2016

The D 1.8 B&W filter indeed shows a higher transmission in the red. (As all their ND filters, but at the 1.8 it is a bit more pronounced.)

If you annoyed by a cast, then use in addition a cyan CC filter.

macfred · Dec 30, 2016

I only use B+W Schneider Kreuznach (ND 0.3 + 0.6 + 1.8 and ND grad 0.6) - no colour cast.
Formely I had two cheap Zomei filters (ND grad 0.6 + ND 4) - both had a purple cast and impaired image quality.

guangong · Dec 30, 2016

My experience using no filters is limited to cinema cameras since Kodak reversal bw film is now only offered at 200asa and shutter speed is constant 1/50 sec. However, I have thought about using nd filters with leaf shutter cameras and would be interested in some users experiences.

guangong · Dec 30, 2016

Obviously that should read nd filter and not no filter.

Ari · Dec 30, 2016

For ND, I use Haida filters which have almost zero colour cast, are multi-coated Schott glass, and out-perform the same LEE filters.
For circular polarizer, I've found the Marumi Super DHG line to be among the best available.
Look up some online reviews, they usually compare different brands.

LAG · Dec 30, 2016

rayonline_nz said:
Anyone have any experience?

"ALL" ND filters generate colour cast (physics), good news is that once it is known you should be able to correct it (however that means another thing in the middle). Time for trial-and-error work.

All the best

EdSawyer · Dec 30, 2016

2nd the recommendation for Haida, I have a 10-stop one from them, no real color cast that I can see. Side note:avoid buying anything (eg, ND filters) from Breakthrough Photography for any reason (do a search as to why)

David A. Goldfarb · Dec 30, 2016

Are you sure the cast is coming entirely from the filter? If you are trying to do long exposures with color slide film by using an ND filter, you can also have reciprocity related color casts, which could require correction anyway, so the best solution might just be to run some tests under your planned conditions, and filter it back to neutral, accounting for all factors that may be at play.

AgX · Dec 30, 2016

Good point!

rayonline_nz · Dec 30, 2016

David A. Goldfarb said:
Are you sure the cast is coming entirely from the filter? If you are trying to do long exposures with color slide film by using an ND filter, you can also have reciprocity related color casts, which could require correction anyway, so the best solution might just be to run some tests under your planned conditions, and filter it back to neutral, accounting for all factors that may be at play.

Yeah I am pretty sure. I recall using the Hitech 4 stop filter with a fast enough shutter speed to be handheld under very bright light - New Zealand's summer 12PM. So no reciprocity. I also did it with Kodak E100G. Did the same to the 1.8 ND with B+W. The 0.6 B+W I have also if side by side there is an effect but it is pretty neutral.

rayonline_nz · Dec 30, 2016

Some people said it could be infra red bleeding from the filter.

Sirius Glass · Dec 30, 2016

I use solid ND filters, ND2 and ND4. They never went to college so no grad filters for me. As far as solid filters, I hate when they have pin holes in them.

AgX · Dec 30, 2016

rayonline_nz said:
Some people said it could be infra red bleeding from the filter.

not possible

AgX · Dec 30, 2016

-) There are only 2 or three 3 filter glass manufacturers. So there is not much choice anyway when using homogeneous glass filters.

-) B&W explicitely hint in their descriptive text at the higher transmission of red of their ND filters.

benveniste · Jan 3, 2017

rayonline_nz said:
Some people said it could be infra red bleeding from the filter.

I won't go as far as saying "not possible," but taking a quick look at Provia's datasheet, I don't see a lot of IR sensitivity with that film.

Recently, a number of manufacturers have introduced IRND filters which offer a flatter transmission curve well into the near-IR range. While these seem to be aimed at the digital market, they will certainly work for film as well. I have a Hitech-Formatt 16-stop Firecrest filter, which shows only a mild color cast with an exposure in the 5-minute range.

With long exposures using an SLR, another source of color casts is light leaking through the eyepiece. If your camera has an eyepiece shutter, be sure that you are using it.

Anyone use solid ND filters?

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