ND Filters

[WDWFigment]

I did a lot of research on this last year, and I ultimately bought the B+W 1.8 ND filter instead of a Fader ND filter (which is the brand of cheap variable ND filters).

I was extremely happy with the B+W filter until I broke it in Disneyland. I plan on replacing it soon. I would highly recommend getting the B+W 1.8 instead of a variable ND filter. With the B+W 1.8, your aperture becomes the "variable" element, which is much better than the filter being variable.

 

[mom2rtk]

I did a lot of research on this last year, and I ultimately bought the B+W 1.8 ND filter instead of a Fader ND filter (which is the brand of cheap variable ND filters).

I was extremely happy with the B+W filter until I broke it in Disneyland. I plan on replacing it soon. I would highly recommend getting the B+W 1.8 instead of a variable ND filter. With the B+W 1.8, your aperture becomes the "variable" element, which is much better than the filter being variable.

I don't know Tom. I might be inclined to take your word for it if only you'd taken some decent shots with it. Too bad your results were so inferior..........






You guys didn't really fall for that, did you?

I thought immediately of your impressive shots when I saw this thread posted.

 

[DPK400]

I did a lot of research on this last year, and I ultimately bought the B+W 1.8 ND filter instead of a Fader ND filter (which is the brand of cheap variable ND filters).

I was extremely happy with the B+W filter until I broke it in Disneyland. I plan on replacing it soon. I would highly recommend getting the B+W 1.8 instead of a variable ND filter. With the B+W 1.8, your aperture becomes the "variable" element, which is much better than the filter being variable.

The brand I was looking at is called the VariND I believe. It's made by Singh-Ray. So your suggestion is to stick with the fixed ND (yours is 6 stops right?)? That makes sense in that the optics are probably better while removing the chance of bumping the filter and changing the level of light transmission and subsequently changing the "feel". Also, the control is then left in camera which does make a lot of sense.

I'm a huge fan of your photos by the way, I appreciate your response. It's a lot to think about that's for sure. I'm glad I have this resource available to ask those who've "been there" and "done that".

I don't know Tom. I might be inclined to take your word for it if only you'd taken some decent shots with it. Too bad your results were so inferior..........

I thought immediately of your impressive shots when I saw this thread posted.

When I first read that, I didn't see your comment below and thought to myself, "has this person ever seen his pictures...?

This thread is a great source of information. The forum has already answered a bunch of questions for me. I've already warned my wife that I am going down as much for my kids as for photography. BTW, I will be there Dec 4-11.

 

[WDWFigment]

The brand I was looking at is called the VariND I believe. It's made by Singh-Ray. So your suggestion is to stick with the fixed ND (yours is 6 stops right?)? That makes sense in that the optics are probably better while removing the chance of bumping the filter and changing the level of light transmission and subsequently changing the "feel". Also, the control is then left in camera which does make a lot of sense.

I'm a huge fan of your photos by the way, I appreciate your response. It's a lot to think about that's for sure. I'm glad I have this resource available to ask those who've "been there" and "done that".




When I first read that, I didn't see your comment below and thought to myself, "has this person ever seen his pictures...?

This thread is a great source of information. The forum has already answered a bunch of questions for me. I've already warned my wife that I am going down as much for my kids as for photography. BTW, I will be there Dec 4-11.

Singh-Ray is expensive. If that's what you really want, get it, I suppose.

I don't say this very often, and I don't fancy myself an expert on much of anything technical, but I'm going to say it here: just take my word for this and don't over-think it. I've been in your shoes before, your "needs" for the filter are about the same as mine were/are, and I found the B+W 1.8 (6 stop) to be perfect, without any of the issues owners of the variable ND filters reported.

I can hit 100 seconds on fireworks shots at an aperture of around f/8. I can shoot daytime long exposures (a few seconds) at apertures of f/16 or so.

Save your time, save your money, stop researching and just buy the B+W 1.8.

Oh, if you do decide to buy the B+W 1.8, I have a "wonderful" as-is copy I'll sell you.

 

[Experiment_626]

The brand I was looking at is called the VariND I believe. It's made by Singh-Ray.

The Singh-Ray VariND is considered top-of-the-line, for what it's worth.

Scott

 

[Experiment_626]

I found the B+W 1.8 (6 stop) to be perfect, without any of the issues owners of the variable ND filters reported.

I can hit 100 seconds on fireworks shots at an aperture of around f/8. I can shoot daytime long exposures (a few seconds) at apertures of f/16 or so.

Tom, I had considered that myself when I was in the market. But how do you deal with focus and composition using the fixed 6-stop filter? I figured that would be a major pain, especially as I do so much shooting at night. It's easy to rotate the variable ND filter to its minimal, 2-stop setting, get focus and composition correct, then rotate it back to the ~6 stop position. I found that with very little practice I was able to get the filter rotated back to the correct position very quickly, without a lot of fiddling around.

Scott

 

[DPK400]

Singh-Ray is expensive. If that's what you really want, get it, I suppose.

I don't say this very often, and I don't fancy myself an expert on much of anything technical, but I'm going to say it here: just take my word for this and don't over-think it. I've been in your shoes before, your "needs" for the filter are about the same as mine were/are, and I found the B+W 1.8 (6 stop) to be perfect, without any of the issues owners of the variable ND filters reported.

I can hit 100 seconds on fireworks shots at an aperture of around f/8. I can shoot daytime long exposures (a few seconds) at apertures of f/16 or so.

Save your time, save your money, stop researching and just buy the B+W 1.8.

Oh, if you do decide to buy the B+W 1.8, I have a "wonderful" as-is copy I'll sell you.

So I am looking at the B+W and there are no fewer than 20 different B+W ND filters for 77mm. Three different ones in the 1.8 range. Which would you recommend? I may pick up the 1.8 and the 3.0 just to be safe for ultra bright days. I believe you have the Tokina 11-16mm as well, did you find that it would vignette with this filter on? Or are you using it with a different lens?