Personal View site logo
Make sure to join PV on Telegram or Facebook! Perfect to keep up with community on your smartphone.
Please, support PV!
It allows to keep PV going, with more focus towards AI, but keeping be one of the few truly independent places.
  • 257 Replies sorted by
  • has anyone used the marumi non-vari ND's? thinking about getting a 77mm ND8.

  • I'm still debating on which Vari ND to get? Can anyone share any insight or even a comparison on the pros and cons between these filters?

    77mm Vari ND Filter - Light Craft Fader ND Mark II or Marumi DHG Digital Variable ND ND2-ND400 or Genus ND Fader or Tiffen Vari ND?

    Thanks

  • @csyny i have 2 Maruni fixed nd filters - no color cast, uniform. Good quality. Www.filterconnection.com good supplier.

  • I used cheap Tiffen ND 0.6 filters for my old HV30, a 77mm "Polaroid" vari-ND that maxed out at "400x" (actually a little less if you wanted it to work right) and a Hoya 77mm 9 stop ND (not vari). All were screw in.

    It should come as no surprise that I had the best experience with the Hoya (didn`t vignette my EF-S 10-22mm which the Polaroid vari-ND did) and I loved using it for timelapse photography. A little strong for video (takes what would be 1/8000 second and makes it require 1/30 at the same settings) but the image quality has been noticeably better than the others, even while being higher strength.

  • @thepalalias after reading this thread i think about buying a marumi + 3 step up rings but since i never used a filter i don't know what size i should buy in order to work good and not get vignetting on these 3 lenses :

    Panasonic 14-42mm (52) Panasonic 20mm (46) Olympus 45mm (37)

    I found these on ebay i think they are not fake http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=Marumi+ND2-ND400&_sacat=0

    Will this one the 58mm be good for my needs? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Marumi-58mm-DHG-Vari-Gray-Grey-Neutral-Density-ND-ND2-ND400-Fader-Filter-/230720073095?pt=Camera_Filters&hash=item35b7fced87#ht_1670wt_1165

    Thanks in advance

  • sorry I did not read this before:

    Jow to order Heliopan Vari filter from a german site http://www.fotomayr.de

    I don't know the german site, and I don't know how credible the ordering process is.

    I know Fotomayr for many year since I was running my own E-6 film lab. Over all these years they were reliable and had a excellent service. I bought 2 Heliopan ND faders last year from there.

  • @thepalalias thanks for the heads up on the hoya 9 stop. Like shooting through a brick, eh! It should be fun to try some mnotion things wiht the nokton 17 I just dug out my la 7200, (forgot I had one). Works well with the 17 voight. I wonder if an nd will work behind the adapter? Probably not. btw Still haven't tried that behind lens diffuser net... Have yet to try a fader ND

  • @Swiss_Boy @bheath Okay, just a quick response to you guys from my phone before I grab the laptop and head for the nearest Wi-Fi.

    @Swiss_Boy Larger filters can be used on a wider variety of threads, so functionality wise it makes sense to get the largest you can afford. Of course the larger they are, the more expensive they get. My largest lenses use a 77mm thread so I tend to buy filters that size and use step-up rings for the rest. If you use a step-up ring with a larger filter, you also decrease the chance of vignetteting. Ofr instance, when I use a 52 to 77mm step up ring, I can fit 4 77mm contrast filters onto the lens without signs of vignetting on the Gh2 in standard 24H video mode. If I put 2 of the same filters on another lens on a 1.6x crop body, I can already see vignetting. It is not a scientific experiment (too many uncotrolled variables, like the lenses) but it gives you an idea of the potential.

    @Bheath It is a great filter. I shot the partial eclipse with it using a Canon 100-400mm L series. Gorgeous.

  • I use the 77mm Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo... Outdoors in daylight with most 8 bit digital low dynamic range cameras, a polairzer is a must, and this filter has both a vari-nd filter as well as another circular polarizer built in, to bring back those sky highlights and cut down on reflections. no color shifts or softness. yes its expensive but it really does justify the cost. I will post some samples that I shot recently.

    Best Part is that it does NOT vignette on my Tokina 11-16mm lens at all. which was my biggest concern when purchasing it.

  • I'm using a Genus ND and don't have any issues. Color and IQ are good.

    All my filters are 77mm and do have issues with the step up adapters on faders. For some reason they all get stuck on the filter at some point and are impossible to remove without destroying the ring. (Yes, I have filter wrenches.)

  • Is there any indication that Variable ND or Pola filters interfere with the GH2 autofocus system?

  • @cp_from_oz

    They do not interfere with AF system of mirrorless cameras using contrast AF, like all Panasonic cameras. With DSLR you can have linear polarizers affecting AF, yep.

  • Very interesting review http://www.benjaminmoritz.com/2011/03/1074 of the genus and sing ray. In the end I think that for narrative work better go with some traditional ND, even the sing ray is not that good.

    I am thinking about this set http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/729107-REG/Tiffen_W77INDNDKT_77mm_Indie_Neutral_Density.html that shane hulburt reviewed to be very very good. They might not be as practical as vari nd but in the end you are not going to loose sharpness, have vignetting, color shift and cross type banding that most if not all exhibit at least one of these problems.

  • @danyyyel

    Buy the Tiffen. Thats's the best! I've had no problems with that set, at all, ...even stacked high to get minimum light reduction.

  • The reason I (and many others) use stacked ND filters is cut the amount of light entering the sensor ...as to be able to use larger apertures in stronger light.

    Traditional ND filters have IR blocking included in each filter ...and the best of these cut 99% of the IR, 25% of the near-IR, and 12% of the red spectrum. Stacking 3 of these filters, cuts 100% of the IR, 75% of the near-IR, and 36% of the red spectrums.

    No IR filtration can be exactly linear. In this example, losing 36% of your red spectrum is what results in Muddy images.

    Tiffen has developed a line of ND filters (mentioned by @danyyel) especially for indie and budget film makers. As Indies commonly use stacking of ND filters to decrease depth of field with dslr cameras, the Indie line also includes several ultra-high density ND filters, as well.

    I stay with the Tiffen Indie filter line ...because pundit or promoter of vari-ND filters ...muddy images cannot be corrected in post.

  • @bubba Not to nitpick, but stacking 3 traditional ND filters cuts 99.999% of IR, 57.8125% of near-IR, and 31.8528% of the red spectrum.

    The math goes like this, taking near-IR as an example: 100%-[(100%-25%)^3], or 1 - .75^3.

    Of course this is still only an approximation using somewhat-arbitrarily designated categories, but it is more accurate than adding percentages.

  • @Sangye

    HaHa! Thanks!

  • @bubba thanks, in fact I was going to ask the question if it was ok to stack them to be able to have more ND.

  • @danyyyel

    Yep! ...3 is about my limit, especially now that you can get the higher numbers in Tiffen (Indie) ND filters.

    I commonly use 1 with IR, or 85ND, or Mixed, etc and the rest just plain (no IR) Indie filters.

  • I have a 62mm Heliopan Vario ND with a step down adapter to 46mm (to fit the 25mm and 14mm primes). Purpose is for filming snowsports (mostly snowmobiling) where the snow can be "blindingly bright". I'm happy with it, but I only make home movies and have nothing to judge it against.

    gh2 25 heliopan A.jpg
    3264 x 2448 - 2M
    gh2 25 heliopan C.jpg
    3264 x 2448 - 2M
  • @skyak That's the reason I don't dog Vario ND filters, altogether. They are really good to affect attenuation of snow glare!

    They are bad, however, for use in creative effects.

  • All Marumi filters are good quality, very respectable brand in Japan. I use their ND's exclusively stacked when needed, not tried their Vari-ND though, but would be surprised if it didn't perform as expected.

  • I have the tiffen vari-ND, and it works great. One issue I have is there's no front thread for a lens hood.