Need help on choosing a Full ND Filter.

Hi guys,

I Need help on choosing a Full ND Filter (8 to 10 stops). Love to listen your opinion, any review article, brands (b&w, hoya, singh ray) especially regarding quality of the glass and color cast.
I saw an Hoya ND 400 (8stops), anyone have used this filter? Any feedback?

Thanks,

Pedro.

I have a Hoya multi-coated 4 stop. It seems well made and I haven't had any problems with it from color casting or quality loss. It's a bit tough to get really clean, but I think most multi-coated filters are. There are some newer coatings out there now that are supposed to be better, but I haven't heard much about them.

So I haven't owned any of the other higher end brands, but I've been very happy with Hoya.

I use the Singh-Ray Vari-ND. No color cast. Variable from 2 to 8 stops. http://www.singh-ray.com/varind.html

I have a10 stop B+W. Optically it is very good, as are all B+W products, IMO. Very solid build. It does produce a bit of magenta cast to photos, but I think that it has more to do with the fact that it is so dark, the camera can't set a WB accurately. Its easily fixed if you shoot RAW. 10 stops has quite an effect on exposure times. In bright mid day light, it is easy to get exposures in the 1-2 minute range at middle range apertures of f/10 to f/18. The biggest drawback is that you can't see through the viewfinder with the filter attached. its completely black. My meathod is to compose and shoot a scene with no filter, getting the optimum exposure, attatch the filter, then calculate the exposure difference and shoot again. It is a bit of a tedious process, but i kind of enjoy the slow, methodical mindset it puts me in. I hope this helps. I could post a link to some landscape pics using the 10stop if you are interested.

Kelly,
How is Vari-ND in wide angle. Does it vignet a lot? How slim is the filter (mm/inch)?

Aaron,
Yes I'm interested in saw some photos.


Any more feedback would be apreciated, especially if anyone have the Hoya ND400 (8 stops)

Pedro - One correction Pedro...the one I have is only two stops. I confused myself because Hoya calls it an "ND4". Sorry about that. In Hoya terminology, ND4 is 2 stops, ND8 is 3 stops. I don't know why they don't call an 8 stop filer ND256 - which would follow the same pattern.

I would have to disagree on the Vari ND. I get really bad results, blotchy spots. You might ask if I'm using past the maximum setting. No. It still doesn't work. It might be the large image sensor combined w/ the wide angle(17mm). My guess it works better w/ small sensors not used on wide angle lenses. So with that being said would like to buy mine ? Now a days with good iso low noise levels you could probably do better with a 10 stop and a 4 or 5 to deal with the range you might run into. The 10 comes in handy in summer when light is it's brightest. Here is a link to one that had to be FIXED IN PHOTOSHOP. Really didn't like having to do that. http://sieren.smugmug.com/gallery/913154_HETVj/1/366242826_cjiHd/Medium

I should really show the before shot. There is still a noticable cast and lumince in the upper right.

I have B&W ND filters for 0.3, 0.6, 0.9,and 1.8 (1 stop, 2 stop, 3 stop, and 6 stop). I take them wherever I go. Midday shot using a Canon20D and a 17-40L @40mm, stacked 1.8 & 0.9 ND filters, f/22, 15 sec., ISO200