Neutral Density Filters Advice

[Phil Holland]

Let me preface this question by saying I did indeed do a search and I'm about to do a bunch of research on NDs.

If you have a moment, I'd like to know what ND filters you guys are using, preferring, loathing on your Red.

Color shift? Ghosting? IRND? Image Quality?

We all have to use them, but I'm curious what everybody else is using and am seeking your opinions. It would be nice to gather a lot of those thoughts here.

Currently I'm looking at the Tiffen IRND, which I think are the newest kids on the block in ND technology.

Thanks for the help.

[Steve Murray]

http://reduser.net/forum/showthread....rmatt-TruColor)

And one of the old threads so some info is a little out-of-date: http://reduser.net/forum/showthread....r-IR-Which-one

I have been using the Rosco TruColor IR on my R1 MX and have had good results but was very interested in Ryan's test results with the new Schneider's. If you have the money looks like the new Schneider Platinum filters are a good choice. I do not do much work that is so critical so I'm sticking with my Tiffen & Schneider ND's (.3 to 1.8) with the Rosco Trucolor for now.

[Phil Holland]

Thank you Steve. Well that's an incredibly nice and telling test. I do work where color is fairly important and each lens/filter combination will be profiled. I'll be taking a hard look at the Schneider Platinum filters.

[SeanBrown]

Ryan's New IR test here. http://www.ryanewalters.com/Videos/Tests/tests.html

[Tim Whitcomb]

Schenider NEW Platiunum's are the BEST for rental market and outperform most all... save panchros which cost 2x more and have senstive coatings that are more suitable for meticulous owner operators. (imho of course) and months of research.

also Toia has great advice... avoid STACKING ND's at all cost... that's where most of the problems come from. try to score the FULL sets from .3 to 1.8

[Josh Beadle]

Does anyone use the Singh-Ray Vari ND products? If not, why not?

http://www.singh-ray.com/varind.html

I use for still photos - works great. Are there issues with use on RED?

[Phil Holland]

Does anyone use the Singh-Ray Vari ND products? If not, why not?

http://www.singh-ray.com/varind.html

I use for still photos - works great. Are there issues with use on RED?

I can't recommend most Vari-ND filters I've seen on the market. Even on stills with deep aperture. Especially when shooting past 85mm. You lose sharpness pretty damn quickly at longer lengths. It's hard to see at 50mm and below, but it's still doing it's damage.

A very easy test to show the damage to the image detail is to grab a 200mm prime and shoot something far away with detail with and without the filter. Try wide open and all the way stopped down with both tests and you'll see the issue. Look at the image at 100% 1:1 pixel resolution. Every single one I've used and owned suffers from this.


IRND seems to be the real way to go. I'll be contacting Schneider next week. Although I don't know if I'll get a full set. Gotta think about practical usage. I don't think I've used a .3 on a shot in years, 1 stop is well within latitude on Red and I won't be stacking ever. .9 and 1.8 are likely going to be my first out of the gate.

[Danai Chutinaton]

also Toia has great advice... avoid STACKING ND's at all cost... that's where most of the problems come from. try to score the FULL sets from .3 to 1.8

Forgive my ignorance...what problems arise when you stack Schneider Platinum IRND's?

[Dave Blackham]

We use Formatt which are excelent no issues.

[Steve Murray]

I usually use a Pola so I find that I use the .6 the most and then .9 and 1.2. I've only used the 1.8 once in bright sun on a beach... Filmtools does not have these in stock BUT they do have a 10% off sale on this weekend + free shipping. I think you can order them now and they ship when the come in.