# Screw-in variable ND filters



## lilmsmaggie (Apr 22, 2013)

This past weekend, I met up with my nephew for breakfast. Afterwards, we decided to look at circular screw-in ND filters and prices. There are only two brick n’ mortar camera stores in the area. Neither had a filter in 77mm less than $380. The first of the two stores had the Heliopan variable ND in 77mm at $380 before tax and the second store had no ND filters of any type in 77mm size. The first store mentioned that they had placed an order for the Tiffen variable ND. BTW – the Tiffen in 77mm is half the price of the Heliopan.

Later that day, I did a google search and came across this review:

http://www.learningdslrvideo.com/variable-nd-filter-shootout


Seems the Tiffen performed better than its more expensive rivals (Singh-Ray, Heliopan andLightcraft).

I realize for flexibility, lens compatibility, etc. a filter system (adapter, holder and filters) such as Lee or Cokin are probably preferred especially if one needs or plans on incorporating a Grad ND but one’s application and/or pocketbook generally dictates the choice, especially if buying into a system can’t be justified.

Anyway, anybody out there using one of these circular screw-in types? Given the choice, would you change to one of the rectangular systems or are you happy with your screw-in type ND or variable ND filter?


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## J.R. (Apr 22, 2013)

I switched to the Lee filter holder system and couldn't be happier. All I need now is an adapter for the lenses I have and the same filters work with every lens I have. 

I just bought the 24-70 II and have the 82mm adapter from Lee on order for $60, way less than what I would have to pay for ND and the CPL for the 82mm screw-in filters. 

I still have my screw in filters though, but I don't think that other than the B+W UV filters (for weather sealing), I will buy any more filters.


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## lilmsmaggie (Apr 22, 2013)

I understand where you're coming from but the price of entry for a filter system is usually high. With Lee for example, their digital starter set is around $320 (includes 2 filters, holder, pouch and cleaning cloth). By the time you're done, you will have exceed that amount by about $200. Is it a much better system - sure but a wee bit expensive ;D. 



J.R. said:


> I switched to the Lee filter holder system and couldn't be happier. All I need now is an adapter for the lenses I have and the same filters work with every lens I have.


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## J.R. (Apr 22, 2013)

lilmsmaggie said:


> I understand where you're coming from but the price of entry for a filter system is usually high. With Lee for example, their digital starter set is around $320 (includes 2 filters, holder, pouch and cleaning cloth). By the time you're done, you will have exceed that amount by about $200. Is it a much better system - sure but a wee bit expensive ;D.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



It is a bit on the expensive side initially, but if you plan to buy several lenses you would be better served with the filter holder systems. Personally, my lenses have filter sizes of 58, 67, 72, 77 and 82. To buy the various NDs and CPLs would have cost me more money.


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 22, 2013)

With what lenses will you be using the ND filter? If you're shooting wider than 24mm (on FF), you'll get a 'Maltese cross' artifact (a black 'X' through the scene) that gets worse the wider the AoV and the darker you set the variND (effect derives from uneven polarization at wide angles, since a variND is stacked polarizers). 

I use a 10-stop and a 3-stop ND, as needed - I've avoided a variND for the above reason. I also have the Lee holder for grad NDs.


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## lilmsmaggie (Apr 22, 2013)

J.R. said:


> It is a bit on the expensive side initially, but if you plan to buy several lenses you would be better served with the filter holder systems. Personally, my lenses have filter sizes of 58, 67, 72, 77 and 82. To buy the various NDs and CPLs would have cost me more money.



You're right. There's always a tradeoff ;D At the moment, I have sizes ranging from 58 - 77, so I here ya.




neuroanatomist said:


> With what lenses will you be using the ND filter? If you're shooting wider than 24mm (on FF), you'll get a 'Maltese cross' artifact (a black 'X' through the scene) that gets worse the wider the AoV and the darker you set the variND (effect derives from uneven polarization at wide angles, since a variND is stacked polarizers).
> 
> I use a 10-stop and a 3-stop ND, as needed - I've avoided a variND for the above reason. I also have the Lee holder for grad NDs.



At the moment 24mm, is my widest (24-105) I think the guy in the review and one other I came across mentions the cross artifact with variND.


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## CanonLITA (Jul 23, 2013)

J.R. said:


> It is a bit on the expensive side initially, but if you plan to buy several lenses you would be better served with the filter holder systems. Personally, my lenses have filter sizes of 58, 67, 72, 77 and 82. To buy the various NDs and CPLs would have cost me more money.



What about step-up/step-down rings. Are they any good?



neuroanatomist said:


> I use a 10-stop and a 3-stop ND, as needed.



I would also avoid the variND route. Is 10-stop and 3-stop a flexible kit or would you suggest different combination. BTW, how the B+W labeling (0.3, 0.6..) translates into stops?


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## neuroanatomist (Jul 23, 2013)

CanonLITA said:


> What about step-up/step-down rings. Are they any good?



They work fine. They do generally preclude the use of the dedicated lens hood (there are some exceptions, e.g. you can use a 77mm filter with a 72→77mm step up ring on the 85L II and still use the hood).

I have both 77mm and 82mm filters, with step-up rings from 67mm and 72mm (I also have a 72mm 3-stop ND for using the 'holy trinity' of fast primes for daylight portraits).



CanonLITA said:


> I would also avoid the variND route. Is 10-stop and 3-stop a flexible kit or would you suggest different combination. BTW, how the B+W labeling (0.3, 0.6..) translates into stops?



I find that with the 3-stop and 10-stop filters, and combining the 3-stop with a CPL, I have plenty of flexibility. If the filter is a stop or two too dark, there's no real penalty from bumping the ISO up to 200 or 400.

B+W uses optical density for their naming scheme. 0.3 = 2x = 1 stop, 0.9 = 8x = 3 stops, etc.


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## Drizzt321 (Jul 23, 2013)

CanonLITA said:


> J.R. said:
> 
> 
> > It is a bit on the expensive side initially, but if you plan to buy several lenses you would be better served with the filter holder systems. Personally, my lenses have filter sizes of 58, 67, 72, 77 and 82. To buy the various NDs and CPLs would have cost me more money.
> ...



Be cautious with step-up rings. Make sure you get brass, as that tends to be easier to separate from the filter. They can sometimes get a little stuck and hard to get apart.


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## neuroanatomist (Jul 23, 2013)

Drizzt321 said:


> Be cautious with step-up rings. Make sure you get brass, as that tends to be easier to separate from the filter. They can sometimes get a little stuck and hard to get apart.



Yep. Mine are B+W and made of brass. They don't have a 67mm to 82mm, so I actually use 67→77mm plus 77→82mm when needed (if I don't want to carry both 77mm and 82mm filters).

Even with brass rings, bring along a set of filter wrenches. I just keep a set in each of my photo backpacks.


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## a-hopps (Jul 23, 2013)

I love the LEE system. I have the foundation kit and The Wide Angle Hood filter holder. I just ordered and 82mm adapter since it was the largest size I felt I would need. I then purchased inexpensive step up rings for the various thread sizes. This way I didn't have to buy several LEE adapters.


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## Drizzt321 (Jul 23, 2013)

neuroanatomist said:


> Drizzt321 said:
> 
> 
> > Be cautious with step-up rings. Make sure you get brass, as that tends to be easier to separate from the filter. They can sometimes get a little stuck and hard to get apart.
> ...



Speaking of filter wrenches, what's some good ones to get? I got a set of cheap plastic ones, but those didn't seem to really work all that well for me :\


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## neuroanatomist (Jul 23, 2013)

The $5 plastic ones have worked for me. I use the Polaroid set from Adorama, it goes to 82mm whereas others I see are for up to 77mm.


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## Drizzt321 (Jul 23, 2013)

neuroanatomist said:


> The $5 plastic ones have worked for me. I use the Polaroid set from Adorama, it goes to 82mm whereas others I see are for up to 77mm.



Hmm...maybe I just tightened it down too much, and thus they got really stuck. I'm wondering if I got a aluminum step-up ring... well, never going to happen again, I'm going with brass or Lee/Cokin system from here on out.


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## neuroanatomist (Jul 23, 2013)

Drizzt321 said:


> neuroanatomist said:
> 
> 
> > The $5 plastic ones have worked for me. I use the Polaroid set from Adorama, it goes to 82mm whereas others I see are for up to 77mm.
> ...



Aluminum has a higher coefficient of thermal expansion, so an aluminum ring is more likely to get stuck than brass. Also, there's usually no need to tighten the stack down completely. If you leave it just a little loose, there's very little chance anything will get stuck.


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## bycostello (Jul 30, 2013)

http://www.adorama.com/alc/0014198/article/MeetThe-Only-Neutral-Density-Filter-Youll-Ever-Need

check this out.... i use a variable on my fuji... recommend a lot...


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## tetten (Jul 30, 2013)

I own a Vari-ND from Singh-Ray as well as a Lee Filter set. I mostly shoot landscapes and have only used my Vari-ND 2 or 3 times. The vignetting and the "X" as was already mentioned will all but kill most landscape use with a wide angle lens. They are starting to make "thin" versions of these filters but just going off of Singh-Ray's website the normal mount is 14.1mm and the thin is 10.5mm. This may help a small amount but you are still going to have a vignetting and the horrible "X" that will appear across your photos. The "X" mentioned can be avoided with careful positioning, but I found that even when shots appeared on the camera's LCD to not have the "X", when I imported them into Lightroom and looked at them on a 24" monitor the "X" really popped out. The best best if you want to do ultra long exposures is just suck it up/save up the money and get a square filter for the Lee system. I didn't want to wait for the Lee Big stopper so I picked up the Hitech 2nd gen version and it produces acceptable results as long as you set it up properly. (Lined up so the foam stops light leakage through the sides of the filter and blocking light from getting in the viewfinder) 

On Singh-Ray's website they use waterfalls as an example of a good time to use a Vari-ND, however the folly of this example lies in the fact that waterfalls are best shot in times when skies are overcast or before the sun is hitting the waterfall on a clear day. Under these circumstances a simple polarizer should provide a long enough shutter length to blur the water while at the same time reducing reflections/boosting saturations.

Also, whatever you do , do NOT purchase a screw on high density non-variable ND filter, having to screw on and screw off the filter to make compositions of a scene is the last thing you want to do when working a location. This is just another good reason to save up/suck it up and get a filter system so you can easily install/remove filters.


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## AcutancePhotography (Jul 31, 2013)

I too was undecided on whether to go with one variable ND filter or a set of fixed filters. I ultimately decided on the Marumi Variable ND filter in 77mm.

Used it the other weekend to take some shots of a nice fountain. I found it easy to use and liked the image quality. A friend of mine recommended Marumi and I think it was a good recommendation.


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