# Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L Accepts Rear Gelatin Filter



## Canon Rumors Guy (Feb 27, 2015)

```
Here’s a feature I didn’t know existed on the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L, maybe I’m the only one that didn’t know, this is from the lens manual. The EF 17-40mm f/4L, EF 8-15 f/4L fisheye and a few others also have this feature, does anyone actually use it?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/1124rearfilter.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-18948" src="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/1124rearfilter-459x575.jpg" alt="1124rearfilter" width="459" height="575" /></a></p>
<p><em>thanks <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinAndrewFalk" target="_blank">@KevinAndrewFaulk</a></em></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>
```


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## PhotographyFirst (Feb 27, 2015)

This is pretty useless for landscapes unless you want to NOT shoot at 11mm?

I really can't see someone taking their lens off when shooting out on the beach to put on a rear filter, thus exposing the lens and body to sea mist and sand. 

I don't know anyone who uses the rear filter on the 17-40. 

The rear filter only makes sense on fast portrait lenses where you know the filter needs to be on there all day long. 

I really feel like Canon should have just made a 14-24 f2.8 lens that was better in every way to the Nikon. They got too ambitious with this lens.


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## bereninga (Feb 27, 2015)

That's a pretty crappy caveat. I'd rather stick to some sort of filter on the front of the lens.


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## Canon Rumors Guy (Feb 27, 2015)

PhotographyFirst said:


> This is pretty useless for landscapes unless you want to NOT shoot at 11mm?
> 
> I really can't see someone taking their lens off when shooting out on the beach to put on a rear filter, thus exposing the lens and body to sea mist and sand.
> 
> ...



I enjoy learning new things, i didn't realize the 17-40 had it. To include it on a new lens, must mean there is a segment of the marketplace that does utilize the filter slot.


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## Canon Rumors Guy (Feb 27, 2015)

bereninga said:


> That's a pretty crappy caveat. I'd rather stick to some sort of filter on the front of the lens.



I can only see ND and color correction being used.


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## mrzero (Feb 27, 2015)

The 8-15mm fisheye zoom also has one.


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## PhotographyFirst (Feb 27, 2015)

Canon Rumors said:


> PhotographyFirst said:
> 
> 
> > This is pretty useless for landscapes unless you want to NOT shoot at 11mm?
> ...


Since this lens is already so huge and heavy, I wonder if it would have been possible to have a drop-in filter system for it. That would have been AWESOME! You could use variable ND filters and polarizing fitlers.


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## candc (Feb 27, 2015)

the trusty 15mm fisheye also has that feature but i have never used it. maybe there is some light pollution filter for astrophotography that would be useful?


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## rs (Feb 27, 2015)

PhotographyFirst said:


> Since this lens is already so huge and heavy, I wonder if it would have been possible to have a drop-in filter system for it. That would have been AWESOME! You could use variable ND filters and polarizing fitlers.


11mm focal length on a body with a 44mm flange distance requires a pretty heavy duty retrofocus design. Enlarging that BF distance to the levels required for a drop in filter as found in the super teles would be a step too far - weight, size and possibly optical quality would all suffer. Super teles due to their focal length alone have a very substantial BF which has compromise free space for a drop in filter together with space to accommodate a TC.


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## Khufu (Feb 27, 2015)

For cut-to-size gelatin filters; like used to filter pre-LED theatre lighting? Is that stuff really 50-megapixel resolving quality? I genuinely don't know!

I've got an old Tokina 500mm mirror lens that uses screw on filters at the back, they're like ~20mm and came with 4 or 5 of them - Canon never liked the idea of them then?..


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## JonAustin (Feb 27, 2015)

I owned a 17-40 for 11 years, and never knew it had a rear filter slot. (Not that I would have ever used it.) But then, who reads lens manuals? :-\


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## old-pr-pix (Feb 28, 2015)

Khufu said:


> For cut-to-size gelatin filters; like used to filter pre-LED theatre lighting? Is that stuff really 50-megapixel resolving quality? I genuinely don't know!



No, not spotlight gels. The right gelatin filters are Kodak Wratten series. They are often used for scientific purposes as much as photographic. There are several very specialized versions available. Here's a link to their site: http://motion.kodak.com/motion/Products/Lab_And_Post_Production/Kodak_Filters/wrattten2.htm


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## cogden (Feb 28, 2015)

Yes, and so does the 14mm. The trouble is finding 

1. the gel that is optically up to the task (eg, not used on lights like Rosco & Norman). BH, Hunts, Amazon, etc. have been out of stock and the word is that Tiffen may have bought the "Kodak" Wratten, but "the" technical supoprt guy at Tiffen who might know something has apparently been on the road the last three weeks.

2. at $73 a sheet, they are very expensive AND the wrinkle/get less than optically pure if you look at them - difficult to keep in pristine shooting landscapes. It's $73 a sheet, that can be cut into smaller pieces. My 14mm is 3.2cm = 1.26 inches so might get 4 out of a 3x3” gel(?)

3. a template to cut the little pieces of gold to fit (they have diagonal cut corners) -- I looked and looked and could not find and easy-cut template (and haven't had time to trial and error it).

BTW, apparently you can stack multiple (up to 3?) pieces of film to multiply the darkening ND affect.

It'll be interesting to see their practicality. 

PS. I spoke with Fotodiox 2 weeks ago and they will be updating their Wonderpana 'round about may to support the 11-24mm.


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## mackguyver (Feb 28, 2015)

I purchased the Kodak Wratten 2 (ND 3.0) film and it's sitting on my shelf waiting for my lens to arrive (which will be Monday). I saw the note in the manual this morning and was disappointed it won't work at 11mm. I'll let you guys know how it works out. I doubt I'll be able to see enough to focus with it in place, but we'll see if LiveView works in bright light.

Here's a guy that uses it with his 14mm f/2.8:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eric5dmark2/tags/wratten/


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## privatebydesign (Feb 28, 2015)

I have used the rear slot with regular Rosco gels and the results were fine, the Cinegel book has ND filters in it, the Roscolux book doesn't.

I also emailed Fotodiox and they wrote me that there would be a Wonderpana 11-24 solution available within two months.


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## cogden (Feb 28, 2015)

Thanks MackGyver - if you create a gel filter cutting template and feel like posting it, it could save me (and others) time going trial and error...


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## mackguyver (Feb 28, 2015)

cogden said:


> Thanks MackGyver - if you create a gel filter cutting template and feel like posting it, it could save me (and others) time going trial and error...


Will do


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## Otara (Feb 28, 2015)

Can be useful for underwater photography using natural light, as front mount filterr systems aren't very useful.


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## sanj (Feb 28, 2015)

Gelatin filters give me the creeps. I rather use them just in front of lights….


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## gmon750 (Feb 28, 2015)

I'm really surprised at the ignorance being displayed here regarding the 8-15mm fisheye lens, which I happen to own.

First off, one cannot put a filter on the front of the lens because as the name implies, the lens' hemispherical design (i.e. it's a dome front) pretty much rules out any possibility of using a screw-on filter.

Second, and most important (again for me) is this lens is very popular within the diving community. I am an avid underwater photographer and the ability to have a formal place to insert a filter to color-correct for the blue/green water is a winner in my book. Other divers simply tape the filter to the rear of the lens if a placeholder does not exist. In addition, depending on the underwater housing used, there may literally be no space at the front of the housing for those extra millimeters that a screw-on filter would take. I don't think Canon had us divers in their thinking anyways, but it worked to our advantage.

Canon is giving folks a way of using a filter on a lens that is not capable of having a filter placed on the front. Does that clear things up people?


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## keithcooper (Feb 28, 2015)

The rear element barely touches any gel filter at 11mm

Image from:
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/cameras/lenses/ef_11-24_f4l.html

It's a lens like this that makes me glad I hardly ever use filters ;-)


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## sulla (Feb 28, 2015)

Yea, from the image above I do not see problems in using filters even at 11mm.
The rear lens seems not to crash into the filter.
I wonder whether Canon is over-cautious with this warning?

(joke: The warning might be only in the US-manual and not in European manuals...)


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## 49616E (Mar 1, 2015)

I wonder if they intended the warning to be in regards to when installing the filter to have the lens not be in the 11mm position. Perhaps there could be a translational issue


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## GMCPhotographics (Mar 4, 2015)

keithcooper said:


> The rear element barely touches any gel filter at 11mm
> 
> Image from:
> http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/cameras/lenses/ef_11-24_f4l.html
> ...



Hi Keith, it looks like an amazing lens...although certainly a niche...like my 8-15mm fishy and my TSe 17L!
I'm wondering what the diameter of the lens hood is? It'll be the first stop to give us an idea if the Wonderpanner 145mm filters will be wide enough to cover the objective lens. I'm also guessing that it'll be the first thing we butcher to make a temporary filter holder (like I did with the Sigam 12-24 and TS-e 17L).


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## Jack Douglas (Mar 6, 2015)

Manual says 108 mm but how would that work with the petal hood? I'm not familiar with these filter holders. I've designed some pretty unique contraptions so would be wondering if this could be another project. 

Jack


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## AvTvM (Jun 23, 2017)

i am aware this is a very old thread. However, today I came across the news, that Irix [swiss based lens maker] will soon be offering ND gelatin filters - sized 29x29mm and with pre-cut corners to match the rear filter holders on Irix 15mm f/2.4 and Irix 11mm f/4 lenses. 

Of special interest is the low price: € 8,45 incl. tax for a complete set of ND4, ND8, ND 16 - 5 pieces each 

https://www.ephotozine.com/article/irix-launch-edge-gelatin-filter-set--31087

I was wondering, whether these filters may also fit into Canon EF 11-24 [and/or 17-40, 8-15] rear filter holders ... does anyone have dimensions (mm) of Canon gelatin holders on said lenses? 


EDIT: found the info. Apparently Canon EF lenses with rear gelatin filter holder are 31mm. So looks like the Irix ND filters are just a bit too small. 
http://www.p4pictures.com/2015/03/how-to-use-a-gel-filter-on-canon-wide-angle-lenses/


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## Jack Douglas (Jun 23, 2017)

That doesn't sound like much - ran for my vernier calipers and couldn't find them - anyone else??

Jack


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## Vossie (Aug 15, 2017)

I recently got the 11-24 and bought a set of polyester 100x100mm gelatin filters from Lee (http://www.leefilters.com/index.php/camera-directory/camera-dir-list/category/polyester-neutral-density-standards). The price was very reasonably (I paid EUR 54 for a set of 3 (ND 0.3 / 0.6 / 0.9).

The filters come qith an easy to remove "mounting ring". It was quite easy to cut out 31x31mm sections and use them in the rear filter holder. 

I BTW use an old CF card case to keep them in my bag (wrapped inside some lens cleaning paper).


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## Jack Douglas (Aug 15, 2017)

Vossie said:


> I recently got the 11-24 and bought a set of polyester 100x100mm gelatin filters from Lee (http://www.leefilters.com/index.php/camera-directory/camera-dir-list/category/polyester-neutral-density-standards). The price was very reasonably (I paid EUR 54 for a set of 3 (ND 0.3 / 0.6 / 0.9).
> 
> The filters come qith an easy to remove "mounting ring". It was quite easy to cut out 31x31mm sections and use them in the rear filter holder.
> 
> I BTW use an old CF card case to keep them in my bag (wrapped inside some lens cleaning paper).



Thanks for sharing this! How about some sample shots in due course.

Jack


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## Vossie (Aug 15, 2017)

> Thanks for sharing this! How about some sample shots in due course.
> 
> Jack



Hi Jack, I posted a first one in this thread: http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=24975.msg681632#msg681632 and will add some more to that same thread later on.

Cheers, Vossie


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