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ND filters

Anybody here have any experience with ND filters and how one should go about purchasing them if there are capital constraints.

Many thanks
Aveek
 
Anybody here have any experience with ND filters

Well, sure. If you operate a camera, they are a very useful tool. They come in different levels of intensity, and you can also get them as a gradated filter (very useful for darkening a bright sky, while leaving the non-sky half undarkened). It is common to buy them as a set, in varying strengths.


how one should go about purchasing them if there are capital constraints.

What do you mean by "capital constraints"? Is that code-speak for "I am broke?" ;)

You can buy super-cheap ND filters on Ebay. They are pretty terrible, but better than nothing. I bought a no-brand set of 3 for $15 - gives everything a greenish tint, and are made of cheap plastic. I would not recommend them... but if that's your budget, then there you go.

Tiffen makes decent filters for a reasonable price. Maybe shop around for some of those? There are better (and far more expensive) brands, but Tiffen is good bang for the buck.
 
Anybody here have any experience with ND filters and how one should go about purchasing them if there are capital constraints.

Many thanks
Aveek

I have 3 Fader Mark II ND variable filters**, on 16mm and 85mm Rokinon's, and a 14-40mm zoom. Love 'em, this brand is highly-rated, and haven't seen any problems in footage color, focus, etc. (Note that I'm not a cinematographer.) They're not cheap but provide lots of aperture/depth of field possibilities for my purposes.

**The variable density versions are made of two pieces (one rotates), so you need to be careful of location shooting in high dust, sand, dirt, etc.

-kjones
 
Thanks for the answers. :)

I didn't ask my question correctly. I already own a variable ND filter I paid a 180 bucks for. I like it. I like using it. I'm not asking for an explanation on ND filters. The question I'm trying to ask is this:

- I use two cameras in my shoots. Therefore I am reluctant to use variable ND filters as I feel there may be calibration issues between the two cameras.
- Therefore I wanted to buy fixed NDs
- So I was wondering, without breaking the bank, what's a good way to buy fixed NDs. Should I buy ND2, ND4, ND8... and higher. Also, if I buy ones that are not too expensive, then I probably don't want to stack them, because of quality loss, and if so, what should I buy?

If anybody uses them for outside shoots a lot, ie, fixed NDs, please share your experience in the pros and cons of using them, stacking them, etc.
 
I use the fixed Hoyas and get good results. I personally think this is one thing NOT to go Cheinese cheap ebay on as it directly impacts image quality. They're great for allowing shallow DOF shots.

Outside, I use them 90% of the time. More or less a permanent thing. I don't like shutting down the lens in bright light and so the ND helps keep the lens in the sweet spot for exposure.

I wouldn't stack them. Maybe it's okay, but I don't have enough time to run a test to see what results stacking creates.

ND4 is my normal.
 
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