06Jul Fader ND filters
Picture taken by Eric 5D Mark II
I received a small amount of friendly harassment the other day from another photographer about using cheap lens filters. I’ve been using lower price Polaroid Fader ND filters for awhile now and haven’t had many problems. The Polaroid filters general run about $30 to $45 on amazon and cause a small amount of vignetting, but overall I haven’t had a lot to complain about.
The point she was trying to make was that I have a very nice Canon 50mm f1.2 lens, but I’m putting a “junk peace of glass” in front of it. I don’t consider the Polaroid Fader ND filters to be “junk” but it is at the lower end of the food chain.
The conversation went on for quit awhile, before I was finally convinced. I placed an order for a 72mm Light Craft Workshop Fader ND II. The light Craft Fader ND is about 3 times the the price of Polaroid’s Fader ND. The question I have is, will the difference be that noticeable? Or is this another case of spending more money makes you feel like you have a better product?
Once the Light Craft shows up I’ll run a few tests to see how the two filters stack up. I’m guessing it wont be that noticeable in video mode, but it might be a different story when used for stills. Either way the looser will probably end up on ebay.
July 6th, 2011 at 8:35 pm
I have a Fader ND for my GH1, and it is like having an iris ring, albeit a sort of janky iris ring. I bought the Fader as a cheap alternative to the really expensive ones. I didn’t know there was an even cheaper Polaroid version so I will be awaiting your comparison. Still, if you have a DSLR primarily for shooting video, a variable nd filter is very handy for shooting in bright sunlight and still being able to keep your aperture wide open. I have been very happy with my Fader ND.
July 7th, 2011 at 10:55 am
A while ago I read some reviews about ND filters of different types and the problem with the cheaper ones is that they also create a shift in the color temperature. The filter is not completely neutral and dominant colors will appear because the transmittance is not equal for each wavelength.
July 7th, 2011 at 11:20 am
The biggest problem I’ve run into in color shift (as have many others) is caused by infrared light. The cheaper ND filters don’t have any compensation for IR, they only block visible light. The result is that the reflected IR from blacks and other colors gives you all kinds of odd results. You can usually fix this by stacking an IR filter under or over your ND. There is a long drawn out reason why the IR effects colors and what causes the problem in the sensor itself, but Its been awhile since I read the report.
July 10th, 2011 at 10:25 pm
I didn’t go with the poloroid, but i started with the fader ND. I found a singh ray vari ND ceap on craigslist and bought that too. it just came in so i haven’t tested it.
I’ll be waiting your review to see if there is any differnece. Or did i fall for marketing!
July 11th, 2011 at 11:14 pm
[…] Fader ND filters are nice to have, but if you want to buy one for each of your lenses it can add up quick. There are a few exceptions, for example the Canon 28mm f1.8, 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.8, and 100mm f2 all share 58mm filter sizes. But what if you start adding something like the Canon 35mm f1.4 with its large 72mm filter size to your collection? […]
July 17th, 2011 at 7:28 am
Having a variable ND would be the holy grail, but I tried the Lightcraft Fader ND II a while back and was disappointed with the cross-hatching that appears on wide-angle lens once you reach moderate ND’ness.
My understanding this is more a fundamental optics limitation of variable ND’s (other brands too), but since my usage would have been mostly wide angle, I ended up returning it – Lightcraft handled it well.
Real curious to hear your results (please do test the wide-angle in addition to your 50mm?) and how the vari-ND compares to the el-cheapo Panasonic ND’s, especially if you stack the later.
July 29th, 2011 at 5:56 am
I’m in the same situation, looking for the Light Craft 72mm Fader ND mark II, but a bit worried about the huge cross appearing in the image.. looking forward to the tests!!
July 24th, 2011 at 11:12 pm
[…] filter in use is the Cheap Polaroid Variable ND filter I’ve had for awhile. Sitting at the post office right now is my Light Craft Fader ND II […]