eBay 10 stop filter

I am in the similar boat to yourself, this doesnt seem to bad but it would be good to find anyone who actually as one or know whether they might by worth a punt
 
i think someone has to buy one and let everyone know what its really like to be honest, yeah sure enough i`ve got the B+W version but if i could have bought this for £40 then i wouldv`e done, yes it may be fake but it may still do the same job.
 
Hi,

On a similar theme, I have just bought 2 spare batts for my Canon 50D

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290441979768&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

They may be very cheap, but arrived on time, charge on my Canon charger & display on the camera.

I never leave them in the camera incase they leak but they seem to be "fit for purpose"

They last well & seem to do the job, I would only use them as spares for now, but as time goes on, do you think that certain extras are NOT worth the £££ that Canon etc. charge for them?
 
This is the thing, £40 cheap if its good and expensive if its not.

I may take the gamble if I do, I'll post up the results.
 
Keeping an eye on this thread to see the outcome. The other one I am considering is the Lightcraft 9 Stop filter as recommended to me by Peter10d.
The lightcraft is just under £60 so is in between this and the B&W.
 
Lee big stopper?.....but in short supply!!...excellent quality.
 
Haven't tested the cheaper option, potentially it may work, however may leave a strange colour cast????

However, there have been some pretty good results from people on here with a £2 bit of welding glass.
 
Also keeping an eye on this thread as I'm in the market for a 10 stop.

I had a look at the Lee, but have been hearing mixed reviews about dodgy colour casts and flare control that isn't quite as good as the B+W.

Also had a look at reviews for the HiTech one (which I think is about 40-45 quid), which has horrible flare issues if you're not careful.
 
PD_BARBS said:
This is the thing, £40 cheap if its good and expensive if its not.

I may take the gamble if I do, I'll post up the results.
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Thers no gamble from what I can see, buy one and try it, if its no good just send it back.
 
malla1962 said:
Thers no gamble from what I can see, buy one and try it, if its no good just send it back.
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You are right, just buy, try & if it's not up to much simply re-sell at a slightly less price than the original.
 
PD_BARBS said:
I have been thinking about getting a 10 stop filter for a while, but the B+W ones are hard to get and pricey.

I saw this one on eBay, does anyone know anything about them.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250653282592&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT


They are made by a company called Haidi Optics and are half the price, so maybe worth a punt.
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That looks interesting. But until somebody's tried one... could be great, could be rubbish. Camera Gear UK is a good and reliable supplier though. If you want to speak to them, go through the ordering process and just before you press the button there's a name and phone number comes up - very helpful peeps.

I think the Light Craft Workshop ND500 is the best ND currently. Better than the B+W which I sold, and much cheaper - £58 in 77mm only. Mine is about 8.5 stops (they all vary a bit) and very slightly bluish, but much more neutral than the B+W (which is quite orange) and it's multicoated. And it's in stock here http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photog...raft-workshop-77mm-nd500mc-filter-p-2927.html

I also found the Lee big stopper was good, also fractionally blue (and 10.5 stops) if you need square slot-in. It's glass, but not coated.
 
Why are the B&W filters so hard to get hold of now? I got mine a couple of years ago for £50 (the 77mm one) without any delay. Soon after the delays started happening and mention of B&W having issues with the filter production. That can't still be going on after all this time though!?

I was contemplating selling mine as I probably won't have a 77mm fit lens in the near future (and picking up a 67mm one instead, if I'm lucky...) however I think i'll be holding on to it and getting a step down filter instead so if I do change lenses again I have one that will actually fit almost any lens...:cuckoo:
 
If you change your mind Amp, you know where I am, cash waiting. ;)
 
I have the B+W Filter and highly recommend it (See my Glenridding Jetty shot in Landscapes).

I think if you do want to consider going for this filter off Ebay, it's probably worth a go. There's a lot of people here on TP that have used Welding glass and surely, the quality of that glass cannot be as good as a specifically created filter? Welding glass really is just to protect eyes and not provide excellent quality images.

Therefore, I would imagine getting this filter would yield better results than that of low grade welding glass (I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong).

With regards to the suddent decline in availability, I expect this is probably down to a massive boost in popularity for a very dark ND filter in recent years. the other alternative is stacking ND Filters but personally, I wouldn't recommend it and you'd probably spend more doing that anyway.
 
I think the Light Craft Workshop ND500 is the best ND currently. Better than the B+W which I sold, and much cheaper - £58 in 77mm only. Mine is about 8.5 stops (they all vary a bit) and very slightly bluish, but much more neutral than the B+W (which is quite orange) and it's multicoated. And it's in stock here http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photogr...er-p-2927.html

I also found the Lee big stopper was good, also fractionally blue (and 10.5 stops) if you need square slot-in. It's glass, but not coated.
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Thanks Richard, just gone for one of these ND500's :)
 
I have just purchased one, so I'll post up some results hopefully next weekend.

A mate of mine has the B+W 110, so I will borrow this and try and show a direct comparison.
 
vulcan2912 said:
Hi guys

Before people start jumping for alternatives at 8 stop etc you need to think about what you want to use the filter for.The difference between 8 and 10 stops is massive,especially if you want to use it in normal sunlight.

Cheers
Gary
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Thing is I've always found with mine that 10 stop can be a bit too thick for a lot of needs. Unless you're shooting at during the day (when images normally aren't that good) I always find i'm chasing the light so to speak at around dusky time. For this reason i'm contemplating getting a 6 stopper as well (don't know on availability).
 
Amp34 said:
Thing is I've always found with mine that 10 stop can be a bit too thick for a lot of needs. Unless you're shooting at during the day (when images normally aren't that good) I always find i'm chasing the light so to speak at around dusky time. For this reason i'm contemplating getting a 6 stopper as well (don't know on availability).
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I tend to agree with that. The ideal density you need varies a lot according to the light level, and also the effect you want - waterfalls only need low fractions of a second, waves need a few seconds, clouds up to a minute - depends on the wind!

In practise, you've got quite a lot of room for manoeuvre with f/number and ISO, but I also found ten stops was sometimes too much. For me, that's another factor in favour of the LightCraft ND500 (which I have found to be exactly two stops lighter than the B+W at 8.5). Others will find differently.

It's such a shame that those variable ND faders don't work :(
 
Interesting. Philip Bloom speaks quite highly of the variable ND filters - I think he actually gave 2 of them away with his 10 million hits giveaway a couple of weeks ago.

I wonder which brand he uses and if he's ever come across anything like this - I know he does some long exposure timelapse with an 11-16mm lens on full frame bodies, so perhaps! :)
 
The only other one I know of is the SinghRay, which is mega-expensive and that does it too. It's an effect of using cross polarisers. You get the same if you get two polarising filters and rotate them against one another. I think that if it could be made to work we'd all be using them :(
 
Well my 10 stop arrived during the week, so went out to take a test shot today. The conditions were not ideal by any shot. Very outcast and windy, so more test shots are required.

Anyway this is straight of camera a 4 minute exposure, so no obvious colour casts, but I will still like to do a comparison shot with the BW.

4739930398_ecb024b366.jpg


These are actually Chinese made imports, the quality looks okay, but then again I am no expert on optics. The verdict is still out until I can test in some better conditions, but will add them to the thread when I can.
 
Looks good so far. Filter is in my watch list but I will wait for your next update before I hit the Buy it now.
Thanks for taking the time to report back
 
Me too waiting for more feedback on this filter
 
I popped for one of these a couple of days ago - came today, and I've had a quick look at it. First test shot in the back garden looks promising - not completely neutral - maybe on the blue side rather than cokin magenta, but not too obtrusive, and should custom WB right out. No point in trying to assess IQ as it was a shot of my overgrown garden, which was pretty much all blowing all over in the high winds :lol:

It does however seem to be a bit over 10 stops... Weather changed for the wetter just after my first couple of shots so I went inside and did a little tethered shooting test with a white card. My initial estimate is that it's coming out at nearer to a 12-13 stop rather than 10, but i'll be doing further tests on it as soon as we get a bit more stable sunny day and much less wind.
 
PD_BARBS said:
Well my 10 stop arrived during the week, so went out to take a test shot today. The conditions were not ideal by any shot. Very outcast and windy, so more test shots are required.

Anyway this is straight of camera a 4 minute exposure, so no obvious colour casts, but I will still like to do a comparison shot with the BW.

4739930398_ecb024b366.jpg


These are actually Chinese made imports, the quality looks okay, but then again I am no expert on optics. The verdict is still out until I can test in some better conditions, but will add them to the thread when I can.
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That's not bad at all and to be honest, scurrying clouds and choppy water are all good when it comes to 10stop filters as you get the misty/milky water and the streaking clouds effects. :)
 
I bought a couple of 8 stop filters off ebay a while ago, and in reality they were about 4 stops!

Not a major problem as I just took them apart, and combined both the elements into one, resulting in an 8-stop filter :D

Bit miffed but for the money it was alright.
 
loplyg said:
I bought a couple of 8 stop filters off ebay a while ago, and in reality they were about 4 stops!

Not a major problem as I just took them apart, and combined both the elements into one, resulting in an 8-stop filter :D

Bit miffed but for the money it was alright.
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Do you mean they were ND8? That's three stops - 2, 4, 8. In which case, doubling them up (not a great idea ;) ) is six stops total.
 
i just got a set of nd filter off of ebay,2,4,and 8.they were £10.
arrived next day,each has its own case.
i got these becos i`m new to all this and wanted to play with seascapes.
to me they look a good buy http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/55mm-ND-Filte...graphy_CamcorderAccess_RL&hash=item1c1398cea7

they have a nice clean thread cut and feel well made,going to try this weekend:)
hope this helps,iv got loads of stuff off ebay,aslong as you check the feed back your be fine.
 
I decided tonight that since I have money sitting in paypal just now that I would just order one of these. Unfortunately I left it 5 minutes too late. The listing had ended. After half an hour it showed as being relisted, but with a change.
The product is exactly the same but the seller has changed the listing to say that the filters after testing have proved to be ND4 (13 stop)
they also mention a slight blue cast caused by the filter.
So now I am back to being undecided and will await further testing by those that have taken the plunge already.
 
ND4 is 2 stops.

ND2 == 1/2 the light == 1 stop
ND4 == 1/4 the light == 2 stops
ND8 == 1/8 the light == 3 stops
 
Kaouthia said:
ND4 is 2 stops.

ND2 == 1/2 the light == 1 stop
ND4 == 1/4 the light == 2 stops
ND8 == 1/8 the light == 3 stops
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Yes they seem to rate them by the optical density
So a true 13 stop would have an optical density of 3.9 so would be an ND8192
Complicated stuff :thinking:
 
TheBigYin said:
I popped for one of these a couple of days ago - came today, and I've had a quick look at it. First test shot in the back garden looks promising - not completely neutral - maybe on the blue side rather than cokin magenta, but not too obtrusive, and should custom WB right out. No point in trying to assess IQ as it was a shot of my overgrown garden, which was pretty much all blowing all over in the high winds :lol:

It does however seem to be a bit over 10 stops... Weather changed for the wetter just after my first couple of shots so I went inside and did a little tethered shooting test with a white card. My initial estimate is that it's coming out at nearer to a 12-13 stop rather than 10, but i'll be doing further tests on it as soon as we get a bit more stable sunny day and much less wind.
Click to expand...


I hope you get more chances than me, as it has been rubbish weather since I got it, just another typical Irish summer, although I agree that it seems to be more than 10 stops, which is probably abit much. Look forward to seeing some of your results.
 
Kaouthia said:
ND4 is 2 stops.

ND2 == 1/2 the light == 1 stop
ND4 == 1/4 the light == 2 stops
ND8 == 1/8 the light == 3 stops
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That's true - but there's also another nomenclature that's used on some of them just to confuse us... it's based on optical density :thinking:

ND2 == 1/2 the light == 1 stop - also called ND0.3
ND4 == 1/4 the light == 2 stops - also called ND0.6
ND8 == 1/8 the light == 3 stops - also called ND0.9
ND16 == 1/16 the light == 4 stops - also called ND1.2
ND32 == 1/32 the light == 5 stops - also called ND1.5
ND64 == 1/64 the light == 6 stops - also called ND1.8
ND128 == 1/128 the light == 7 stops - also called ND2.1
ND256 == 1/256 the light == 8 stops - also called ND2.4
ND512 == 1/512 the light == 9 stops - also called ND2.7
ND1024 == 1/1024 the light == 10 stops - also called ND3.0
 
PD_BARBS said:
I hope you get more chances than me, as it has been rubbish weather since I got it, just another typical Irish summer, although I agree that it seems to be more than 10 stops, which is probably abit much. Look forward to seeing some of your results.
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It's been pants here as well. Sun came out for a couple of hours this morning but to be honest, I went out on the pushbike instead.:whistling:
 
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