Filter/Welding Glass

Quickshooter

Quickshooter

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Liam
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Hi I guess im kind of thinking out loud here, I know that filters tend to be expensive and because of this lots of people are trying out welding glass as a cheaper alternative.
Has anybody thought about or tried vehicle window tinting film as you can can get lots of different shades right up to limo black which is very very dark!
This can be very cheap to buy and could easily be fixed to your camera lens

But like I said just thinking out loud really :)
 
Worth a try - probably worth 'tinting' a UV filter rather than an actual lens... But it would probably leave some horrible colour cast to try to correct.

I had a go with welding glass. It does work, but the quality suffers (I found). It was a cheap way to 'try out' though and I liked the idea of it, so I bought a B&W 10 stop instead.

I think ultimately, it's worth saving the pennies for the real McCoy if you're in to it.
 
I hear what you say, I normally try these cheaper fixes because im impatient, yet I always end up buying the real deal in the end thus spending more money overall lol
 
Me too :)

Had to replace a cheap tripod. Next thing to replace is cheap & nasty e-bay triggers!
 
square filters are not expensive and not going to degrade your image like putting some welding glass up. spend the extra and get somthing worth while
 
are these the ones that attach to the front of your lens and look fairly large and you slide them in the top?
 
Quickshooter said:
are these the ones that attach to the front of your lens and look fairly large and you slide them in the top?
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Yes. You attach a filter holder to your lens, then you can drop in ND, grads, etc. They come in different sizes. I had the P size, which caused a bit of vignetting at 10mm on a 1.6x body. I had a Cokin set. Again - buy cheap, buy twice. They're not the best!
 
Vignetting is where you get a darkening in the corners of the images. Normally caused by wider angle lenses seeing part of the lens hood or accessories. This is why quite a few lenses have petal hoods, the corners are cut away to avoid vignetting.

You'll see quite a few images with an artificial vignette applied as a lot of people like the look of it.
 
Ok I see, id imagine that this can be easily rectified on PS via a crop :).
Thanks for explaining that to me Mike :)
 
the problem with the cokin P @ 10-13mm on a canon APS-C camera is the holder is visable in the image. thats not vignetting and not really fixable in post.
 
POAH said:
the problem with the cokin P @ 10-13mm on a canon APS-C camera is the holder is visable in the image. thats not vignetting and not really fixable in post.
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That's what I was referring to, but I got my terms wrong :)
 
inaneredstripe said:
welding glass is VERY dark.
You wont be able to see a darn thing thru it.
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Yes, definitely a case of adding it after you compose. I find the same with a 10 stop ND though. The welding glass I had worked out at about 14 stops.
 
I posted on another forum about doing just what Liam is aking with car tints so here is the full post as a copy.... Oh and in the second pic the tripod was shaking all over the place due to the flos wo IQ isnt all that.

OK so I was off to Janets foss in Yorkshire and needed an ND filter as I wanted to blur the waterfall. i didnt have one and couldnt get one in under a day so necessity being the mother of invention etc etc I made one...

I had some Car window tints left over from when we used to tint cars..

1st attempt

0001ks.jpg


The folds at the top weren't as much as a problem as I thought they would be and it gave reasonable pictures.

Attempt number 2 with a CPL after taking the element out..
0002jq.jpg


Ran a blade around the edge and the cut was nice and clean.

0004nm.jpg


All back together..
0005kv.jpg


Heres a pic in action with color temp adjusted, I think it gives about 2 stops ND but I'v just added another layer on the other side so it should give better results

janetsfoss.jpg


Total cost...well free as I got the filter thrown in when I got some lenses and I had the tint sat in a box.
1 last one taken on a tripod stood in 4 ft of fast water..

addingham.jpg
 
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That is very impressive! Obvioulsy it has to be a bright day to get that effect?
 
Thats its Sam Brilliant :thumbs: so it works then. as you did, can always stick more on to get it darker :)
 
I'v added another layer on the other side but havent had time to try it out yet, should be about 4/5 stops
 
If you're fancying a go at this you can pick up cheap nd filters on eBay, I picked up a set of nd2,4 and 8 for less than a tenner in 67mm form, I fully intend to buy one of greater quality, I'm just using these as a tool to see just which strength I want. I know these won't be great quality but can they really be any worse than some welding glass? Or window tinting film? :)
 
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Hi Andy. I never thought of eBay ill have to have a look if they are less than a tenner that a good start to try it out, and like you say get an idea of strength :)
 
andy1868 said:
If you're fancying a go at this you can pick up cheap nd filters on eBay, I picked up a set of nd2,4 and 8 for less than a tenner in 67mm form, I fully intend to buy one of greater quality, I'm just using these as a tool to see just which strength I want. I know these won't be great quality but can they really be any worse than some welding glass? Or window tinting film? :)
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I don't know. How many filters would you be using to replicate a 14 stop ND which is what the #10 welding glass does? What colour cast do they give?
 
I too have just received some of the sub ten pounds 2,4 and 8 ND filters in 52mm screw in form. Just to see if they work really. Will post results soon. It's raining at the moment.
 
Well Nick ill see your eBay "special" and raise you a ebay "special" Shutter release from Hong Kong for £4.99 :lol: :eek:
 
andy1868 said:
If you're fancying a go at this you can pick up cheap nd filters on eBay, I picked up a set of nd2,4 and 8 for less than a tenner in 67mm form, I fully intend to buy one of greater quality, I'm just using these as a tool to see just which strength I want. I know these won't be great quality but can they really be any worse than some welding glass? Or window tinting film? :)
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Same here

I figured I'd give them a try and if ND filters prove to be something I use a lot then I well get a good set, bit of a cheap trial I suppose, am heading out with them tomorrow so will see how I get on
 
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