Hoya Pro ND filters

dibbly dobbler

dibbly dobbler

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Mike
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Hi All.

Currently using Lee Grads (and a Lee little stopper) but it occurs to me that I virtually always use the grads as NDs (by pushing them right down) and almost always with the same lens, so I might as well switch to screw on ND filters to save clutter in the bag.

So... does anybody have any experience of the above? They review very well and are not too expensive.

Also what do you reckon on stacking them? eg If I got a 2 stop and a 4 stop which could stack to give 6 stops that might cover all the bases.

Any advice would be gratefully received :)
 
dibbly dobbler said:
Hi All.

Currently using Lee Grads (and a Lee little stopper) but it occurs to me that I virtually always use the grads as NDs (by pushing them right down) and almost always with the same lens, so I might as well switch to screw on ND filters to save clutter in the bag.

So... does anybody have any experience of the above? They review very well and are not too expensive.

Also what do you reckon on stacking them? eg If I got a 2 stop and a 4 stop which could stack to give 6 stops that might cover all the bases.

Any advice would be gratefully received :)
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Mike, I have some, and some cheaply ones and a bunch of Hitech Firecrest. For the money the Hoyas are very good, they are not as good as the Firecrests, but are half the price!!
 
They will all be a lot better than non-coated plastic resin filters. I no longer use the grads as I can do so much better by bracketing and sorting out the files in Lightroom.
 
There are a lot of very good ND filters about now - using the new evaporated metal deposit ND method, including Hoya Pro-NDs. They're very neutral, seemingly immune to infrared pollution, and don't suffer from optical vignetting that can be quite marked with dyed glass NDs on a wide-angle. Most are also multi-coated, significantly reducing flare, though Hitech Firecrests are uncoated.

Early versions of the Hoya Pro-ND ten-stopper suffered a peculiar sharpness problem (I can only assume a manufacturing fault) that I found and so did other reviewers. But I've very recently tested a huge pile of NDs for a magazine review, including the Hoya Pro-ND 10 stops, and I'm pleased to report that it's now totally sorted. Other Hoya Pro-NDs have never suffered this problem :thumbs:

Stacking NDs is doable, provided you don't get mechanical vignetting with wide-angles, but it's not recommended. Flare can be a problem with filters, even the best, and sticking two extra air-glass surfaces in the light path can only make things worse.
 
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