Some 10 stop filter advice please

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I have been looking at a couple of 77mm 10 stop filters and wondered if anyone on here uses them, if so what are you thoughts, ie the good the bad and the ugly :D

Light Craft Workshop 77mm ND500 MC HRC ND Filter LCW (although i think this one is 9 stop)

Haida -Professional 77mm Slim PRO II MC Neutral Density ND 3.0 Filter 1000x - 10 Stop/ Schott glass

Many thanks in advance
 
For the money, the Haida is very good value.
 
I had the LCW for a while and it was good, just annoying having to screw the thing in all the time.
 
Another vote for the LCW. hardly a colour cast at all.
Nice bit o kit.
Dean.
 
I've used the Haida a Lot the last few weeks, great filter.
 
chris2jz said:
I've just swapped my Haida Pro 2 for a Lee big stopper and as good as the Haida is it's not on par with the Lee - if you can justify it i would spend the extra :)

The Haida is damn good for the price though , dont get me wrong !
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In what way?
 
chris2jz said:
Colour cast and image sharpness mainly - not a huge deal but it was quite apparrant how better the images looked out of the camera using the Lee .
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These filters can be prone to batch variance, but you'd be unlucky to notice any difference in sharpness, especially with a wide-angle lens.

FWIW, the Haida ProII is the most neutral I've tried (and I've tested most of them) though the Lee is also pretty good. However, the native colour cast is really not that important - what matters is the colour fidelity after the image has been neutralised in post processing (or after custom white balance), when all colours should be accurate. High quality manufacturers like Lee and B+W opt to leave a slight native colour cast as after correction in PP the overall result is better, and it allows the use of dyes that are more efficient at infra-red suppression. There is one down-side to a colour cast though, and that's when stacked with an ND grad, making it harder to correct the final colour for both.

Lee is more prone to flare and ghosting than other coated and multi-coated filters, which is one of the advantages of screw-in types.
 
I've just received a Lee Big stopper and can't wait to try it out at the weekend, the whole kit is superbly built.

Hoppy, interested to hear about the flare you found with the Lee. I thought the whole idea of the foam gasket was to cut that out by sealing it to the holder.
 
digitalfailure said:
I've just received a Lee Big stopper and can't wait to try it out at the weekend, the whole kit is superbly built.

Hoppy, interested to hear about the flare you found with the Lee. I thought the whole idea of the foam gasket was to cut that out by sealing it to the holder.
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More particularly, ghosting - bright lights like a sunset reflecting off the sensor and back again from the back of the filter. All filters are prone to this, just uncoated ones reflect a slightly brighter ghost image than say multi-coated ones. It's hardly a deal breaker though, and those kinds of ghost can usually be eliminated with a slight change of camera angle.

The foam sealing gasket is for another purpose entirely. Lee Big Stopper is a good filter, high optical quality, good IR suppression, minimal colour cast, quality gear :) To make it multi-coated as well would multiply the price, for little practical benefit.
 
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I use a LCW variable ND. I've never had it cause banding, but I don't use it that often nor w/ UWA (<24mm). Color cast has never been a problem. I like it because I can focus first and then dial down the SS.
 
Not sure of those 2 makes but I'm more than sure what ever you choose you'll have a lot of fun, i currently use a b+w 10 stopper
 
sk66 said:
I use a LCW variable ND. I've never had it cause banding, but I don't use it that often nor w/ UWA (<24mm). Color cast has never been a problem. I like it because I can focus first and then dial down the SS.
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But most people do use them with wide-angles. That's the problem with all vari-NDs, regardless of cost - the dark cross pattern that appears right across the image with wide-angles when the density is at the darker end.
 
That's why I gave the qualifier...
But 24mm on FF is pretty wide...I only go wider than that when it's a very close subject and I don't typically take 14mm scenics. (Not sure I ever have taken a scenic w/ UWA)
 
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