Using ND filters for EFP

hi, i've been shooting with pro35 on front of various hd cameras and one of the great things about it is the variable iris on the back of it which allows you to change exposure without changing the lens's iris and so d-o-f is not affected. for stills there is the http://www.singh-ray.com/varind.html which goes on the front of the lens. is there no variable nd that would work with red and cine lenses?
david g

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Originally Posted by dmig

hi, i've been shooting with pro35 on front of various hd cameras and one of the great things about it is the variable iris on the back of it which allows you to change exposure without changing the lens's iris and so d-o-f is not affected. for stills there is the http://www.singh-ray.com/varind.html which goes on the front of the lens. is there no variable nd that would work with red and cine lenses?
david g

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Not sure about the quality of that glass. Also, the RED 18-50 is a 105mm thread, so it looks like that one only goes to 82mm.

David

yeah - ideally you want a variable nd that fits into a matte box and works in front of a range of different diameter glass - has anyone heard of such a thing?

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Originally Posted by dmig

yeah - ideally you want a variable nd that fits into a matte box and works in front of a range of different diameter glass - has anyone heard of such a thing?

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You can do it with 2 Polas and lots of caveats.

:turned:

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Originally Posted by battistella

Also, the RED 18-50 is a 105mm thread, so it looks like that one only goes to 82mm.

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With RED #8 I received the RED 18-50 zoom and RED 300 prime. The outside thread measurement of the lens hood of the 18-50 is 105mm, but the actual lens barrel inside of that, where you can screw filters on if you choose, is 72mm. If someone wants to buy inexpensive screw-on 72mm filters to get them by for "run n' gun" situations where they don't want to use a matte box (or can't because of space constraints), then 72mm filters are widely available at any photography store.

The 300 prime has a gigantic diameter at the front end of the barrel - I haven't measured it, but I'd guess around 150mm. Fear not through! As I was figuring out possible filter options for the 300, I called Jarred Land and he tipped me off to a great feature of the lens: about 3" above the PL mount, on top of the lens, there is a small receptacle that pulls right out of the lens. It is designed for you to be able to screw filters into it and simply place the receptacle back in. The cool thing is that the thread diameter for that filter receptacle is only 43mm.

Screw-on filters in all sizes and types are easily available online or at your favorite photography store. If you're specifically after ND screw on filters, they're readily and inexpensively available in ratings of .2 all the way up to 3.0. I ordered several screw on ND filters in 72mm for the RED 18-50 and 43mm for the RED 300. I'll still use a matte box and drop in filters when the projects I'm working on call for that, but having a pouch of screw on filters for the lenses keeps the setup streamlined and light for the situations where that is needed.

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Originally Posted by Gibby

With RED #8 I received the RED 18-50 zoom and RED 300 prime. The outside thread measurement of the lens hood of the 18-50 is 105mm, but the actual lens barrel inside of that, where you can screw filters on if you choose, is 72mm.

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Thank you for this info! This is the first dimensional data I've seen on the Red lens- I thought it would be on the Red website, but was unable to find it.

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Originally Posted by Gibby

With RED #8 I received the RED 18-50 zoom and RED 300 prime. The outside thread measurement of the lens hood of the 18-50 is 105mm, but the actual lens barrel inside of that, where you can screw filters on if you choose, is 72mm. If someone wants to buy inexpensive screw-on 72mm filters to get them by for "run n' gun" situations where they don't want to use a matte box (or can't because of space constraints), then 72mm filters are widely available at any photography store.

The 300 prime has a gigantic diameter at the front end of the barrel - I haven't measured it, but I'd guess around 150mm. Fear not through! As I was figuring out possible filter options for the 300, I called Jarred Land and he tipped me off to a great feature of the lens: about 3" above the PL mount, on top of the lens, there is a small receptacle that pulls right out of the lens. It is designed for you to be able to screw filters into it and simply place the receptacle back in. The cool thing is that the thread diameter for that filter receptacle is only 43mm.

Screw-on filters in all sizes and types are easily available online or at your favorite photography store. If you're specifically after ND screw on filters, they're readily and inexpensively available in ratings of .2 all the way up to 3.0. I ordered several screw on ND filters in 72mm for the RED 18-50 and 43mm for the RED 300. I'll still use a matte box and drop in filters when the projects I'm working on call for that, but having a pouch of screw on filters for the lenses keeps the setup streamlined and light for the situations where that is needed.

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OK. THis is the kind of hard core info that I can only be completely grateful for!

Thanks Gibby.

David

Gibby,

Thanks for the info. For short set up times screw in filters are probably a fast way to go. I'm thinking about using a two stop screw in filter for outdoors shooting and add one more in a matte box if needed. If you can avoid vignetting, you could probably stack two screw in filters together or use series 9 filters. I've got a bunch of those! Thanks for all the feedback.
Bob Franco

Sure screw in filters will work.
But an internal filter wheel is fast and easy and works with ultrawide without fringing on the edges and makes using lenses of different front element dimensions a breeze without a mattbox. (although I think weight of a clip on mattbox isn't an issue and is faster than screw on.)

Internal filters reduces troublesome reflections when using an effects/soft filter and a ND.

In the case of Red it need not be a wheel (which would require a bulge in the body) but an internal vertical rail arrangement behind the mount which would be good for one clear and one ND.
Being able to swap these around via a tray/door would be handy

Could also imagine a ND with graduated extension that could do double duty or simply it could be one piece of glass (4x2 aspect) that is clear one end ND the other with grad in the middle.

RED has opportunities to be innovative in this area in a way that film cameras and 3 chip cameras cannot.




Mike Brennan

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Originally Posted by Mickjoebill

Sure screw in filters will work.
But an internal filter wheel is fast and easy and works with ultrawide without fringing on the edges and makes using lenses of different front element dimensions a breeze without a mattbox. (although I think weight of a clip on mattbox isn't an issue and is faster than screw on.)

Internal filters reduces troublesome reflections when using an effects/soft filter and a ND.

In the case of Red it need not be a wheel (which would require a bulge in the body) but an internal vertical rail arrangement behind the mount which would be good for one clear and one ND.
Being able to swap these around via a tray/door would be handy

Could also imagine a ND with graduated extension that could do double duty or simply it could be one piece of glass (4x2 aspect) that is clear one end ND the other with grad in the middle.

RED has opportunities to be innovative in this area in a way that film cameras and 3 chip cameras cannot.




Mike Brennan

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i'm with mike on this - dropping in or screwing on filters is a pain in the ass when you're covering actuality and moving indoors / outdoors, full sun / shade etc. there's just got to be some way to achieve really quick variable nd. or else be able to manually dial the iso rating of the camera without having to go into menus or whatever. cheers, david