Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Advice on filters

Erfort Kuke

Erfort Kuke

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 12, 2008
Messages
164
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Location
Albania
Hello everybody.

Even though this is my first post, i have been in the forum for long time.
Since i got my camera lately i am about to purchase some filters. I have no experience at all with filters and all the info i have is gathered through the forum.

So this is the filters i would like to buy, please advise me.

1) Tiffen Hot Mirror or Formatt Hot Mirror (I have seen the review of Evin Grant for the Tiffen but if anybody has an experience with the Formatt Hot Mirror please i would appreciate some input.

2) 0.3 and 0.6 ND Formatt HD

3) 0.9 and 1.5 ND Formatt HD IRND

4) 0.3 and 0.6 or 0.6 and 0.9 ND Formatt HD Vertical Attenuators (please advise)

5) Formatt Linear Polarizer (it was suggested that the linear polarizer is more effective and it works with the RED camera. Any suggestions?)

6) Schneider Sapphire Blue Solid 1 (recommended by Evin Grant for balancing under tungsten situations as a substitute to 80D filter)

Thanx
 
Hi psycho,

I like Tiffen filters a lot - I tend to only ever use Tiffen or Schneider, but perhaps I'm overly cautious. However, do bear in mind that poor filters (which is not to say the Formatt's are poor, but just as a generalisation) will have a negative impact on image quality, particularly when stacked - they are, after all, part of the optical system you're using to capture the image...

Your package looks well spec'd for a basic kit, but a couple of notes:

1) I'd go for the 0.6 and 0.9 ND grads (I'm guessing that's what a "vertical attenuator" is? Never heard that term before!). Be aware they come in hard and soft edge varieties - I personally tend to prefer soft edges as I find I use them mainly with wide lenses for landscape shots, but obviously you may decide differently.

2) If I were you I'd look at the Schneider Tru-Pol for your polarizer - a bit more expensive, but it's a filter you'll use often, and they're the very best around, for my money. Also, they'll knock down 2 stops (as opposed to about 1&1/3 for a normal pola), which in the case of outdoor shooting with the Red is no bad thing.

3) If you're not aware of it, you might want to check out AbelCine's Tiffen package for the Red - it's got IR Cut, 0.3, 0.6, 0.9 and 1.2+IR Cut (if I remember rightly) as a set, and is good value for money and means you're getting almost entirely Tiffen and Schneider glass...

Hope that helps,
Dom.
 
The Formatt filters work great with the RED. We have 0.9, 1.2, 1.5, 1.8, and 2.1 strengths. We are using Nikon lenses, and we had a lot of trouble with ghosting with another brand of filters. We have had no issues with the Formatts at all. Since the Nikons seems to be susceptible to ghosting, I would try very hard to avoid stacking filters whenever possible.

Stephen
 
Good info, thanks Stephen - how much cheaper are Formatt's compared to Tiffen and Schneider filters? (Here I am assuming they're cheaper, are they??!)...

Cheers,
Dom.
 
Dominic Jones said:
Good info, thanks Stephen - how much cheaper are Formatt's compared to Tiffen and Schneider filters? (Here I am assuming they're cheaper, are they??!)...

Cheers,
Dom.
Click to expand...

Check the Able Cinetech website. When I bought my Formatt filters they had a RED special.
 
Dominic thanx for the reply

I thought about Formatt since i have seen very positive results posted here in reduser, they say that the Formatt filters performe same as or even better than the Schneiders. Regarding the Tiffen i have heard that thay do have a color shift.

The Formatt filters cost about 20-30 usd cheeper than the Schneider. But I would not try to save if there is a loss in quality.

So again I have made some changes in my list.

1) Tiffen Hot Mirror.

2) 0.3 and 0.6 ND Formatt HD

3) 0.9 and 1.5 ND Formatt HD IRND

4) 0.6 and 0.9 ND Grad soft edge Formatt HD. When the filters are 4 x 5.6 if the graduation is horizontally they call them Horizontal Attenuators, if the graduation is vertically they call them Vertical Attenuators and i have been reading that if you get the Vertical Attenuators you have more posibillity of sliding the filter up and down to get graduation at the desired position. I dont know if 4 x 5,6 placed horizontally will cover the wide angle lenses though, any idea?

5) Schneider Optics. True-Pol Linear Polarizer. 138mm. Does anybody know if this filter can fit in the Redrock Matte Box? Dominic do you use a Linear or a Circular polarizer?

6) Schneider Sapphire Blue Solid 1

Stephen thanx for your input. I will be mainly using Zeiss ZF lenses and 2 Nikon zooms, all from RP Lenses. Do you think i need to get the 1.8 ND Formatt HD IRND? I know it is not good to stack filters but i cannot aford to have all the filters needed so i guess i am going to stack once in a while.
 
As of last years NAB. Redrock Micro did not have a round filter tray or place to put it in the back (closest the lens)

If you are going the Redrock route you could always get a 4X5.65 circular Pola.
 
138mm Polarizer in Redrock?

138mm Polarizer in Redrock?

I'm ready to buy the above mentioned Red Kit, but am wanting to add a polarizer. I got a quote from them on the 138mm tru-pol circular polarizer, but am also wondering if this will fit in the Redrock Mattebox. If not, what do you recommend for the Redrock in the way of polarizers?
 
Hi psycho, no worries...

All sounds good to me - sounds like you might want to hang fire on the Sapphire (cheers for the heads-up Evin), although really, just getting into the ballpark is fine for the CC filters, imo. Others may beg to differ, of course...

As for lens coverage, if you're using stills lenses then it's much less of an issue, as their front diameters are relatively small - I would say that if you're shooting with very wide lenses and/or are composing for 'scope primarily, then the horizontals are probably a better bet - otherwise, you may prefer the verticals - I shoot mostly 'scope material, so I've got for horizontals.

Regarding Polas, you can get a PV size (4x5.65") Tru-Pol - they can be a little limiting in this size as you will start to lose the ability to fully rotate the filter with very wide lenses (that said, I don't think there are any ZF lenses wide enough to cause you a serious issue there, at least at the moment/last time I checked), but until RedRock come out with either a 138mm or 5.6x5.6 tray for their MB, you haven't got much choice!!

Hope that helps,
Happy shopping!...

Dom.
 
Evin Grant said:
Schenider has some new filters coming out for balancing in tungsten which I'll be testing and posting about soon. You might want to hold out for a little while on that one.
Click to expand...

Hey Evin,

Are you referring to the CTB Series from Schneider? They're making them in 1/8th, 1/4, and 1/2 strengths. 1/2 is the equivalent to an 80D from Tiffen. I'm really interested in the results of your tests - looking forward to that, your previous tests have been really invaluable.

I think the filters are already available. We special ordered some for a customer, and they've just come in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top