Are ND's really needed???

[Michael Liebergot]

Chris I got the Fofodiox ND Throttle and it works great.
So far the quality is excellent, and the design is smart.

What's great about it besides only using 1 adapter for any EF lens is that with a lot of NDs you could get vignetting when attached to the lens front. But with the adapter ND before the lens and sensor you won't get any vignetting. Also the smooth variable chickpeas ND is flawless as well.

The only issue if it matters to any is that it's a dumb adapter, so you don't have iris control if it's not on the lens.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Michael

I saw one from Fotodiox for Nikon to NEX and it does have iris control on the middle ring and then the top edge ring gives you ND control 0 - 10 so you have both ... My current adapters have iris control of course

http://www.amazon.com/Vizelex-Thrott.../dp/B00OI98BBO

If you look carefully the blue ring is for iris and the top black ring is for ND

My only concern it that you can't go lower than ND2 so it really low light like receptions you would lose a bit of light... Not sure what an ND2 would lose in stops but there will be a loss and at dim weddings I do need as much light as possible ... I guess once it's night-time one could revert back to another adapter without any ND filters

Chris

[Serggio Lamas]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

My only concern it that you can't go lower than ND2 so it really low light like receptions you would lose a bit of light... Not sure what an ND2 would lose in stops but there will be a loss and at dim weddings I do need as much light as possible ... I guess once it's night-time one could revert back to another adapter without any ND filters

Chris

+1 Chris Harding
looking for adapter with ND start from 0

[Michael Liebergot]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hi Michael

I saw one from Fotodiox for Nikon to NEX and it does have iris control on the middle ring and then the top edge ring gives you ND control 0 - 10 so you have both ... My current adapters have iris control of course

http://www.amazon.com/Vizelex-Thrott.../dp/B00OI98BBO

If you look carefully the blue ring is for iris and the top black ring is ND.

Chris

Chris you're lucky here in that this version isn't available in a EF to E Mount version.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Michael

So EF lenses don't have an aperture ring at all??? I guess as long as the lens is fully open the ND will stop down the light ... at wedding receptions and Churches I'm normally full open anyway!!

Serggio - I have never seen a 0 -10 ND they usually always start at ND2 which makes your lens 1 stop under which isn't good in a low light situation at all .... The reason I use F1.8 at weddings is so I don't need to use a light ... if the adapter loses 1 stop then I might as well go back to and F2.8 lens again but yes it would be awesome for a built-in ND to go from clear to ND10!!

Chris

[Peter Rush]

Chris you are correct - EF lenses have no Iris control so it's done in the adapter in my case (metabones) How do you deal with nailing focus at f1.8 in a wedding shoot - must be a chore with such a shallow DOF!

Pete

[Chris Harding]

Hi Pete

I'm mainly shooting at 18mm on the Sigma lens so focus and peaking work really well .. at full wide there is more DOF than you think! I actually have more issues on the main camera at outdoor weddings with focus in bright light when I have to zoom in for the vows! Never really had any focus issues with the Sigma 18-35 at F1.8 but the Tamron 17-50 F2.8 at full zoom often is a struggle especially in sunshine. I find that peaking works a lot better when I'm only a few metres away and peaking is excellent. 5 metres from the couple at F2.8 and at 50mm zoom I often have to fight to get the image sharp!! I wonder if a big ND would assist on this ?? If you have an ND8 on the lens in bright sunshine would it help the focus peaking??? Maybe it's just the bright conditions at outdoor weddings but my images seem to lack contrast and I end up having to add a colour curve to that footage to make it more contrasty .. I'm not sure if the lack of contrast is just the bright conditions or a focus issue ??? The same lens at the reception is razor sharp!

Chris

[Peter Rush]

Chris have you tried a different peaking colour? Also why not sacrifice some DOF for a higher f-stop, maybe F4 or F5.6 - would give you more focus latitude? I have the Tamron 24-70 and it's tack sharp - a nice lens than my Canon L glass!

I hate to recommend it as wedding shoots are hectic enough without extra gear to set up, but I have a SmallHD monitor and it's superb - it's inbuilt peaking is fantastic. Might be worth a try, just for ceremonies?

Pete

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Pete

I do stop down quite significantly in fact on outdoor ceremonies so DOF is not an issue. It's getting an accurate focal point ... If I'm say 5 metres away from the bride and the lens is set to 4 metres she is going to be soft ..DOF just wont help there at all ...the closer you zoom the worse it becomes so whether the lens is wide open or at F16 one still needs to accurately nail the focus. I have no issue at all indoors but it's really tricky when you have a backlit wedding party ..I think it fools the peaking too ... lenses have excellent graduations for up close but as soon as you get past the 2m mark on the barrel there is nothing marked until infinity so that's super critical to get 100% right ... I was just wondering if (even just to focus) one had a heavy ND on the lens whether it would "help" the peaking in these situations?? Even if I physically measure out the bride to camera distance with a tape measure I STILL have an issue as there are no barrel graduations after 2m on the lens. I really don't think colour will make a difference but it's certainly worth a shot ...move the camera into a less bright scenario and peaking works great and the resulting image is sharp! It must be our very bright sun here!!! I might just try giving my camera lens some sunglasses on a bright day and see if peaking improves?

Chris

[Gabe Strong]

Another thing to take a look at is the Xume system. Makes it
quick and easy to put on ND with the magnetic system.
I'd recommend buying the 82mm filters and then getting
step rings for all your lenses to 82mm, even if you have no 82mm
threaded lenses. It helps keep vignetting from happening.
And if you need the '0 ND' setting, you just snap off the ND filter.

[David Banner]

Does anyone make a ND for E-mount that goes on before the lens, for using E mount lenses?

[Chris Harding]

I have an idea that Pete had the Xume system but it broke so he doesn't use it anymore!!

So far the only adapter I have seen is the Fotodiox that has a built-in ND ... I really don't like cameras with built-in switchable ND's ..My Panny had them and you get a flash on the image when you switch but I see that Sony's cameras have very neat variable ND's just on a thumbwheel ..very cool and seamless adjustment.

[Gary Huff]

You're not really supposed to be swapping filters mid-shot anyway.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Gary

I had Panasonic AC-120's and all you needed was a light cloud over the sun and you got an on screen warning to change ND filters ...we are talking here about wedding ceremonies, outdoors, so the camera needs to run for the entire vows period or you lose audio. That camera seemed to have very weird exposure range for some reason and was the only camera I ever owned that had the issue. They were sold within 3 months because as a solo shooter I need a tripod mounted main camera locked on the couple to look after itself while I'm shooting cutaways with the 2nd camera.

No other camera with switchable ND's gave the same issue ...I still prefer a integral auto ND like some Panasonics have or just variable ND's but I cannot have a camera that cannot handle exposure differences due to a cloud passing over the sun! With my EA-50's I just set the lens to around F5.6 -F8 and let the camera adjust ISO in auto so I know I can leave it alone and it will do the job.

I'll check today and see if peaking appreciates less light rather than lots of light and will focus more accurately .... any thoughts on this Gary??

Chris

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

I'll check today and see if peaking appreciates less light rather than lots of light and will focus more accurately .... any thoughts on this Gary??

Peaking works best when you are properly exposed. If you're blowing out your image by overexposing it, there's not much detail to peak on.

You should set your ND filter to mid-range (usually about 4 stops depending on the base sensitivity of your camera) and then pick the most frictionless item to change to accommodate the changing light conditions, whether that be aperture, shutter, or ISO.