Very nice vari-nd filter

[Steve Mullen]

Video | CineTechnica

the 11 stops will be needed on the FS100.

[Chris Hurd]

Thanks, Steve -- here's a link to the product page on AbelCine:

Schneider 77mm True-Match Vari-ND Kit :: Filter Kits :: Filters :: Lens Accessories :: Lenses & Lens Accessories :: Equipment Sales :: AbelCine

[Galen Rath]

It's good to have options. On my variable ND filter, I attached a metal extension ring that came with a cheap rubber lens hood, to give me more surface to grab hold of, and improved upon that by attaching a lever arm to the extension. One thing nice with adjusting exposure with the variable ND filter is that you don't get the "clicks" and the abrupt exposure changes as when using the aperture ring on the lens.

[Chris Hurd]

That's a great tip, Galen... I was wondering how smooth of a manual ramp you can do with one of these.

Leave it to some enterprising soul to motorize this thing and ramp the ND from a tripod pan handle.

[Galen Rath]

I was thinking along the same line. Also no reason you couldn't put a focus gear/follow focus set up and turn it with a whip, anything to keep fumbling hands off of the lens.

[Chris Edgette]

It would be nice to see a test of the thing on a consistent white background. Most of the variable NDs get pretty blotchy at the higher settings.

[Steve Mullen]

I suspect the reason this is a "pro" model is that it goes all they way up without a color shift. If I remember, its minimum is 1 1/3 which is better than the typical 2 stops.

The key with the ND filter is you set shutter speed and then set f-stop for the required DOF.

THEN you dial the ND for the correct exposure.

[Gabe Strong]

Nice find Steve. If it works well, I'd say it's well worth it for the FS 100.

[Chris Barcellos]

Originally Posted by Steve Mullen

I suspect the reason this is a "pro" model is that it goes all they way up without a color shift. If I remember, its minimum is 1 1/3 which is better than the typical 2 stops.

The key with the ND filter is you set shutter speed and then set f-stop for the required DOF.

THEN you dial the ND for the correct exposure.

A monitor with false colors works wonders to make the dialing in a snap, too.

I actually use the rubber hood referenced a couple of posts back to spin the the filter like an aperature ring.

[Charles Papert]

I've been lurking and watching for the right variable ND and have been intending to put a gear on it so I can motorize it for my Preston system--this will be the final link to make my ZE's as "cine-fied" as they will get. This will allow me to do iris pulls on the fly, which is often critical when a shot travels from backlit to frontlit in a day exterior. In my Steadicam days, I learned to always mount an iris motor when shooting exteriors because it was inevitable that we would end up needing to pull iris due to the roving nature of the Steadicam. Doing a classic circling shot (two lovers kissing, the disorientation spin around the subject as they spin the other way, etc), it was almost a given that there would be a stop or two of iris compensation happening every 180 degrees of rotation, then back again.

While I'm a fan and owner of many Schneider filters, I'm a little cold on the design of this package. It seems needlessly complicated to be forced into the 4x4 filter and frame, unless there is some elusive purpose for physically separating the filters, rather than sandwiching them as every other variable ND does. Feels a little bit like Schneider is justifying the expense of their system and separating themselves from the pack by complicating the rather elegant design concept of the other units out there. Maybe I'm feeling this way because this eliminates the possibility of motorizing the rotation, but also I'm thinking about the time and effort involved in working with two filters (one that has to be screwed on, the other used in the frame or in a mattebox). I do see that the filters are available separately if you don't need the 4x4 frame, which is good; and that they are available in a larger 95mm size.

[Steve Mullen]

I too wondered WHY one half was a lens filter while the other half was so big. I assumed the front rig was there for the purpose of mounting more 4x4 filters.

Also, I have believed the goal was to have both filters tight against each to avoid inner reflections.

Perhaps to get the needed density the front material is too thick to mount within a ring?

Or, perhaps they had the parts they had --- and simply found it simpler to market rather than build something new

It certainly suggests there is a market for a device that has this level performance and has the front ring with gear teeth that can be motor driven. A series of marks would be useful. In fact, why can't there be a marks at 1/2 stops of reduction?

[John Jay]

Personally I am not a fan of putting two pieces of glass in front of the lens as I feel it kills the borders on wide angle.

I recently picked up a Chinese KO of the Novaflex Nikon G NEX adapter. The nice thing about this adapter is that it has a furled ring to steplessly control aperture which reminds me of the old Zeiss Flektogons. I think its easy to mount a gear on it and have something like a wormscrew to control aperture. Bear in mind the Nikons only have about 30 degrees of throw from fully open to closed, so a wormscrew will be better than a gear.

Regarding the ND issue, I have figured out that I can fix a Wratton 1.5 (ND32) in a 43mm filter ring and cement that ring internally/inside that adapter close to the E mount end. The Wratton is only 0.1mm thick and the focus shift is only a 1/3rd of that which can easily be accommodated for focussing, plus you can cut four from a 100mm square - good for spares.

However this arrangement will still require F11 on sunny days, so the solution here is simply to screw an additional single optical glass of up to ND32 to the front of the lens.

So in summary I will be using a modded ND32 adapter for daylight use and a none modded one for indoors. Aperture control is on the adapter, nice and close where I want it.

Basically its 5 stops in the trunk and upto 5 stops under the hood.

[Martin Noboa]

What about this fader ND:


Fader Filters 77mm HD Variable Neutral Density Filter

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/758957-REG/Fader_Filters_HD_VND_77_77mm_HD_Variable_Neutral.html
to use together with this:

Sony SAL-2470Z 24-70mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* Autofocus Lens - Price: $1,599.99
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/545868-

REG/Sony_SAL2470Z_SAL_2470Z_24_70mm_f_2_8_Carl.html

Is this filter a terrible idea?

Thx!!

[Jon Braeley]

Tiffen have now entered the variable ND filter game....

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/766430-REG/Tiffen_77VND_77mm_Variable_Neutral_Density.html
B&H took down the price but when I saw this released they posted a $189 price - much better value than most out there with a good quality name brand. I use a Genus and it looks good so far.

[Amos Kim]

anybody know if IR contamination will be an issue with these ND filters?