Hello, I have been lurking here for a while as I try to figure out the final details of my purchase. I have been selling off my Canon gear and am going mirrorless! I feel like I've lost so much weight already!! After much research, my top pick is the E-M1 and I haven't quite settled on lenses yet but I think it'll be the Oly 12-40 and Pany 35-100. I am wondering if a step-up ring would work ok on the 12-40? I have a 77mm circular polarizer and a 10 stop ND filter that I would like to use if I can. Would I have issues with vignetting? Thanks
I'm in the same boat, but have already picked up my 12-40. My 77mm CPL is pretty large, so it kind of defeats the purpose of the more compact system. I will probably sell or trade for a 62mm. If you will only use it just occasionally, then maybe the step-up ring would make sense. Since I can't answer your question, I will look forward to what others have to say, particularly about the vignetting.
I used my 77mm filters for a while after I added m43 to my Nikon DX stuff, and it works just fine. But eventually I got tired of carrying those big filters and step up rings around, which really didn't fit in my little kit bags, so I popped for 58mm CP and VND filters. I have 37, 46 and 52 step ups to 58 now. I still use the larger Cokin square filters and holders, however, as all I had to do was add a simple adaptor ring and I don't use them that frequently.
Thanks guys.... I guess the size of the 77mm in comparison to the smaller lens had slipped my mind and dragging all of that around would drive me nuts since I am trying to move to a lighter system . I think I will buy the filters I need in the smaller sizes but will also buy the step-up ring for the 10 stop filter since my outings with it are usually planned and not that frequent.
I have tried to standardize on 77mm myself but it only kind of works. For the m4/3 there I sort of standardized on 58mm but now there are other sizes so pick the biggest. I have not had any issues using step up rings for 77mm filters but the variable ND filters do not seem to work on m4/3. I have a Singhray vari-n-trio filter it will not work with my em5.
I myself standardized on 77mm a long time ago as I didn't feel like buying 4 different sized polarizers for my Nikon system. Now that I'm using M43 more and more I make a point of buying $2 step up rings when I buy a new lens. I already had a 52mm-77mm and 67mm-77mm step up rings for my nikon lenses, 12-24mm tokina, 35mm dx, and 70-300mm VR. Now with M43 I use the 7.5mm FE, 17mm 1.8, 45mm 1.8, and 40-150mm and have 46mm-52mm, 37mm-52mm step ups, and a 58mm-52mm step down. I have no problem using the 77mm on my 17mm and 45mm. It is a bit big on the M43 but not overly so, I stack my rings which makes things a bit annoying so most of the time I just hold the 77mm filters in front of the lens. This would not work with a polarizer, at least not very well. You might be able to sell your 77mm filters if you're not using them and go with a more M43 sized filter. But keep in mind if you ever want to get something like the 100-300mm in the future it has a 67mm thread. Otherwise 58mm would be a good choice. I do just fine with my 77mm filters though, I still own my Nikon DSLR so they pull double duty. And to answer your first Q a step up ring and slim 77mm filter shouldn't be a problem for vignetting. I have stacked 2 filters on my 12-24mm lens with my Nikon which is about 4mm wider than the equivalent of the 12-40mm.
You will get a cross. When you use the variable ns filters. I discussed this with Dr Singh and he said there is a circuit in m4/3 that interferes with the function that is not present in my D800, d700 ie mirror cameras
Untrue that's it's an m43 function. I posted in Nikonians a while ago regarding this issue with my DX cameras. It's inherent in the design of VNDs and exacerbated by wide angle lenses. In my case, it happened as the VND rotated past 8 or so stops. http://www.nikonians.org/forums/dcb...&forum=155&topic_id=20967&mesg_id=21378&page=
I have no problem on my Nikons with it and my quote is from Dr. Singh at Singhray but possibly you know more than him about it.
Only know what I know ... After getting my new Mark II Variable Neutral Density Fader, I did some testing on my D7000 as a result of reading this thread. The results are interesting. At 24mm, up to about 3 stops its fairly innocuous, although increasingly visible. By 6 stops (which is only one "dot" further along the adjustment ring) it appears as vignetting, which is mostly correctable by setting the post-crop vignetting tool in LR5 at +8. At the maximum darkening of 8 stops, the vignetting at the corners has turned into a dark "X" across the image. 28mm yields the same result. At 35mm the 6-stop effect is vignetting in the upper right and lower left corners. The 8-stop effect has morphed into a reverse vignette, with the dark center of the X spreading out leaving the upper right and lower left corners lighter. At 50mm, there is not much effect at 6 stops and 8 stops has a slight reverse vignette in the upper right and lower left corners. Post Crop Vignette control at -28 seems to mostly cure this. Each row represents one focal length (24,28, 35, 50) and shows 2.25, 3, 6 and 8 stops effect across. http://www.nikonians.org/dcfp/user_files/256951.jpg
Mysticeyestudios.com has several shots using my D800 and the vari-n-trio multiple lenses full graduation no problem. When i had no luck with my em-5 using a variety of lenses i called Dr. Singh and asked him what was i doing wrong. He said i wasnt the only one having an issue while using a mirrorless camera. When he examined the circuitry of the mirrorless he said there was a potential issue. I bought another variable nd filter thinking maybe it was the polarizing feature od the Singh ray that was the issue no luck cross at all densities. Maybe someone else has got them to work but I have tried several times no luck. I have shot 100s with my Nikon gear with no problem.
Over the years, I've accumulated lots of extra Polarizer filters in big sizes as I acquired some Medium Format outfits. I've got several spare 67mm CPL filters - used, but they're fine with clean glass and threads. All decent Japanese brands like Quantary, Promaster, and Vivitar, if you had a preference. I could certainly spare some of them for something like $5 plus $3 each to cover postage and Paypal. I can't spare my 62mm CPL, as I only have one, and I'll be buying a lens in the future that uses that one. PM me if anyone wants one of these - I've got 3 I could spare, first come, first served. I'm also going to be listing some bigger CPL filters on ebay tomorrow (77 and 82mm) on ebay tomorrow, but those are not nearly so cheap. A 62-67 step up ring is not nearly as unwieldy and expensive and hard to find as a 62-77 would be. There's even a U.S. seller selling them for $4 each on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/62-67mm-Ste...t=US_Filter_Rings_Holders&hash=item417b49a01e FYI, if you're interested, I just posted about these filters in the Buy & Sell listings, where I put photos of the 3 more costly filters - sorry, I'm not going to bother taking pictures of the cheap 67mm filters - but all 3 of them are in excellent condition. with clean glass and threads.
