You can get cheap stup-up rings to file your lens as long as the filter is bigger that the size of your lens that you going to use it on.
Yes I did.
First one at 10mm, second at 7mm and last at 9mm.
But I don't think I cropped them
The reverse GND the darkest area is in the middle of the filter while the regular GND the darkest part is on the edge.
Nam... brilliant once again! I have step up rings however I obviously made the error of not buying a filter large enough for my new Oly lens. It fits the Sigma and a few of my other Nikkor lens but not my Oly glass... live and learn!
good to know about no cropping, thanks
again... another revelation about revers GND. I have visions of flipping the filter upside down but can clearly see that I was working on a boatload of naivety.
Thanks again for taking the time to explain all this!
Julia. Great post. I use the Lee Seven 5 system. I know they are expensive but I will definitely recommend them. Easy to use and great quality.
I even have spare adaptor rings. A 37, 40.5 and a 52.
If you can use them you are welcome to them for the price of post and packing.
Thanks Julia for taking the time to distill all the hours of research you've done. I still think I have no use for filters (any), but when I grow up and buy some, I will definitely benefit from your generosity in sharing your knowledge. Thanks to the others that have contributed here as well.
For me personally, I don't have any issues with light leaks. I have read on the web that some reported issues with their setups, but my Firecrest holder fits snugly and holds the glass very tightly.
For me personally, I don't have any issues with light leaks. I have read on the web that some reported issues with their setups, but my Firecrest holder fits snugly and holds the glass very tightly.
Thanks Julia. That may indeed be another side benefit to getting a smaller filter holder system, where the filters fit much closer together thus eliminating the light leak. Or maybe you just haven't been in a situation that would cause one - usually with a light source to the sides of the camera and with longer exposures. But my personal guess is your filter size does help prevent it. I'm also guessing you did not put gaskets on your nd filters.
As for me, I actually got the 100 mm firecrest system as it can stack more filters, will be easier to sell later on (if I decide to), and will be usable in other camera systems if I ever get them. AFAIK, light leak is also present in the Lee system (also thru the sides and not only the viewfinder). I did get myself some gaskets and a sock, but wanted to find out other solutions if any. I just got these anti light leak 'accessories' but I'll put them through the pages sometime soon and report back here too.
I got to use my filters yesterday on a 'test' run. The gaskets helped but there was still light leak on longer exposures. The sure way to eliminate the leak was to wrap the filter system with a headband or similar type cloth,although covering just the top half was already good enough to totally eliminate it.
I just ended up removing the gaskets in the end as it made inserting them more difficult and added some bulk to the filter pouch.
I'm posting this so that people who may experience light leaks will know that it is a natural occurrence in many filter holder designs, and is not due to faulty gear or technique. And also, so people know the proper, simple solution to eliminate it.
Cheers.
Quick question, Folks! I've been hunting in the drawer for the quick plate of my Gorillapod and guess what I've found, a "cheapo" ND, GND set with Cokin P holder,
It must have come off fleebay ages ago so I dug up my archive and I've bought it back in 2012 and used maybe once or twice on my Nikon D5000 (paid 19$).
Question, i've the step up rings to use it on my MFT lenses, but is it worth the struggle? I wouldn't waste any of my spare time to experiment if i can be judged as crap over the product link...
In my experience, the older Cokin ND and GND filters have a distinct color cast. I've since converted to Lee and Singh Ray filters. The Cokin holder does work, although I think the newer and more expensive holders from other vendors provide additional function.
That all said, I rarely (as in: never) use my GNDs anymore. HDR and/or stacking work just fine for me.
Thanks for the information. I see the utility of a rectangular filter set and am threatening to take the plunge for grad ND and full ND. I still have a bad taste however from my experience years ago with the Cokin system. The filters were difficult to insert and remove into the holder, there were gaps that let in light, and all of the pieces had a decidedly cheap and imprecise feel. I eventually gave up using them.
Over the weekend a friend of mine showed me his filter system. I had never heard of it, but holy moly what a nice set of equipment (and priced accordingly): Home
Thank you for this post, Julia. I am new to M4/3 (and to this forum) so this was really useful. Indeed disappointing that the Formatt Hitch 67mm filter system is discontinued. I would like to procure a kit before they will be sold out, but haven't yet found a link where I can find all/most of what I'd want. Would you please have a link that I could use ? Thanks !!
Thank you for this post, Julia. I am new to M4/3 (and to this forum) so this was really useful. Indeed disappointing that the Formatt Hitch 67mm filter system is discontinued. I would like to procure a kit before they will be sold out, but haven't yet found a link where I can find all/most of what I'd want. Would you please have a link that I could use ? Thanks !!
Thank you for your answer, Julia,
It seem all components can be found, but for the 77mm polarizer adaptor ring. Until I find that, I suppose I better not invest in the other parts.
Alternatively, I assume the Haida 75mm system should be the best alternative.
Meanwhile, I suppose I will use my blinkies, adapting my exposure a few clicks, lower my highlights in post production in DxO and add a graduated filter in Lightroom. Still have to work out what gives acceptable results (new to this)... https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1750376171672501.1073741835.100001004051263&type=3
<<My lens starts at 12mm and with the entire setup (holder for 2 filters + circular polarizer) I have very slight vignetting in the corners.>>
On top of a 12-32mm zoom, I own the 110° Laowa 7.5mm f2.0 which most probably would show serious vignetting with the 67mm Formatt Hitech system. So finally after some further searching on the web, this review,10 Stop ND Filter Test, and this video,
,
made me decide to look into the Haida Pro 75mm system. The different components of this particular size seemed not to be readily found on the web either, so I contacted the Haida representative in Belgium, who offered me a deal that was difficult to resist. So finally, as to me, the choice turned out different from Julia's, but obvious.
I've been using the Formatt Hitech 85 filters for a couple of years now, and thought I would drop a couple of remarks here. I used to use Lee 100mm on my Canon full frame lenses, but thought they would be a bit much for mFT.
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First thing, I don't know why the holder is assembled with the knurled nuts sticking out in front to catch on camera bag linings, clothing etc. Reversing the screws is much tidier.
Secondly, the locking screw is far too small to grip when you are wearing gloves and trying to shift your grad from landscape to portrait before the light vanishes on an icy morning. The screw is a standard M3 thread and stainless steel thumbscrews are easily available. I found mine on Ebay UK, £6.49 for 5, delivered.
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This is a very nice filter kit, and has worked well with the PanaLeica 12-60mm and 8-18mm lenses. No trace of vignetting on the superwide zoom.
Wow, @Julia what a fantastic and thorough resource you've provided here! I've recently been curious about adding some rectangular filters to my kit for many of the same reasons you note and this thread was a great read.
I don't have any experience with square filters except some long past brief dalliances with Cokin. For my needs with lenses, I think a "full-size" (mid-size?) 100mm system would be bulky enough that it would be left at home more often than not, so I really want something smaller, which means the 75–85mm size. In looking at the options in that space it seems there are some new entrants.
First off, Lee has discontinued their Seven5 system and the filter holder adapters are getting quite hard to find (at reasonable prices). It's been replaced by a new Lee85 system. As I'm sure you can intuit from the name, the new filters in the new system are 10mm wider.
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Other perhaps more recent entrants into this space that I've found are the Benro FH-75 and the NiSi M75. The main thing that intrigues me about both of these is that they accommodate a circular polarizer (CPL) mounted close to the lens, rather than outboard as on the Formatt Hitech and the Lee85. This addresses the concerns raised in this thread by @Nam-in-Sonoma of the potential of artifacts caused by having the CPL positioned further from the lens.
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Obviously the tradeoff with the 75mm options is that for the most part they are usable on lens with 67mm or smaller diameters. I think I can live with this restriction since there are only a handful of Micro Four Thirds lenses that are larger than that, and I don't yet own or have plans to buy any of those.But I imagine that it was the introduction of lenses like Olympus's 12–100 (which takes 72mm filter) that led Lee to move up to 85mm filters.
There is also the Haida M7, which appears to be a sort of hybrid between round and square filters, although the particular advantages of this approach are lost on me.
Based purely on price, features and other positive experiences I've had with the brand, I'm leaning toward the Benro system, but I can't find even a single review on it anywhere. I can't tell if it's just too new, or too niche.
Does anyone here have any experience with any of these other options?
Also, am I correct in assuming that similarly sized filters would be more-or-less interchangeable between any of these systems? That is, could I expect to be able to use Lee Seven5 filters with the Benro or NiSi 75mm systems? From their specs they mostly state that they use 2mm thick filters, so I'm hoping they might be interchangeable.
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