9 stop Filter (ND400)

[davidd]

I have been thinking about getting one of these for some time, then this week noticed them for sale for $99.95 for a 77mm version!

Every other one I have seen has been around the $200 mark, so I grabbed at this, wondering if it was a misprint or something. It turned up today, and is exactly as described, a 77mm Hoya HMC NDX400 filter!

Check out the Discount Digital Photographics website if you are interested. Incidently their 67mm filter costs more than the 77mm!

[Darey]

David,
I went to DD Photographic a couple of weeks ago and bought one of those ND400 filters. I have tried it a couple of times at Manly, shooting beach scape shots while down there shooting some surfer shots. I have managed to get some nice smokey wave shots but don't think they are good enough for posting just yet.
I'm having fun with the filter and hope you have fun with yours.

[Wayne]

Cheap really

[pmack]

I didn't realise they stocked that filter, that's a good price.
I've been looking at getting an ND, but i reckon (without doing any reasearch) that you would loose a fair bit of quality with the ND400.
I've been considering the ND16, it's about $100 on ebay, and unlike the ND400, it's a PRO1 filter.
Tip for buying filters on ebay, you can get the same product if you buy KENKO filters for a better price sometimes.
eg: hoya CPL PRO1 $102 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/KENKO-77mm-PR...item5ad937c46d
kenko CPL PRO1 $71 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/KENKO-77mm-PR...item5ad937c46d
do a search if you want to confirm they are the same product. or just take my word for it.

[old dog]

just got one myself about a month ago and since then have been playing with it...and having a great time learning it`s benefits. You should have a good time with it.

[jjphoto]

....
I've been looking at getting an ND, but i reckon (without doing any reasearch) that you would loose a fair bit of quality with the ND400.
....

Why?

JJ

[davidd]

...I've been considering the ND16, it's about $100 on ebay, and unlike the ND400, it's a PRO1 filter...[/

Maybe so, but it's only 4 stops, if you want 9 stops it won't do...

[Darey]

Here is an example of a shot taken with the ND400 filter on my D80. (first time I used it so poorly executed on my part).

I was just trying to get a smooth effect in the water.

DSC_9139 v1.jpg

[KeeFy]

Bought mine in Singapore for SGD 85 = $65 AUD.

Pretty fun to use!

[pmack]

Why?

JJ

anything you put in front of your lens, can degrade the quality of the image.
I had a bad HOYA CPL some time back that made all my shots blurry. I actually saw someones photo on here and worked out they also had a bad CPL.

Anyway, an ND400 only lets through 1/400th of the amount of light. How does it do this? Through extremely strong tinting i presume.
I can certainly image image quality could be signficantly affected by such strong tinting.
Of course it may be of excellent quality, and loss in image quality could be minimal.
I'd be interested if anyone could show me any testing of the ND400 on image quality though, as I am still tempted to get one

[jjphoto]

anything you put in front of your lens, can degrade the quality of the image.
I had a bad HOYA CPL some time back that made all my shots blurry. I actually saw someones photo on here and worked out they also had a bad CPL.

Anyway, an ND400 only lets through 1/400th of the amount of light. How does it do this? Through extremely strong tinting i presume.
I can certainly image image quality could be signficantly affected by such strong tinting.
Of course it may be of excellent quality, and loss in image quality could be minimal.
I'd be interested if anyone could show me any testing of the ND400 on image quality though, as I am still tempted to get one

Any image degradation from an ND filter is no different to that of any other filter such as a UV, except for colour casts which are common with ND's. In fact polarising filters have more surfaces than any simple glass filter so are more likely to have issues. I've been using B+W 106 (6 stops), B+W 110 (10 stops), and Heliopan ND8 (3 stops) for about 10 years now and have never seen anything worse than flare, due to dust.

The ND400 should be no different, which by the way over a stop lighter than the B+W 110.

JJ

[pmack]

Any image degradation from an ND filter is no different to that of any other filter such as a UV

Interesting, other than your own experience with them, do you have any other grounding for this statement?

I'd love to see a 100% crop of a comparison with and without the ND400. (with compensated exposure settings of course...)

[jjphoto]

Interesting, other than your own experience with them, do you have any other grounding for this statement?...)

No, but I prefer to make judgements based on my own experience rather than other peoples, especially where the Internet is concerned.

JJ

[old dog]

I`ll have to run a test now on before and after the filter. I`ll report back in a few days , hopefully.

[andylo]

Looking forward to the test

[FallingHorse]

The latest Advanced Photographer mag (UK publication) has a comparison of all the main brands including the Lee Big Stopper, B+W etc. I only read it a few days ago but I do recall that the ND400 has a bit of a warm cast. It also said that the 9 stop reduction was a bit of an overstatement, that upon testing it was more like 8 stops but that can be over come by over exposing by one stop in AV mode (or adjusting to the equivalent in manual mode) - anyway, I thought the article was interesting and as a result of the testing done in the publication I'd still lean more towards the ND400 for a screw on type filter.

[AdamR]

My website has lots of pictures taken with that filter. I have found that technique is extremely important to get good quality and many people have blamed the filter for their inefficiencies. I am very technically minded so have no probs playing with mine. Almost all my landscapes on my site are taken with the filter.

edit/ Just had a look, there are a couple on the front page of my blog, others later in. Havent been doing much shooting. If i used the ND400 Ive put it the shot comment.

[jjphoto]

The latest Advanced Photographer mag (UK publication) has a comparison of all the main brands including the Lee Big Stopper, B+W etc. I only read it a few days ago but I do recall that the ND400 has a bit of a warm cast. It also said that the 9 stop reduction was a bit of an overstatement, that upon testing it was more like 8 stops but that can be over come by over exposing by one stop in AV mode (or adjusting to the equivalent in manual mode) - anyway, I thought the article was interesting and as a result of the testing done in the publication I'd still lean more towards the ND400 for a screw on type filter.

Yeah, I found the ND400 to be about 8 stops, maybe a bit less IIRC. Mine also had a distinct BLUE cast, but I'm pretty sure you can notch that up to sample variation.

The B+W 110 was about 10.5 stops and has a distinct and strong amber cast, as does the B+W 106.

The ONLY ND filter I've ever used that had NO cast at all was a Helipoan 3 stop ND. Brilliant bit of glass. Heliopan is a very high quality filter made by Schneider IIRC. It's not some unkonwn piece of Chinese junk!

I've found that the cheaper filters, including the Cokin ND grads, have colour casts in even mild ND's.

JJ

[pmack]

No, but I prefer to make judgements based on my own experience rather than other peoples, especially where the Internet is concerned.

JJ

well true, but obviously if you don't have the filter, seeing tests and reviews by others is still useful, as all I have is your word, and you're just someone from the internet also!

[davidn19]

My website has lots of pictures taken with that filter. I have found that technique is extremely important to get good quality and many people have blamed the filter for their inefficiencies. I am very technically minded so have no probs playing with mine. Almost all my landscapes on my site are taken with the filter.

edit/ Just had a look, there are a couple on the front page of my blog, others later in. Havent been doing much shooting. If i used the ND400 Ive put it the shot comment.

Awesome shots Adam - I'm going to buy this filter based on your pics and and have a play - off to the Great Ocean Rd next week so think it might come in handy!