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Month: September 2013

Fishing with the Hi-Tech Pro Stop 10 (IR)

Brendan
Fishing, Townsville. by Brendan Davey
Fishing, Townsville., a photo by Brendan Davey on Flickr.

It’s been a little while since my last post, so I though I would do a quick post about my first experience with the new Hi-Tech Pro Stop 10 (IR).

When Lee first introduced their big stopper I doubt they had any idea just how popular it would be. The Big Stopper quickly got a good name because it gave a very neutral color cast, ad just worked. Consequently this filter is most than likly going to be on backorder if you order it.

Hi-tech over recently years have really started to expand their filter range, catering more to digital photography, and their new Pro Stop range show their commitment to produce quality filters. The New Pro Stop range can be purchased from 1 stop right though to 10 stops. Designed to reduce IR as well as normal wavelength visible light, which produces a very neutral exposure.

Although I have not dropped my filter and I don’t plan on doing so it is claimed to be more durable than the Lee, of which there are numerous complains about how fragile it is. It also has the rubber / foam black strip to block light entering from the edge of the filter.

And then there is the price, it’s cheaper, what more do I need to say…..

Results: Fantastic, Neutral, no light leaks. stunning.

FOTGA Fader (Variable) ND

Brendan

Recently I read a few reviews that indicated that the FOTGA ND 8 Stop was a good fader or variable ND filter, and should be considered for landscape work. Most information I read gave it favorable reviews with the only draw back being the typical black “cross” you get when using it to the extreme.

So here are the results from my testing:

Camera: Canon 6D with Canon 16-35mm f2.8 II + FOTGA Slim Wide Band Fader ND (W) 82mm.

Settings: Manual Focus, Av Mode, f5.6, 100 ISO.

The filter was tested at 16mm, 24mm and 35mm, with the filter set at Min, 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4.
It should be noted that the marks on the fader mean nothing, so I have also indicated the strength based on the camera shutter speed equating them to the closest f-stop(s) of light reduction when compared to no filter.

Post processing: All of the images were imported into light room 4.6, and had lens correction applied to ensure that the standard lens vignetting was removed. For the purposes of the test I was not concerned with sharpness or color balance.

Results & Conclusion:

FOTGA

I think the results speak for itself, for me with a full frame camera (6D) and a good wide lens, suitable for landscapes the results were terrible, bad copy? fake cheap knockoff? maybe, but I doubt it. In my option this filter is only useful on the min setting or 2 stops, beyond that significant vignetting is introduced. It may work better at focal lengths beyond 35mm, and when I get a step up ring I will trial it on longer focal lengths.

Bottom line this filter is not suitable for landscapes.