Vari ND filter

[KLi]

Hey I am looking to get a Vari ND filter to shoot large aperture with flash when the sun is bright. I figure that I will need 3-5 stops depending on how bright it is so a vari filter might be better then having a set of different stop filters.

Any one have experience with vari ND filters?

[Bennymiata]

I have a Singh-Ray, and from all the reports I've read, it's the duck's guts.

Mine works very well and is cheaper than buying a number of good quality ND's.

[ElectricImages]

I have a Singh-Ray, and from all the reports I've read, it's the duck's guts.


It's *almost* the ducks guts. That honour goes to the German-made Heliopan variable ND - glass by Zeiss, ultra-thin, hard-stop markings across 1-6.6 stops of light, and introduces little or no colour shift or chromatic aberration. Starts at about $350 for a 77mm and recommended by cinematographer Phillip Bloom (who claims to have "tried them all") :)

According to Phillip, the Singh-Ray is almost as good, but introduces some colour shift; its advantage over the Heliopan is that it does not vignette at 11mm, whereas the Heliopan introduces a very slight vignette.

For high quality at a good value price, I would go with the Series II Variable NDs from Lightcraft Workshop. I have one in 77mm, and it's excellent. It is the first choice of most of us indie DSLR filmmakers, because of its quality and price.

[Dylan & Marianne]

I would agree with the above about heliopan - we have had great experience with our 10 stopper though not with a variND.
Given that you're wanting 3-5 stops, the lightcraft version might be OK but as a warning, you won't be able to extend it beyond 5-6 stops before bizarre cross polarisation starts to occur - for that reason I've actually stopped using it entirely.

[jamesyu]

I use Lightcraft workshop ND8~ND400 for half year.
It's work fine and price is only around $125 from ebay.

But I only use it for landscape. I always avoid take shoot under sunshine.