timballic Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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I've used Neutral Density resin filters for several years now, for holding back skies in Landscape photography, and perhaps naively assumed that the term "optical-resin" and "optically-pure" meant just that, especially as all the "top" landscape photographers I knew were/are using them.
Recently however, whilst photographing a Landscape,(with a Tokina 100/2.8 macro), when inserting a filter whilst viewing the image on the LCD, I saw the fine twigs that I'd used to focus on, on a distant tree, being finely distorted/mushed. (The filter in question was one from Hi-Tech, costing £30, in the 85mm size, over double that in 100mm size.)
I immediately checked my stock of ND Grad filters from Hi-Tech, and Cromatek (all CR-39 Optical Resin) and found that to a greater or lesser degree, they all degraded the image. I found one from Hi-Tech so bad that I got it exchanged.
I can't speak for Lee or Singh-Ray, as I only use the 85mm size. Perhaps they are better, for the price, they certainly ought to be!
It seems rather foolish to be buying the best quality/ most "interesting" lenses I can afford, and then shooting through a piece of distorting "plastic". What do others think?
Sorry, I had meant to shoot some with/without examples but haven't got round to it.
I'd like to know if Lee/Singh-Ray have a similar effect or if "exposure blending" of some kind is a better way to go?
Edited on May 13, 2013 at 12:34 PM · View previous versions
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