Archive for January, 2011

Screw on ND filters are an essential part of a filmmakers toolbox. With a traditional video camera you obviously have built in ND but on digital cinema camera you need use an ND filter to get that sexy selective depth of field (DOF) in bright light.

First up is the Light Craft Workshop Fader ND mark II. This Variable ND filter will literally change the way you shoot. This is a single variable ND filter and you change the density by rotating the filter. The Fader ND gives you between 2 to 8 stops of filtration and is a great solution when doing quick set-ups and run ‘n gun shooting. All you do is set the desired aperture and shutter speed and then you dial in the exposure by turning the variable ND wheel. Brilliant.

The drawback? I do see a slight color shift but I’m a post guy so that is a simple fix. I can also detect a very slight softening of the image on a lens over 100mm. Those 2 issues go away quickly when you get the shot you would have missed otherwise. The Fader ND is a great tool.

When I have more time for set-up I use proper Tiffen Screw on ND filters. The Tiffen Water White Filters with IRND are designed to correct the color shift from IR contamination associated with using neutral density filters with HDSLR cameras. I feel that these filters produce a pristine image a very minimal color shift.

I purchased the Fader ND and Tiffen filters all at 77mm. The Tiffen Indie Pro IRND Kit comes with 7 filters: 0.3 thru 2.1. I also purchased 77mm step-up rings, rubber lens hoods and lens caps for my Zeiss lenses.

In summery, the beauty of the Fader ND is the flexibility and speed for set up but I use the Tiffen WW IRND filters when I have more time for set-up.

BTW – I got the tip about Tiffen WW IRND from Shane Hurlbut:
http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/

I recently purchased a few Zeiss primes. The 28mm f/2, 50mm f/1.4 and the 85mm f/1.4. I had rented several Canon L lenses to test and didn’t like the ultra short focus throw for video.

Don’t get me wrong, the Canon lenses are fantastic and if I were to prioritize stills over video I think I would have gone Canon, but after I tested a Zeiss lens I was sold. The Ziess ZE lenses are manual only and have a very solid build. The feel of the focus ring is much more cinematic compared to the Canon glass thanks to the increased focus throw. Plus the Zeiss image, the micro contrast and focus fall-off (bokeh) are just amazing.

I agonized over ZE vs. ZF and went ZE for a number of reasons. The ZF require a Nikon to Canon adapter and have the reverse (Nikon) focus rotation. The main benefit of the ZF is the manual aperture ring and future proofing if you go to another camera body – but it sounds like the Scarlet will support EOS mount lenses, so I went ZE. And the ZE lenses are plug and play, support EXIF data and have focus confirmation. These lenses are amazing.

I also picked up a nice set of screw-on ND filters; Tiffen Water White IR – 0.3 thru 2.1. and a Fader ND mk II for run ‘n gun.