Singh-Ray Filters

Hi All -


I was wondering if anyone is using any of the Singh Ray filters. If so, which one and is it really worth the extra $$ to you? I currently have a variety of B+W filters but this morning I was looking at the Singh-Ray for the first time. There are a few of them that really have my interest but man they are expensive! The rings justscrew on like the B+W one's I have and the square ones are for use with Cokin filter holders, correct? I don't know much about those holders but the reverse graduated ND filter seems cool & I think it only comes w/ needing a holder.

Any input on these filters appreciated and if anyone has photos taken using any of these, I'd love to see them!

Thanks Much!

Denise

Oh I'm a big fan of these filters. I also follow the Singh-Ray blog which is really good:
http://singhray.blogspot.com/
I own the Vari-ND duo, which is a combo polarizer and ND filter that is adjustable up to 8 stops darkness. It is rather thick so I can't use it below 35 mm focal length on my full-frame camera without vignetting. I also have a few of their 'Galen Rowell' ND grads, in 4x6 format. These are my favourite by far. Yes they are all rather pricey... I can't understand how they can charge that much for a piece of smoked plastic, but they sure work and there is zero distortion, even when you stack them.

Hi Jonathan,


Thanks for the link to the blog! I am currently looking at getting the LB ColorCombo Warm Polarizer/LB Color Intensifying Filter and the Vari-ND Filter. I just think they would be great to use especially come fall and catching the intense colors of the leaves ...fall colors in Wisconsin are awesome! But at these prices, I would think they would have to be pretty magical!

Denise

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Originally Posted by Jonathan Huyer

Oh I'm a big fan of these filters. I also follow the Singh-Ray blog which is really good:
[url="http://singhray.blogspot.com/]http://singhray.blogspot.com/[/url]
I own the Vari-ND duo, which is a combo polarizer and ND filter that is adjustable up to 8 stops darkness. It is rather thick so I can't use it below 35 mm focal length on my full-frame camera without vignetting. I also have a few of their 'Galen Rowell' ND grads, in 4x6 format. These are my favourite by far. Yes they are all rather pricey... I can't understand how they can charge that much for a piece of smoked plastic, but they sure work and there is zero distortion, even when you stack them.
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Does autofocus work adequately with the Vari-ND duo on? I have a Fader ND Mark II and the camera never seems to nail autofocus when using the filter (I'm using it with portraiture...so a "little bit off" is quite noticeable. The following shot was taken using manual focus and live view:





Canon 7D, 85mm f/1.8 -- f/2, 1/200, ISO 100




http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/...0c0b5214a9.jpg

That's right, auto focus doesn't work at high ND settings. So I learned to operate the Vari-ND duo this way:
- first set the ND effect to minimum
- adjust the polarizer ring as desired
- focus the image, then switch the lens to manual focus to essentially lock it in position
- adjust the ND ring to desired level, and take the photo


Obviously, this isn't so convenient when taking a portrait picture! So far I have only used it for landscape work.

The spending never ends! :) Thanks for this tip, folks. I am so close to purchasing this Vari-N-Duo now.

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Originally Posted by deltasun

The spending never ends! :) Thanks for this tip, folks. I am so close to purchasing this Vari-N-Duo now.
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Isn't it amazing! I thought I was near done for awhile ...that is until I ran across these!! I could really have used a couple of them this past weekend!

I haven't used the Vari-ND, but I'd think it would be convenient.


I've been quite happy with the combination of a B+W 103 (3-stop ND) and 110 (10-stop ND). For 'routine' uses (e.g. waterfalls/fountains, light trails at night, or wide-aperture outdoor portraits), I've found 3 stops to be sufficient, even with theEF 85mm f/1.2<span style="color: red;"]LII, although shutter speeds are often &lt;1/2000 (it's nice that the hood can be mounted over a 77mm filter with a 72&rarr;77mm step-up ring). With a 3-stop ND, AF and metering perform just fine. When I want a really long exposure for creative effects, the 10-stop is perfect (pre-focusing and manual exposure are needed).


I have been considering the B+W Redhancer for the fall foliage this year. But then I start wondering how that will compare to Canon's Autumn Hues custom picture style, especially since the latter can be downloaded for free... In general, I think most optical filter effects can be achieved digitally (polarization and ND effects on exposures in terms of DoF/motion blur being the exceptions).


The Singh-Ray graduated NDs do look quite nice. That's one area where you want to stay away from the standard B+W offerings, since a round grad ND filter is a bad idea. Schneider Optics (B+W's parent company) does make rectangular and square grad NDs, available as special orders from B&amp;H. They are ground/polished glass filters, meaning they are more homogeneous and planar than the optical resin versions like the Singh-Ray ND grads. The Schneider glass filters also cost about twice as much as the Singh-Ray resin filters.


Keep the widths of the rectangular filters and the size of the holder in mind - a 100mm/4" wide filter in a holder (e.g. Lee or Cokin Z-Pro) will work fine with a 17mm lens (on a 1.6x crop body), but will likely be visible with a UWA lens like the EF-S 10-22mm. For those, you'd need the Cokin X-Pro series.


Personally, I don't think I'm ready to go down the grad ND road yet. I'm reluctant to use 'ok' filters (Cokin, etc.). Good quality filters (Singh-Ray) are expensive, and rectangular filters in general are unwieldy. So far, for situations where I'd be inclined to use a grad ND, I've been quite pleased with the results of bracketed exposures and exposure fusion ('natural-looking' HDR). In some ways, that has advantages (e.g., with trees jutting above the horizon line); the disadvantages (especially ghosting due to wind, etc.) are somewhat mitigated by shooting at 8 fps.

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Originally Posted by ddt0725

I thought I was near done for awhile

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Don't worry, you'll never be done... [:P]

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Originally Posted by neuroanatomist

But then I start wondering how that will compare to Canon's Autumn Hues custom picture style, especially since the latter can be downloaded for free

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Thanks for reminding me of this...I am going to download this a give it a try!

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Originally Posted by neuroanatomist

Don't worry, you'll never be done... [img]/emoticons/emotion-4.gif[/img]

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Oh, I'm finding this out...believe me! I still have my eye on that 85L, it may take me alittle while but it will be in my bag some day! Maybe I should get started on my Dear Santa letter early!

Denise

Question:


Does anyone have experience with Sing-Ray Filters vrs B+W filters? When reading and viewing each's respective descriptions on their own sites Sing-Ray comes off as the best thing since sliced bread. Are they or is it marketing?


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Originally Posted by Iguide

Does anyone have experience with Sing-Ray Filters vrs B+W filters? When reading and viewing each's respective descriptions on their own sites Sing-Ray comes off as the best thing since sliced bread. Are they or is it marketing?

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For the most part, their product lines (at least, the more popular ones) are non-overlapping. As I stated elsewhere,B+W is excellent for round/threaded filters, but they are not the place to go for rectangular filters. If you want a graduated ND filter, B+W's circular ones are not a good solution (the quality is excellent, but for creative purposes you almost never want the graduation in the middle of the image). B+W also doesn't make anything like the Vari-ND filters offered by Singh-Ray. Singh-Ray does make excellent resin graduated ND filters, and their variable ND filters are also nice.


But, I do think there's definitely a big element of marketing hype in Singh-Ray's products. Here are a some reasons that I feel that's the case:


There's a statement in Singh-Ray's FAQ, "<span>Q6) Are your filters multi-coated? A:No. We have carefully evaluated multi-coating of filters, and in our opinion, the benefits are negligible, and outweighed by several disadvantages." Personally, I'd like to know what those purported disadvantages are in Singh-Ray's opinion, and how they were 'carefully evaluated'. To me, that sure sounds like a marketing statement. It's pretty generally held that multicoated filters result in less reflection and ghosting/flare/glare than single-coated or uncoated filters. In fact, although Singh-Ray states that their filters are not multicoated, they don't state whether they are single-coated or uncoated. I like to know what I'm buying. Maybe it's ok if their filters are uncoated, though - their RayVu cleaning solution, "...applies a crystal-clear coating to resist fogging, dust, and finger prints [and] ...tends to slightly increase light transmission and color saturation."Personally, I like my filters to be (multi)coated and my cleaning solutions not to leave a residue behind. But, that's me.


Another reason is transmission curves, which provide a quantitative way to evaluate filter performance. B+W publishes their data, both separately and at the back of their filter handbook. Hoya's data are at the back of their catalog. Where are Singh-Ray's? Apparently, they don't make them available.

If you can afford it, get the sing-ray filters. I just bought the vari-n-trio (580$ for the slim version) and it is absolutely fantastic. It

I have the Daryl Benson 3 stop reverse grad. It is an amazing filter. I also have the Hitech SS and HS grad series as well. As to my polarizers, I

The Singh-Ray blog is great. Checkout the home page, I