NDx400 *

[Scaglietti]

haha, I didn't notice that the sun was blocked by cloud in the left pic, but right pic got the sun
so actually the light condition already changed, hence cause the NDx400 not 400x anymore
and ya, the wb already shifted and cannot tell the color tone diff is caused by the filter (at least not 100%)

NDx400 should not change the colour tone. Since the lighting has changed, it could have the AWB changed too.

I guess this filter is good for ppl who shoot landscapes and cityscapes. I shoot people primarily, therefore, this is not 1 filter that I would use frequently enough to buy.

BC

 

[lsisaxon]

Hi CS members,

i am a rookie who just enter into world of photography. I found that Hoya has produced a special effect filter: NDx400 which reduces light values by 9 stops. Hence i would like to conduct a poll to find out who are the NDx400 users in cs.

Cs Members, senior and experts, please share your views about Hoya NDx400. big thks ;P

NDx400 : http://www.hoyafilter.com/products/hoya/oef-07.html

Good for slow shutter with large aperture photography in bright daylight. I don't think I have any use for it yet....

 

[Azure]

Taurean (if you are honestly keen) - feel free to contact me directly. I believe you still have my number from the last time. If my time permits, we can always come up with something.

For those who are truly keen, do note that you have to have a decent grounding in your basics - exposure control, understanding light, and knowing how your camera behaves, before you can effectively get really good stuff out of the ND400. This filter is NOT recommended for newbies.

I'll pass up on the technicians' debate. As a foreign friend from Flickr often says to others : "I'm a photographer, not a technologist."

 

[sykestang]

Taurean (if you are honestly keen) - feel free to contact me directly. I believe you still have my number from the last time. If my time permits, we can always come up with something.

For those who are truly keen, do note that you have to have a decent grounding in your basics - exposure control, understanding light, and knowing how your camera behaves, before you can effectively get really good stuff out of the ND400. This filter is NOT recommended for newbies.

I'll pass up on the technicians' debate. As a foreign friend from Flickr often says to others : "I'm a photographer, not a technologist."

Can understand that... I had a debate with a group of 'who thinks they're pros' CSers over the use of NDx400 & NDx1000 the other time and all of them still run a joke over the issue and on me by introducing a Miso bowl cap and tell me that is NDx1million. Really lame and ignorant bunch.

Anyway I'm glad that this thread is up and for them to see the 'light' of using high ND filters. In fact one of the fellow from that bunch who joke on my theory earlier asked me yesterday whether I can source for him NDx400 filter... :bsmilie:

 

[piglet_oinkoink]

Impressive, Azure. Thanks for your pics ! Your pics has enlightened me about usage of ND400 ! :thumbsup: sykestang and other CS members - thanks for your comment/views; now i believe that ND400 is more than just a filter that cuts 9 stops of light. :bigeyes:

 

[vince123123]

Hi Tang, just wondering, what's the difference between a NDx400 and any other normal ND (other than the fact that it cuts 9 stops?) - it is just a very strong ND?

I recall asking about a variable ND and this thread now rejuvenated my interest to look for one HEH.

Can understand that... I had a debate with a group of 'who thinks they're pros' CSers over the use of NDx400 & NDx1000 the other time and all of them still run a joke over the issue and on me by introducing a Miso bowl cap and tell me that is NDx1million. Really lame and ignorant bunch.

Anyway I'm glad that this thread is up and for them to see the 'light' of using high ND filters. In fact one of the fellow from that bunch who joke on my theory earlier asked me yesterday whether I can source for him NDx400 filter... :bsmilie:

 

[Taurean]

piglet_oinkoink, are you interested to learn about the ND400? Maybe we can arrange to meet up with Azure.

 

[siongsing]

Can a newbie join in and listen as well?

 

[piglet_oinkoink]

Sure , it is a great opportunity for me to learn about the ND400 ! ! ! :thumbsup:

 

[Azure]

Taurean - if you are keen, give me a call directly. If you guys need to buy the filter, you can go down to Lords Camera at Lucky Plaza and look for James/Kelvin. They still have a 77mm/67mm/58mm stocks left, Hoya NDx400. I was there on Mon.

 

[Azure]

To the three who'd contacted me, please check your correspondence. I've freed up some time this coming Sunday to do a sharing session on the use and effects of the Hoya ND400. Cheers.

 

[Azure]

Resurrect this for the few folks who were asking me.

Happy shopping/shooting.

 

[synapseman]

An example of what ND400 (stacked with CPL) can help produce. More shots here.

 

[simranjits]

Not very helpful comment right? I can read it is special effect, but the website also provided very little info on the usage and what kind of photos etc.

Hopefully we have more people who has used the filter to share their experiences.

create ghost town effect? , capture road/highways without any car? many things,

 

[fongi]

to solve HDR problem,
u can use GND (film and digital),
or bracketing then ps (digital only),
or apply black card (film and digital) :
tripod is a must,
use the smallest aperture (eg : f/22) and apply a ND to slower the shutter speed,
then swing a black card to block the brightest part of the picture to reduce its brightness

one advantage black card over GND is you can make black card in different shape to overcome different problem (eg use a triangle black card to shoot sunrise in a valley)

here's some useful link (in Chinese)
http://forum.dreamreload.com/showthread.php?threadid=31061

http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=257&t=199733

wow... this is something new to me... tks for sharing, btw wat type of black card to use?

 

[David Kwok]

ND400 is nothing more than a ND filter that stop alot of lights. Isn't it ? I get to know about it when I have seen DanielKHC works and also water fall works

Sometimes when the daylight is so bright that even if you stop down your aperture to the smallest, ISO to the lowest and still your shutter speed is like split of a second, this is where ND400 comes handy.

Put on this sunglass for your lens, you will find your shutter speed slow down to a "snail", great for smooth waters in the day, especially pronounce effect on waterfalls to give you that powdery effect. Basically it makes long exposure possible in the daytime. So what ever u get in the night time with long exposure, you get it for daylight too. But of course daylight long exposure comes out to have a different feel from night time I think.

I suppose you can use ND400 at night too, but most the time probably not required for night time is good enough when you stop down enough. Unless it's like evening ? And you wanna get that "no one is around" effect ? Then you use it.

2 cents worth, correct me if I'm wrong

 

[night86mare]

extreme filters are where theory falls apart.

there are some things to note when using nd400 - i used to have one, lost it in dorset, got a b&w nd1000 replacement (10 stops)..

1) extreme vignetting at widest end, at least for 10mm
2) extremely weird refraction effects, you get funny exposure strips (like bands) here and there in the picture, this has to do with light
3) shift color shifts, usually some amount of saturation, along with warmifying effects

you definitely do not need it for night shots, one stop in a night shot, due to longer shutter speed needed is 200 times more painful than daytime shot.

think of it this way - a nd1000 (10 stop) makes 1/4000 in daytime 1/4
at night, 30 seconds with nd1000 becomes.. 512 minutes

go figure.

 

[couleur]

BDX400 is the best filter ever, I recommend everyone to get one. Excluding people who only fantasies on potraits.

 

[emlee]

so true (esp on the weird strips). do you suppose back facing the sun might help? therefore the limitation of ND400 could be just that?

is the b&w ND1000 much better than the hoya in this area?

extreme filters are where theory falls apart.

there are some things to note when using nd400 - i used to have one, lost it in dorset, got a b&w nd1000 replacement (10 stops)..

1) extreme vignetting at widest end, at least for 10mm
2) extremely weird refraction effects, you get funny exposure strips (like bands) here and there in the picture, this has to do with light
3) shift color shifts, usually some amount of saturation, along with warmifying effects

you definitely do not need it for night shots, one stop in a night shot, due to longer shutter speed needed is 200 times more painful than daytime shot.

think of it this way - a nd1000 (10 stop) makes 1/4000 in daytime 1/4
at night, 30 seconds with nd1000 becomes.. 512 minutes

go figure.

 

[Lolrence]

You can check some of the landscape photos in my link...

http://flickr.com/photos/lolrence/3165534071/in/set-72157610711574034/
http://flickr.com/photos/lolrence/3166362958/in/set-72157610711574034/
http://flickr.com/photos/lolrence/3166364162/in/set-72157610711574034/

These 3 photos were taken with the b+w 3.0 on (equivalent to the Hoya 400), and basically, you can get long exposures even in daylight.