This week I bought some photo gear that I should have bought years ago I think. But photography is still not my main source of income so every year I spend only a certain amount of money to new gear. This time it was gear for making long exposures.
First I searched the internet for reviews of different filters. I definitely wanted a square filter, so I can easily combine it with other filters like Grad ND’s in the same holder. For me the filter is a good combination between results and price. In the picture below you see what I bought. It is a Stealth Gear Wide Range filter holder, a Stealth Gear Wide Range Ring and a Formatt-Hitech 10 stops filter.
The Wide Range Ring attached to my Canon 17-40mm lens:
I bought the Wide Ring because it is for lenses from 17mm and onwards. So I can use my Ultra Wide Angle lens.
The Wide Range Filter Holder attached to the Ring:
The Filter in the Holder:
It is the Formatt-Hitech Pro Stopper 10 IRND:
I was able to test it yesterday at the harbour. It is my first long exposure shot with a filter like this. I am very satisfied with the results (20 sec at F/16). The filter gives the photo a bit of a blue cast, but this is easily corrected in Lightroom 5 where I import my RAW files.
This is the final result with only some minor post processing in LR.
