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LONG SHUTTER SPEEDSTiffen°s new 2-8 stop ND filter

Mtttjtjtt t|it|f|> THE PENTACON SUPEREast Germany's finest pro SLR

A density (ND) fllter reducesIh€|€ll9|0f|lg'lIU'l8I€flI€fS8|€fTS.AvarlableND lifter IS a useful tool because II effectlvelycomblnes a number of these fllters rnto

one unlt. where normally several ND frlters

would be necessary to achreve the samedegree of exposure control The varlanceof optrcal densrty rs typrcally measured by

the EV reductron rt causes. and rs achlevedb, 'Dtclt ng the outer of two pnlarrsrng glasssheets lr~ tl` s ser se the frlter .'.t>rl s rh thesame .',a, as a c rcular polarrser

Whle there s a current trend to useND frlters to achrere slower shutfer speedsl` lllt1€*lIll Dllll 'llOv€‘lll€lllrSclCl‘ <33 llldl

nf f u.'.rng .'.ate' the, can also be used for

depth of ‘reld c»>r‘trnl Whate.er 'he desrredeffect ar~ ND frlter s a great tllul especrall,

r* da,lrgt“t cord trons because the effectsare ver, LlllTl(Ll|l to recreate cnrwrncrrgly

‘An ND filter is a great tool,especially in daylight conditions,because the effects are difficultto recreate convincingly post-capture using software’

post-capture using lmage-edltlng softwareTlffens varlable ND fllter offers Ilght

reductlon from ND O6 l2EVl to ND 2 4l8EVl For example. when uslng the frlter for

an exposure readrng of l 25Osec at f 22, theND O 6 l2EVl reductron wrll grve an edurvalentexposure tol 6Osec at f 22 ur l 25Osec atf ll For the same orrqrnal exposure the ND

2 4 r8E\/> settrng :rrll be eduryarerrt to lsec at

f22 orl 25Osec arf l 4

IN USEFor durck and accurate focusrng, a camera.works best wrth the hrghest level of a.arlablelrght When LlSlTT(;] a vanable frlter lncusrng rs

easrer when the frlter rs set to ts rnrrvrnurnsettrng r,-.rnrch rs rnclrcated on the rn Oncefocus lS achreved s:/rtchrng to manual focusand adyustrng the frlter to the desrred EV

reductron rs the durclxest and most accurate.-/ay of usrng lt ll/larlzrngs or* the T ffen frlter rrm

drsplay the erght steps from the mrnrmum tothe rnaxlmum settlngs However the cornpan,states that these steps are for gurdance only

- to return to a prevlous settrngy for example- and do not lndrcaie exact lE\/ steps

Generally the camera s llltéllldl exposuremeter lS accurate .when the frlter rS mountedon the front of the lens l-lov/ever at trmes

found the exposure meter struggled

appears across the frame - an unavoldableoccurrence that IS down to the law of physlcswhen combrnlng two polarlsrng frlters The X

shape appears even sooner than the 8E\/reductron settlhg when a wldeangle lens

rs used For example, .vrth the l2»24rnr~rM16 ED-lF AF-S DX Zoom-Nlkkor lens attts :rrdest settrng l8n~n~ effectrvel, the ‘ITST

srgns of the X shape appear rh the frameat SEV, rn the form of substantral dragoralvrgnettrng n tr.-ro corners By 7E\/. the X

shape has fully manrfested and rmages areunusable At 30mm and 36mm leffectr/elthe frrst srgns are at around 6-7EV althoughthe X shape only appears rust beyond 8E\/Wrdeangle users. therefore. .vrll not get therhost Out pf thls fllter

To ensure reduced rrgnettrng when used.vlth ultra-.vrdeangle lenses the frlters r nghas a thrn lOmm profrle and a rvrder Outernm When used wlth a Nrkkor l2-24mmlens at rts wrdest settrng, there are no srgns

of cut-off Due to the wrder outer nmhowever, the lens cap wrll not clrp back nn

wrth the frlter attached Qemovrng the frlterevery trme camera l<rt rs packed away may

become trresorhe for those who use thefrlter a lot However a well-padded pouch rs

rncluded ‘.-.rrth the fllter for safe storage, and

the pouch features a (lOIl“ for cleanrng lt

vvvvvv amateurphotographer co uk 31 March 2012

to keep up rf the settrng of the frlter rs

rotated durclrl, As .vrth any e-_posuret s rmportant to checlf that the

results are accurate, or usethe hrstograrn as

an rndrcator

lt lS DOSslDle to

push the frlter beyondrts 8E\/ reductronl but

thrs s rot adusedWhen dorng soa black X shape

PERFORMANCECombrnrng two sheets of glass rn front of

the lens means that a varrable ND frlter

rs lrlxely to compromrse rmage sharpnessFortunately uhllke sOrrle Other |955

expensrve frlters, Trffens offerlng uses€X(€’||€lWl-(]U5lII`y'glass featunng ColorCoretechnology .vas able to test the frlter usrnglenses .vrth focal lengths ranglng all the .‘/ay

from l8mm to 300mm and found there rs

no drscernrple drfference rr~ rmage clarrty

Wrth the fllter attached there rs a slrght

shrft rn colour temperature In the sunnycondrtlons of the rvhrte-water raftrng

rmages rsee opposrtel. the sunnywhrte balance preset grves a

temperature of 5,500l< Wlth

the frlter attached, the colour

rendrtlon rs a llttle warmerat around 6,200l< lfocndanywhere up to a lrOOOl<

drfference, dependlng nn

the condrtrons and thesettrng of the camera andfrlter Usrng auto whrte

balance rn-camera helpsto reduce the drfference rn

temperature. although thetemperature shrft lg affected

the greater the EV reductrorthat rs applled For example

the same scene usrng AWB cameup wrth 5,800l< y‘.’ltllOUI the frlter

subscrrbe 0845 676 7778

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lltten variable ND filter

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6 lc DK :rrtl tlre frlter lattaclreu orrcl set to On a bright sunnyt~, 'r rrrrurr 2E\/ settrrru nrlcl 6 BOOK .rt day, the 8EV ' and ttrere rs ca slrurwt shrlt rrr colour(tw 5-EV setfrrru Bearrrru call rrrrs rrr rrrrrru ci reduction (above) temperature so ta custom :forte balance;rl<~t< rrrr me balance reoclrrrq srwoulu oe gives an exposure stroulcl be usecl Wrcteaoqle users hotal »» lor correct colours of 0.Ssec at f/11 use 7E\/ lrqtrt recluctrorr arlcl rrrglrer are

L clrr, rrr ages taker* mtlwout custom at ISO 100, which better serreo D, La trxecl ND trlter that r» fmlrarice correctrorrs car oe oracle to is enough to blur TlFFlN’S varlable ND frlter rs .-_'ell rs not attectecl‘rr~< rlr rur rrrrclrtlorr uslrq eclrtrrrq sott.'.are the water, whereas constructed. and the good-oualrt, glass or me olacl ><

,uv us Aclooe Camera lilac. or Dlwotoslwoo without the filter does not compromrse lmaqe slwarooess shape Otlwernlse

W' r'llDl@ JOCGSS 'Pl/OWS @'lV1€‘f 0GlUSllllQ (top left) it is lrr use, the cameras exposure meter the trlter rs a .er\, * * * * SQ(

'l=~‘I ‘lllD€‘Vr1TLll€”slider or USUN] the Color 1/250sec at 1/11 can be fooled wrth the trlter attaclwecl rrarrcl, tool3 c -r Tr rol lrlcl clrckrrlc; orr o rreutrol ure;low we r me scene

liftersvariable NDtllte .- 1' 'll‘ul"r}"""; '» 1. -1 r.

'- ~ 1* (152 for the 52mm to £318 lor the 82mm 1' 'www_tllten.com

sutr rrlw O845 676 7778 31 March 2012 www amateurphotographer co uk