Photography News | Issue 54 | photographynews.co.uk
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First tests
MarumiDHGSuperND500andND1000 filters From£45.18
Trends come and go, so when Lee Filters launched its Big Stopper, pictures with blurred skies and milky water were suddenly really popular. And while some photographers have moved away from such work, extreme long exposures remain a popular technique – and with them the need for quality filters. Marumi’s DHG Super range of neutral density (ND) filters, distributed in the UK by Kenro, has been around for a while and features a range of NDs including an ND variable option and one designed for solar eclipse photography with a filter factor of 100,000. The range has now been supplemented with the arrival of ND500 and a ND1000 filters, giving exposure increases of 9EV and 10EV respectively. Each screw-in filter is supplied in a robust case and the filter is lighter in weight than I’d expected. The filter frame is made from aluminium, and it is thin, measuring a fraction under 4mm not including the male mounting thread. This thread is Teflon coated which gives a smooth action when fitting it to the lens and will help avoid jamming. A female thread means another filter can be screwed on the front. There’sasubtlyknurledfinishtoaid a good grip and the black satin coating will help avoid reflections. The anti- reflection theme is continued with a blacked rim around the actual filter’s edge while the surfaces are treated with an ultra-low reflection coating to banish flare and ghosting. There is also an oil andwater repellent coating. I tested the latter by running tap water droplets over the front and, yes, the droplets do dribble down off the surface. I dried the filter with a microfibre cloth and that was easy enough without smearing. Finally, I let a few droplets dry on the front
Specs
Price ND500 starts from £45.18, ND1000 from £49.62. The 77mm tested is £87.36 for the ND500 and £100.38 for the ND1000 Availability 49, 52, 55, 58, 62, 67, 72, 77 and 82mm Contact kenro.co.uk
Above The thin filter mount is nicely machined and theTeflon coating on the thread aids smooth attachment. Left The water droplet test, before and after cleaning. The dried residue came off impressively easily.
– batch variances affect all NDs so a quick test on your own new filter is always a good idea. Judged on my results, if you want colour accurate JPEGs straight out of camera then just set AWB with both filters. This was with my test camera so liable to variation, naturally, but I was impressed with the lack of colour shift. Some NDs go distinctly blue, others have an obvious warmbias, but here the test shots looked neutral. On the preset Kelvin value test for the ND500 a setting of 5560K gave neutral results while with the ND1000 you could use either 5560K or 5580K and be perfectly happy. Essentially, whether you prefer to go the AWB, preset or Kelvin route you will get a fine colour performance from these NDs with little fuss. The same applies to other aspects of filter performance. I experienced no flare or ghosting when shooting in strong lighting. Despite the filter thread of my Nikon lens being, let’s say, well used, fitting and removing the filter was not a problem. And the extra filter thread on the front did mean I could add a polariser if I wanted. WC
surface and cleaned the reside with a microfibre cloth and no mark or water ring was left. Excellent news. More importantly, the filter was cleaned with hardly any effort. I took to the outdoors to test the light-reducing qualities of these NDs. The test shots shown here were taken on a Nikon D850 fitted with a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. The camera was mounted on a Gitzo Systematic GT4553S tripod and exposures made with the camera’s exposure delay mode. The exposure for the unfiltered control shot was 1/125sec at f/11 and ISO 100, so this became 4secs at f/11 with the ND500 and 8secs at f/11 with the ND1000. The test Raws were processed without correction. A range of shots was taken with each filter starting with camera’s auto white-balance setting and then at a range of Kelvin settings. An exposure bracket at steps of 0.3EV was also taken to assess the quoted accuracy of the filter factor. The exposure test on our ND500 showed that its exposure-reducing qualities were closer to 8.7EV than 9EV while the ND1000 was spot-on
Verdict
Marumi is known for its high quality, good value for money products and these two new extreme ND filters match up to that reputation. They are optically impressive, the various coatings do their jobs efficiently and they are easy to use, in that you can fit one and get shooting without having to fiddle with the camera’s White Balance setting. In terms of value for money, taking theMarumi ND1000 77mm fit as example, its guide price is about £9 cheaper than a Hoya Pro NDwhich is £109 in the shops, and £79 cheaper than the B+WMRC 3.0 but that has a brass filter frame. So, in summary, theMarumi NDs rate highly in performance and value so can be recommended. Pros Works very well with AWB setting, high level of performance Cons The filter frame, especially the Teflon-coated thread, may show more wear over time
Comparison test images
Unfiltered
500x AWB
1000x AWB
1000x 5560K
500x 5280K
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