Such a refreshing change to hear non biased opinions on other manufacturer's products with a practical assessments to prove what you are saying. Their are so many variables to consider, your eyesight for one (colour blindness), monitor settings and of course hues within filters which as you practically corrected post process. I recently bought a K & F Concept 10 stop filter with filter holder for £50. Great quality for the money also. Thanks, keep presenting the way you do, make great sense.
I bought my first set of Zomei ND and ND Grad filters (resin) when I started landscape photography a couple years ( you don't need filters for macro) and I loved them. I recently noticed a slight fuzziness in my 3 stop filter. For my 6 stop and 10 stop filters I use one called ICE by Desmond Photographic for about $60 each. They are the same company that makes Haida filters and I love them. No fuzziness, zero color cast even in the 10 stop and they are glass. I recently purchased a 3 stop nd with them. I do have a NISI V5 Pro CPL setup but I can't afford the ND or ND Grad filters for it. Maybe some day but for now I love my ICE and Zomei filters. Great video!!
Thank you, Mr. Gough, for this "fair and balanced" reviews of the three filters. Special thanks for showing us the steps of your post processing. God bless.
They all work, some may require a little more tweaking but the moral of this story is, just use what you have. Amazing comparison Gary, another great video!
Nice to get an honest, down to earth and genuine review. In too many, expensive is better and cheap cannot be good, basically telling many, what they want to hear.
Thanks for that review, very interesting. I bought a 'cheap' screw on Hoya ND400 off Amazon, a few years ago, for my old bridge camera and found the surface to be very sticky and already had loads of white specs of dust stuck to it when new. I had to clean it with cleaning fluid and many tissues. It's still a dust magnet now, even though it's not sticky anymore. Now I've got a DSLR I may well go for the Zomei one.
I'm subbed to about a dozen or so photography channels - and without a shadow of a doubt Gary Gough is the best by a country mile. No fuss tests/tuition- with genuine results, put over in a way that even a dummy like me can understand. Kudos to you sir.
Thanks so much for this. With your review here, I bought a set of Zomei filters. 10 stop and set of ND grads from 1-4 stops. They appear to be extremely good for the price and that price has allowed me to jump into the filter arena.
Having a £10 filter myself this is so interesting. To me it's great as its only used a few times a year, but as I didn't spend so much it aloud me to buy a kit containing an 8,6 and 2 stop filters to give me more control. Thanks for a great "real world" test.
Hi Gary--thanks for the real world review of the 10 stop ND filters. I was on the fence trying to decide if the Zomei 10 stop was as good as their WEB site claims and your video helped me decide to make the purchase. I received my Zomei 10 stop today and after reviewing my test shots--I am so happy I bought this filter. Thanks again for the great insight! Rich
I'm using K&F 100mm NDs...(£45 each) they're actually quite superb. Equally on par with Lee. As Mr Gough demonstrates, cost doesn't actually mean the best..
Hi Gary.What you have done here is a God send for me.I have a set of filters from Lee 0.3 0.6 and 0.9 graduated and holder, took me ages to save up for them.I then asked some photographers if I had to save up for either 1. little stop, 2.10 stop or 3. polarizer, they said number 3, that with the ring is £192.So now I think I will look at getting the 10 stop from Zomei, and still be able to save for the polarizer.Many thanks Ray.
@@PatOutdoorify After dissing me on national TH-cam i am so please the Zomei filters came through. ;P i was using the Grads today funny enough, only slight moan is the image quality sharpness is slightly lost with the filter. Don't worry, Gary is a good friend so he is allowed to Dis me :)
Very informative Gary. I do have the Lee 10 stop filter and my other filters are Zomie including a 6 stop. Never had a problem with the Zomei system. Great value for money.
Good video Gary. I've had a few 10 stops and had the andoer £10 one which was surprisingly sharp and now have both the zomei and formatt hi-tech firecrest filters. The zomei filter was fantastic, very sharp and no image degradation but IMPOSSIBLE to keep clean, that's why I bought the formatt hi-tech. Not really much between them just got fed up scrubbing tons of crap off my zomei filter every time I went to use it.
Good vlog Gary and your findings are spot on. Last year I went to buy my first ND filter and wondered whether a £10 filter would be any good or whether after a couple of uses it would stay at the bottom of the camera bag. The £10 filter I ended up buying gives me great results. I'm not a pro like you but the filter I've got does the job really well. I would recommend to anyone out there who's dubious about buying a cheap filter or who hasn't got a big budget to buy a cheap filter as you can still get really good results.
Really glad you did this comparison, I have recently bought a cheap set of filters similar to the Lee system for £20 I know that the quality isn't anything like that of the Lee setup, but to as you say... Dip my toe in. Perfect
Hi Gary, I used to owned Firecrest filters but sold the lot because I prefer my £25.00 filter that doesn't have colour cast to it. There's no effect on the overall sharpness and given that it is a screw in filter, it means I do not have to carry the square system.
Interesting Gary. I use SRB photographic filters and they are brilliant- no colour cast at all, and cost around £28. Both square and round available, and they do grads too
I bought the Lee 10 Stop to start with Gary but have recently just got a 6 Stop Zomei for £45 and its excellent. Great video and helpful to those on a budget😀👍🏻
Another advantage of the newer filters is the Nano coatings which make cleaning a breeze, always had problems cleaning my Lee filters, especially if they had seawater on them, they always would smear. With the nano coatings the water just runs off, good if shooting in the rain, just a quick wipe is all that is needed, I would not go back to non Nano coated filters now. Some are also smash resistant, Lee are easy to break, I know from experience.
Enjoyed the review Gary I have a expensive filter in my bag plus a cheap one if iam clumsy and break the expensive one so I can carry on my shoot some of my best shots have been with the cheap one
Interesting Gary , I've used the Lee 10 stop for about 5 yrs now & never get a color cast with it ( unless I pair it with my hi-tech filters). I have however got a little stopper that gives a cast so it's going back to LEE & they're sending me a replacement 👍
The problem I have had with a cheap filter was that the coating was blotchy. This blotchy coating came thru to the image and showed caused a lot of luminescence distortion. Just a word of warning to those contemplating a cheap filter. Check it out and be sure you can return it if it proves to be a problem.
i had the LEE 10 stop and did the same and dropped it i replaced it with the zomei as cash was low at the time i go the full kit for £120 that included the gards soft and hard edge 10 stop holder bag and the filter holder system with the 77mm ring on the idea that when i was in a position i could replace the lee stopper i would hand it down to my lad as he was just starting out 3 years on ive never bother as it does the same and ive never noticed a difference between them . i also have a £10 CHEAPO off evilbay just as a walk round 10 stop and like you say there more like 11stop just shoot a little longer . great useful video as always m8
Interesting Video Gary, I use the Zomei 10stop but mine has a really heavy Magenta cast to it.....and when you look through it the glass appears pinky unlike yours which as you say has a blue/white hue....
Cheers Gary, I'm looking at investing in ND filters along with a polarizer and a two or three coloured filters for B&W film photography. I think you saved me some money today.
Based on this video I bought one of those cheapie eBay ones (58mm) to see how it would compare to my £100 NiSi on my Panasonic G9. I was seriously impressed. I struggled to detect any drop in sharpness or detect any colour cast. I would say my my copy was more like 10 2/3 stop but this was easily fixed in LR. Construction wasn’t great but perfectly acceptable and a great way to experiment with long exposure photography without paying a fortune. Came in a decent quality pouch with a cleaning cloth. What’s not to like?
Indeed! I'm holding out for a Wine Country Camera filter system but until then it's a couple of super cheep 77mm filters, adapter rings and bracketing...
I'm starting to think you've shot that shell more than me. Great test. I use a £10 Neewer 10 stop and can't fault it, other than being a screw in one and therefore needing more than one depending on lens diameter. I was considering the Zomei as an upgrade, but wasn't sure about it. You've convinced me to go for it.
Good honest comparison, nice one. I have the Lee 10 stopper but hardly use it these days as I don't shoot LE's that much.However, I have a couple of the Zomei Grads in glass which are a great quality but a little under their considered graduations - ie, the 3 stop soft is more like a 2 stop soft. As long as you know that it's fine. I didn't realise they had a 10 stopper in their range but if I was in the market for a 10 stopper I would not hesitate getting one.
Interesting comparison. I shoot with Lee filters and have done for years. My 10 stop filter is actually closer to 11 stops so that 'problem' isn't unique to the cheap filters. Thanks for sharing
18:52 I see some of them offer the ability to screw in a filter onto the square holder. IE: with the "walking way" holder it looks like you get 1 screw in filter then over that you can put a square filter.
Hi Gary, is there anything between Lee & Zomie on coatings for cleaning etc? (The plastic one loses a few ppints here). The only reason I ask is I have HOYA HD CPL's and they clean very well.
Gary, I shoot lightning with a canon 5d mklll and whenever I leave the camera open from 30 seconds or longer it takes up to a minute for the data to be written to the cards. What can I do to speed it up.
"Long exposure noise reduction" Turn it off. You don't need it on. When it's on, it always takes a second blank image the sale length of time as the first.
haven't gone through all the comments, and still have to view the rest of video, but I found it funny that around 6:50 you say that all images were shot at ISO 100 while on the screen in front of you the image with the LEE filter says ISO 50... just an observation. Love your videos though !! 😁........ finished the video and very much appreciated the "non-comparison". I bought a cheap set of screw-on ND filters a few weeks back and I am very happy with the results. One of the drawbacks of the screw-on system is of course the fact that it makes adding a graduation filter a bit difficult (yes, there are screw on grad filters but those are very limiting in their usefulness)
Thanks Gary. Nice comparison. I've done similar comparisons between Lee, Nisi, Hitech, Breakthrough and B + W (all high end filters). The all are excellent but do have different colour casts. This is more of an issue with colourful captures. For example, Hitech filters are quite magenta. Forests and autumn colours are way off with this filter. Sunsets look pretty magical. All easily dealt with in post though. There are subtle difference in exposure under identical settings too. This can be annoying if you end up having to take several shots to get the desired exposure. I find my Lee Big Stopper is around 11 stops instead of 10. I guess you just get to know your filters in the field and adjust your time accordingly. Out of all the filters I've tested, Breakthrough 10 stops seem to have the least colour cast and are pretty accurate with respect to accuracy of exposure settings. Lots of fun. Thanks again.
I have several Zomei filters , but feel them to red if i don't want it to be. The graduated works fine. Last i ordered some Benro Master and feel them a lot better. I have also , Haida, Nisi, and Lee for different use. In my mirrorless Nikon Z7 i more or less see what i get and can change brand depend of my feeling what i want. :) Haida is the filters i am less happy with on long exposures as they do visible a lot of dust anyhow i clean the best possible on filters.
Well.....taking your advice, my first adventure into long exposure is equipped with ZOMEI gear. The adapter ring, filter holder, The 10 stop, 4 hard grad ND2, 4, 8 and 16.....£82. Thanks Gary.
Can I ask you a question? I got the Zomei 10 stop and on most images I have a flare in the same spot every time. I cover the camera with a black rag no light leak, got the filter in the closest slot to the lens, any ideas why, tonight I had the sun to my back so there should not be an issue, Last night I had the sun to my left at 90 degrees, and every one did not have one. thanks!
You've confused me Hugh, which isn't too difficult I may add :) Do you always get a flare? Have you tried turning the filter upside down? this will eradicate a flaw in the glass. Let me know
thanks for getting back to me, I tested my Zomei for two days, Have it on my Canon 24-105 and got the flare on very image, so i tried a polarizer that didn't work, I was shooting F11 to 20 at around 90 seconds and flare very evident, so I spun the filter and then the flare showed on the other side, so i looked closely at the filter and it had some blemishes in the glass like a bad smear but you could not remove, and thats where the flare showed up on the image, so I requested a replacement from Amazon, but then decided against it, sending for return and I bought a different brand, The Zomei I had was glass. I can get most of the flare off in PS but don't want to deal with that. thanks
I've just ordered the 52mm version of the Silm Gary, £5.86! Your video came at a good time, I was looking at LEE filters for a specific shot I'm planning in Bristol, I'm not a professional photographer so the saving could just be worth it. Time will tell.
Hi Gray...thank you so much this was very informative...and you are spot on, im very new to landscape photography and its brilliant advice to start testing my skills with cheap gear...problem is i cant find it could you please let me know its brand name..thanks
Excellent video Gary. Having never tried using an HD filter of any sort I think I would go with the cheaper one to see if it is something I want to try in future. As for the Lee and Zomei, I'm nt a professional, I don't sell my images and don't print over A3 so will probably try the Zomei. Would love to see some more comparisons on other photographic equipment. Thank you.
Thanks for this. I’ve been shopping for my first square filter set for months. As a hobbyist a Lee is just too expensive so mid range it is. This was very helpful. Have you ever used Gobe now Urth filters? Cheers from southern Georgian Bay, Ontario Canada
I've been using Zomei for a long time now and never had any problem with their filters and also i bought a Zomei Carbon Fiber tripod and it serves me well :) its an underrated brand i guess
I supplied a link in the description but it doesn't work anymore :( I don't Chris, sorry. I borrowed it. There are quite a few on offer on eBay. I'm sure they're all just as good. The K&F one apparently is awesome.
I have a zomei 10 stop which I paid less than £50 and I have a£10 10 stop and agree with you i have no problem with the £10 one but i do with the zomei and that is getting hold of a ring for my lenses, they are only 55mm thread and i don't think they do one . Do you have any ideas
Great video Gary. I use the Zomei filters and I personally love them. The only issue I get is on the grads which give a slight magenta cast which is easily fixed in in post. The main reason I chose them was that Lee filters are over $250 NZ dollars and I can't justify the price.
I have over £1500 of Lee filters but I bought them a long time ago way before most people was bugging them up. But I wish now I had cheaper ones. I have heard of Zomie they do lots of kits and filters. Now saying that I also have lots of cheap £10 filters I use on my Fuji camera. I have NEVER had anyone mention the difference in my photos haha. Benro are now doing them and these are very very good. I now use the IRND 10 and 6 stop these are also better sharper and less colour cast than the normal big and little stopper BUT at £180 each I must of been mad.
Does the screw-in filter introduce vignetting? That was my experience with the set I bought, so I eventually went to square filters and haven't regretted it.
I have an APSC camera (Nikon D7200). I wanted a wide angle lens and went for a Tokina 11-20 f2.8 because I wanted to take some night sky stuff. The extra stop of light is required. Unfortunately I never considered the massive (82mm) filter thread. I already had a set of Cokin P series filters that were too small. Cokin aren’t the most expensive but I didn’t fancy buying another set so I bought a Hoya Pro CPL and a 10 quid 10 stopper. I wouldn’t skimp on the CPL (50 quid) but wouldn’t use the ND anywhere near as much. I have to say, I’m really happy with it. Less colour cast than the Cokin system and perfectly sharp. I bought another for a different lens of a different brand and it’s perfect too. If you’re not loaded and don’t make any money from photography, they do a good job for small money.
Thanks for this Gary, so much snobbery around use of filters I think and if you can get a great image from a £10 filter then that’s what it’s about to me. I’ll buy one as never used one and see how I get on. As you say vast majority of folk with post process and can fix issues there. Never used a grad filter either and again use those in LR if I feel the image needs it. Thanks again great informative video without the BS 👍
Hi Gary, Amazon sell the ZOMEi filter for £36.99, even more saved compared to the Lee filter, I'm learning with a set of cheap Ranger ND's, then I'll possibly buy the ZOMEi once I progress a bit, thanks
Great video Gary, as I am only just starting out and only just recently got into filters I bought the budget range ones and have to say as a novice I am more than happy with it, I have for a while wondered what the comparison would be to a Lee filter and if I could justify it I would probably still go out and buy one but for now I will stick with what I've got but thank you for this anyway it was very interesting 😊 Phil
I’ve been using hoya filters for a few years and they have a blue hue which I know how to fix. I was thinking to get a zomei 3 stop nd filter which is dirt cheap in ali express. What was stopping me is that I do believe that you get what you pay for. However, I am not a professional and I do get clumsy. I would dread dropping and breaking a lee filter as I know their cost. Maybe I will give zomei a try after all.
Gary, once again a fantastic video and I really appreciate your unbiased review. I am currently using the Cokin system, but have been looking at the Zomei since it will cope with my ultra wide angle lenses which vignette on the Cokin. So thanks again for your video and carry on with your brilliant TH-cam posts!
I need some help, I just purchased a Zomei 10 stop and I am having a strange Green and purple stripe that runs the length or width of the frame. What I have been trying to photograph are some pilings in the water. The sun is of to my left at about 10-11 o-clock the sky is partly cloudy. I have tried different f-stops from 2.8 to 22 it shows up in every shot sometimes more pronounced than others. Now here's the weird part, when I get home and take some shots around the house no stripes. Could it be a weird effect because of the water? Have you experienced this? Thanks for your time.
Random question that will probably go unanswered, what's the name of the place in the intro? I have a feeling I've been there, somewhere in Essex or Kent. Maybe Sheerness? Might just be somewhere that looks similar.
Interesting observation. I nearly always combine grads with my ND's so the cheapo screw in one would be no good for me. I tend to use the 10 stop + ND's in bright sunlight so flaring and light leaks become more common, would be interesting to see how the Zomie with no gaskets works in those conditions. When you start combining grads and nd's then correcting the white balance becomes more difficult which is why I have started using Formatt Firecrest ND's instead of my big stopper. The £10 screw in one looks a good way to get into taking long exposures, the Zomie looks a good option and is easily removable for focussing.
Hi Paul, the cheap £10.00 has the capability of screwing an adapter ring to it so then the foundation kit can be applied. Still a faff screwing the bloody thing on and off though lol.
ive used 2 neewer 10 stop screw in filters and had some good images last year, but ive just bought a nisi v5 100mm holder and intend on getting a 10 stopper from lee, now im not so sure as ive no filters at all yet and £50 is quite the saving.
Such a refreshing change to hear non biased opinions on other manufacturer's products with a practical assessments to prove what you are saying. Their are so many variables to consider, your eyesight for one (colour blindness), monitor settings and of course hues within filters which as you practically corrected post process. I recently bought a K & F Concept 10 stop filter with filter holder for £50. Great quality for the money also. Thanks, keep presenting the way you do, make great sense.
One thing I am never disappointed in is your film clips. Always look forward to them. Thank you so much. Regards Brian
You never disappointed me; always explain everything so clearly.
Its like I never want the video to end.
I bought my first set of Zomei ND and ND Grad filters (resin) when I started landscape photography a couple years ( you don't need filters for macro) and I loved them. I recently noticed a slight fuzziness in my 3 stop filter. For my 6 stop and 10 stop filters I use one called ICE by Desmond Photographic for about $60 each. They are the same company that makes Haida filters and I love them. No fuzziness, zero color cast even in the 10 stop and they are glass. I recently purchased a 3 stop nd with them. I do have a NISI V5 Pro CPL setup but I can't afford the ND or ND Grad filters for it. Maybe some day but for now I love my ICE and Zomei filters. Great video!!
I'll also give a thumbs up for the ICE brand. I have the 10 stop and it works great for me.
Thank you, Mr. Gough, for this "fair and balanced" reviews of the three filters. Special thanks for showing us the steps of your post processing. God bless.
I’ve just got into landscape photography and I’ve come across your Chanel , one word... awesome 😎
Thank you for the video. And your honest opinion on the filters, for not over complicating things.
Keep up the great work 🙂
Thank you
They all work, some may require a little more tweaking but the moral of this story is, just use what you have. Amazing comparison Gary, another great video!
Cheers 👍👍
Nice to get an honest, down to earth and genuine review. In too many, expensive is better and cheap cannot be good, basically telling many, what they want to hear.
Cheers
Thanks for that review, very interesting. I bought a 'cheap' screw on Hoya ND400 off Amazon, a few years ago, for my old bridge camera and found the surface to be very sticky and already had loads of white specs of dust stuck to it when new. I had to clean it with cleaning fluid and many tissues. It's still a dust magnet now, even though it's not sticky anymore. Now I've got a DSLR I may well go for the Zomei one.
Thanks Gary. Just breaking into this area of photography (as you know) and found the informative provided extremely helpful.
Brilliant thank you, but noticed you didn’t add clarity changes to other two so probably as good 🙂
Thank god I found this video! Stopped me disappearing down the colour balance comparison rabbit hole! Thank you!
I'm subbed to about a dozen or so photography channels - and without a shadow of a doubt Gary Gough is the best by a country mile. No fuss tests/tuition- with genuine results, put over in a way that even a dummy like me can understand. Kudos to you sir.
Thanks so much for this. With your review here, I bought a set of Zomei filters. 10 stop and set of ND grads from 1-4 stops. They appear to be extremely good for the price and that price has allowed me to jump into the filter arena.
WARNING... you'll be hooked forever :)
Where did you get your grad filters from mate?
Having a £10 filter myself this is so interesting. To me it's great as its only used a few times a year, but as I didn't spend so much it aloud me to buy a kit containing an 8,6 and 2 stop filters to give me more control. Thanks for a great "real world" test.
I use a range of Zomie filters including the 10 stop and am very pleased with the results. It is also an excellent company to deal with.
Thank you for this Gary. For us photographers out there on a budget, this was really informative and inspiring!
Hi Gary--thanks for the real world review of the 10 stop ND filters. I was on the fence trying to decide if the Zomei 10 stop was as good as their WEB site claims and your video helped me decide to make the purchase. I received my Zomei 10 stop today and after reviewing my test shots--I am so happy I bought this filter.
Thanks again for the great insight!
Rich
I'm using K&F 100mm NDs...(£45 each) they're actually quite superb. Equally on par with Lee. As Mr Gough demonstrates, cost doesn't actually mean the best..
Hi Gary.What you have done here is a God send for me.I have a set of filters from Lee 0.3 0.6 and 0.9 graduated and holder, took me ages to save up for them.I then asked some photographers if I had to save up for either 1. little stop, 2.10 stop or 3. polarizer, they said number 3, that with the ring is £192.So now I think I will look at getting the 10 stop from Zomei, and still be able to save for the polarizer.Many thanks Ray.
I've been using Zomie filters for a while and had no problems with them whatsoever apart from when I broke one. They do the job very nicely!
indeed, also use them and very happy with them, you can find the graduated filters sometimes as a real bargain..
@@PatOutdoorify - as you could tell I was very impressed too.
@@PatOutdoorify After dissing me on national TH-cam i am so please the Zomei filters came through. ;P i was using the Grads today funny enough, only slight moan is the image quality sharpness is slightly lost with the filter. Don't worry, Gary is a good friend so he is allowed to Dis me :)
I use the circular ND2-400 variable Zomei. Brilliant
I`m shooting with the Zomei glass filters for over a year and I`m pretty happy with them. thanks for the video Gary
Very informative Gary. I do have the Lee 10 stop filter and my other filters are Zomie including a 6 stop. Never had a problem with the Zomei system. Great value for money.
Good review Gary. Likewise dropped my 10 stop last year and couldn't be without one.
Good video Gary. I've had a few 10 stops and had the andoer £10 one which was surprisingly sharp and now have both the zomei and formatt hi-tech firecrest filters. The zomei filter was fantastic, very sharp and no image degradation but IMPOSSIBLE to keep clean, that's why I bought the formatt hi-tech. Not really much between them just got fed up scrubbing tons of crap off my zomei filter every time I went to use it.
Good vlog Gary and your findings are spot on. Last year I went to buy my first ND filter and wondered whether a £10 filter would be any good or whether after a couple of uses it would stay at the bottom of the camera bag. The £10 filter I ended up buying gives me great results. I'm not a pro like you but the filter I've got does the job really well. I would recommend to anyone out there who's dubious about buying a cheap filter or who hasn't got a big budget to buy a cheap filter as you can still get really good results.
Really glad you did this comparison, I have recently bought a cheap set of filters similar to the Lee system for £20 I know that the quality isn't anything like that of the Lee setup, but to as you say... Dip my toe in. Perfect
Hi Gary, I used to owned Firecrest filters but sold the lot because I prefer my £25.00 filter that doesn't have colour cast to it. There's no effect on the overall sharpness and given that it is a screw in filter, it means I do not have to carry the square system.
NEW SUB THANKS 🙏
Wow, what an excellent test and presentation!! I’ll be watching more of your videos!!!!!
Interesting Gary. I use SRB photographic filters and they are brilliant- no colour cast at all, and cost around £28. Both square and round available, and they do grads too
hello Gary im very new to photography ive just bought one of the cheep filters to try out as im using my kit lens atm thanks for the info :-)
Great video! Love it that you do a "real world" test. Thumbs up.
I bought the Lee 10 Stop to start with Gary but have recently just got a 6 Stop Zomei for £45 and its excellent. Great video and helpful to those on a budget😀👍🏻
Another advantage of the newer filters is the Nano coatings which make cleaning a breeze, always had problems cleaning my Lee filters, especially if they had seawater on them, they always would smear. With the nano coatings the water just runs off, good if shooting in the rain, just a quick wipe is all that is needed, I would not go back to non Nano coated filters now. Some are also smash resistant, Lee are easy to break, I know from experience.
Enjoyed the review Gary I have a expensive filter in my bag plus a cheap one if iam clumsy and break the expensive one so I can carry on my shoot some of my best shots have been with the cheap one
Interesting Gary , I've used the Lee 10 stop for about 5 yrs now & never get a color cast with it ( unless I pair it with my hi-tech filters).
I have however got a little stopper that gives a cast so it's going back to LEE & they're sending me a replacement 👍
Gran video. En la comparación de esos tres filtros. Podría decirme que opinión tiene sobre los filtros Haida. De 10 stop ND
Like you say Gary, if you have nothing to compare against then you can only be happy. Brilliant video 👍🏽
The problem I have had with a cheap filter was that the coating was blotchy. This blotchy coating came thru to the image and showed caused a lot of luminescence distortion. Just a word of warning to those contemplating a cheap filter. Check it out and be sure you can return it if it proves to be a problem.
i had the LEE 10 stop and did the same and dropped it i replaced it with the zomei as cash was low at the time i go the full kit for £120 that included the gards soft and hard edge 10 stop holder bag and the filter holder system with the 77mm ring on the idea that when i was in a position i could replace the lee stopper i would hand it down to my lad as he was just starting out 3 years on ive never bother as it does the same and ive never noticed a difference between them . i also have a £10 CHEAPO off evilbay just as a walk round 10 stop and like you say there more like 11stop just shoot a little longer . great useful video as always m8
Interesting Video Gary, I use the Zomei 10stop but mine has a really heavy Magenta cast to it.....and when you look through it the glass appears pinky unlike yours which as you say has a blue/white hue....
Fantastic video, I'll never get bored of watching you! Thanks Gary. 😊
Cheers Gary, I'm looking at investing in ND filters along with a polarizer and a two or three coloured filters for B&W film photography. I think you saved me some money today.
Based on this video I bought one of those cheapie eBay ones (58mm) to see how it would compare to my £100 NiSi on my Panasonic G9. I was seriously impressed. I struggled to detect any drop in sharpness or detect any colour cast. I would say my my copy was more like 10 2/3 stop but this was easily fixed in LR. Construction wasn’t great but perfectly acceptable and a great way to experiment with long exposure photography without paying a fortune. Came in a decent quality pouch with a cleaning cloth. What’s not to like?
Indeed! I'm holding out for a Wine Country Camera filter system but until then it's a couple of super cheep 77mm filters, adapter rings and bracketing...
What great timing and sound advice.
I'm starting to think you've shot that shell more than me. Great test. I use a £10 Neewer 10 stop and can't fault it, other than being a screw in one and therefore needing more than one depending on lens diameter. I was considering the Zomei as an upgrade, but wasn't sure about it. You've convinced me to go for it.
As always, a great video full of awesome info. Nice new haircut.
Thanks for a straight up review
Good honest comparison, nice one. I have the Lee 10 stopper but hardly use it these days as I don't shoot LE's that much.However, I have a couple of the Zomei Grads in glass which are a great quality but a little under their considered graduations - ie, the 3 stop soft is more like a 2 stop soft. As long as you know that it's fine. I didn't realise they had a 10 stopper in their range but if I was in the market for a 10 stopper I would not hesitate getting one.
Awesome comparison! I'm thinking of getting the Zomei one. Thanks Garry btw the pictures were amazing!
Interesting comparison. I shoot with Lee filters and have done for years. My 10 stop filter is actually closer to 11 stops so that 'problem' isn't unique to the cheap filters. Thanks for sharing
18:52 I see some of them offer the ability to screw in a filter onto the square holder. IE: with the "walking way" holder it looks like you get 1 screw in filter then over that you can put a square filter.
Yes, that's correct. The screw in part is usually reserved for you polariser
Excellent review. The £10 filter also has the advantage of much less grief if you accidentally sat on it! 😂
yeah i also use the zomie 10 stop. brilliant and pleased with the results i get. as you say the only difference is there is no seal round it.
Hi Gary, is there anything between Lee & Zomie on coatings for cleaning etc? (The plastic one loses a few ppints here). The only reason I ask is I have HOYA HD CPL's and they clean very well.
Gary, I shoot lightning with a canon 5d mklll and whenever I leave the camera open from 30 seconds or longer it takes up to a minute for the data to be written to the cards. What can I do to speed it up.
"Long exposure noise reduction" Turn it off. You don't need it on. When it's on, it always takes a second blank image the sale length of time as the first.
@@GaryGough thank you sir
haven't gone through all the comments, and still have to view the rest of video, but I found it funny that around 6:50 you say that all images were shot at ISO 100 while on the screen in front of you the image with the LEE filter says ISO 50... just an observation. Love your videos though !! 😁........ finished the video and very much appreciated the "non-comparison". I bought a cheap set of screw-on ND filters a few weeks back and I am very happy with the results. One of the drawbacks of the screw-on system is of course the fact that it makes adding a graduation filter a bit difficult (yes, there are screw on grad filters but those are very limiting in their usefulness)
Thanks Gary. Nice comparison. I've done similar comparisons between Lee, Nisi, Hitech, Breakthrough and B + W (all high end filters). The all are excellent but do have different colour casts. This is more of an issue with colourful captures. For example, Hitech filters are quite magenta. Forests and autumn colours are way off with this filter. Sunsets look pretty magical. All easily dealt with in post though. There are subtle difference in exposure under identical settings too. This can be annoying if you end up having to take several shots to get the desired exposure. I find my Lee Big Stopper is around 11 stops instead of 10. I guess you just get to know your filters in the field and adjust your time accordingly. Out of all the filters I've tested, Breakthrough 10 stops seem to have the least colour cast and are pretty accurate with respect to accuracy of exposure settings. Lots of fun. Thanks again.
I have several Zomei filters , but feel them to red if i don't want it to be. The graduated works fine. Last i ordered some Benro Master and feel them a lot better.
I have also , Haida, Nisi, and Lee for different use. In my mirrorless Nikon Z7 i more or less see what i get and can change brand depend of my feeling what i want. :)
Haida is the filters i am less happy with on long exposures as they do visible a lot of dust anyhow i clean the best possible on filters.
Well.....taking your advice, my first adventure into long exposure is equipped with ZOMEI gear. The adapter ring, filter holder, The 10 stop, 4 hard grad ND2, 4, 8 and 16.....£82. Thanks Gary.
Can I ask you a question? I got the Zomei 10 stop and on most images I have a flare in the same spot every time. I cover the camera with a black rag no light leak, got the filter in the closest slot to the lens, any ideas why, tonight I had the sun to my back so there should not be an issue, Last night I had the sun to my left at 90 degrees, and every one did not have one. thanks!
You've confused me Hugh, which isn't too difficult I may add :) Do you always get a flare? Have you tried turning the filter upside down? this will eradicate a flaw in the glass. Let me know
thanks for getting back to me, I tested my Zomei for two days, Have it on my Canon 24-105 and got the flare on very image, so i tried a polarizer that didn't work, I was shooting F11 to 20 at around 90 seconds and flare very evident, so I spun the filter and then the flare showed on the other side, so i looked closely at the filter and it had some blemishes in the glass like a bad smear but you could not remove, and thats where the flare showed up on the image, so I requested a replacement from Amazon, but then decided against it, sending for return and I bought a different brand, The Zomei I had was glass. I can get most of the flare off in PS but don't want to deal with that. thanks
Great Show...Gary...lovin it...dude..would love to see your outcome of these ..filters
I've just ordered the 52mm version of the Silm Gary, £5.86! Your video came at a good time, I was looking at LEE filters for a specific shot I'm planning in Bristol, I'm not a professional photographer so the saving could just be worth it. Time will tell.
Hi Gray...thank you so much this was very informative...and you are spot on, im very new to landscape photography and its brilliant advice to start testing my skills with cheap gear...problem is i cant find it could you please let me know its brand name..thanks
Really good comparison, just shows with any kind of product. Expensive products don’t mean better products. 👍
So true Neil 👍
Excellent video Gary. Having never tried using an HD filter of any sort I think I would go with the cheaper one to see if it is something I want to try in future. As for the Lee and Zomei, I'm nt a professional, I don't sell my images and don't print over A3 so will probably try the Zomei. Would love to see some more comparisons on other photographic equipment. Thank you.
Thanks for this. I’ve been shopping for my first square filter set for months. As a hobbyist a Lee is just too expensive so mid range it is. This was very helpful. Have you ever used Gobe now Urth filters? Cheers from southern Georgian Bay, Ontario Canada
Glad it was as helpful. I haven’t used Gobe filters, sorry. K&F do a decent budget set of filters too. Cheers Neil 👍
Thank you for a great review. I have a range of Zomei filters and they are great. Is that a Cardiff area accent by the way???
Great video Gary.....it’s nice to know that being on a small budget, I can still get real good results 👍
What a excellent review great video
Excellent video showing a really good comparison between the 3. Ant chance of doing another comparison test on polarisers.
I've been using Zomei for a long time now and never had any problem with their filters and also i bought a Zomei Carbon Fiber tripod and it serves me well :) its an underrated brand i guess
Hi Gary. Do you have the eBay seller's name for the cheapo filter please? Many thanks!
I supplied a link in the description but it doesn't work anymore :(
I don't Chris, sorry. I borrowed it. There are quite a few on offer on eBay. I'm sure they're all just as good. The K&F one apparently is awesome.
I currently have the x c source 10 stop filter which works well and cost less than £10 and the zomei 6 stop which is also working well
I have a zomei 10 stop which I paid less than £50 and I have a£10 10 stop and agree with you i have no problem with the £10 one but i do with the zomei and that is getting hold of a ring for my lenses, they are only 55mm thread and i don't think they do one . Do you have any ideas
Found you through the new pod cast collaboration. Excellent video look forward to viewing your other content :)
What about the sharpness, does it got impacted with the quality of glass or plastic of the filter with the expensive lens used.
Great video Gary, we have the Lee but we want another so we're going to get a Zomei too, thanks for the test here, really helpful. Cheers.
You're welcome. Cheers
Great video Gary. I use the Zomei filters and I personally love them. The only issue I get is on the grads which give a slight magenta cast which is easily fixed in in post. The main reason I chose them was that Lee filters are over $250 NZ dollars and I can't justify the price.
Thank you.
hi Gary i did notice you used a bit of clarity with the Lee filter and not the other 2. so my question is did that make the compare true
I have over £1500 of Lee filters but I bought them a long time ago way before most people was bugging them up. But I wish now I had cheaper ones. I have heard of Zomie they do lots of kits and filters. Now saying that I also have lots of cheap £10 filters I use on my Fuji camera. I have NEVER had anyone mention the difference in my photos haha. Benro are now doing them and these are very very good. I now use the IRND 10 and 6 stop these are also better sharper and less colour cast than the normal big and little stopper BUT at £180 each I must of been mad.
Does the screw-in filter introduce vignetting? That was my experience with the set I bought, so I eventually went to square filters and haven't regretted it.
I have an APSC camera (Nikon D7200). I wanted a wide angle lens and went for a Tokina 11-20 f2.8 because I wanted to take some night sky stuff. The extra stop of light is required. Unfortunately I never considered the massive (82mm) filter thread. I already had a set of Cokin P series filters that were too small. Cokin aren’t the most expensive but I didn’t fancy buying another set so I bought a Hoya Pro CPL and a 10 quid 10 stopper. I wouldn’t skimp on the CPL (50 quid) but wouldn’t use the ND anywhere near as much.
I have to say, I’m really happy with it. Less colour cast than the Cokin system and perfectly sharp.
I bought another for a different lens of a different brand and it’s perfect too.
If you’re not loaded and don’t make any money from photography, they do a good job for small money.
Thanks for this Gary, so much snobbery around use of filters I think and if you can get a great image from a £10 filter then that’s what it’s about to me. I’ll buy one as never used one and see how I get on. As you say vast majority of folk with post process and can fix issues there. Never used a grad filter either and again use those in LR if I feel the image needs it. Thanks again great informative video without the BS 👍
Hi Gary, Amazon sell the ZOMEi filter for £36.99, even more saved compared to the Lee filter, I'm learning with a set of cheap Ranger ND's, then I'll possibly buy the ZOMEi once I progress a bit, thanks
One to keep in mind Gary. Thnx
Great video Gary, as I am only just starting out and only just recently got into filters I bought the budget range ones and have to say as a novice I am more than happy with it, I have for a while wondered what the comparison would be to a Lee filter and if I could justify it I would probably still go out and buy one but for now I will stick with what I've got but thank you for this anyway it was very interesting 😊
Phil
You're welcome Philip, cheers
I’ve been using hoya filters for a few years and they have a blue hue which I know how to fix. I was thinking to get a zomei 3 stop nd filter which is dirt cheap in ali express. What was stopping me is that I do believe that you get what you pay for. However, I am not a professional and I do get clumsy. I would dread dropping and breaking a lee filter as I know their cost. Maybe I will give zomei a try after all.
The salesman says you get what you pay for, but the marketing manager says the price is a little less than what you can't sell it for.
Gary, once again a fantastic video and I really appreciate your unbiased review. I am currently using the Cokin system, but have been looking at the Zomei since it will cope with my ultra wide angle lenses which vignette on the Cokin. So thanks again for your video and carry on with your brilliant TH-cam posts!
Great comparison video Gary..Thanks for sharing
Awesome stuff I've been looking for a good cheapie. Thanks Gary!
Great video Gary!
I need some help, I just purchased a Zomei 10 stop and I am having a strange Green and purple stripe that runs the length or width of the frame. What I have been trying to photograph are some pilings in the water. The sun is of to my left at about 10-11 o-clock the sky is partly cloudy. I have tried different f-stops from 2.8 to 22 it shows up in every shot sometimes more pronounced than others. Now here's the weird part, when I get home and take some shots around the house no stripes. Could it be a weird effect because of the water? Have you experienced this? Thanks for your time.
Random question that will probably go unanswered, what's the name of the place in the intro? I have a feeling I've been there, somewhere in Essex or Kent. Maybe Sheerness? Might just be somewhere that looks similar.
Interesting observation. I nearly always combine grads with my ND's so the cheapo screw in one would be no good for me. I tend to use the 10 stop + ND's in bright sunlight so flaring and light leaks become more common, would be interesting to see how the Zomie with no gaskets works in those conditions. When you start combining grads and nd's then correcting the white balance becomes more difficult which is why I have started using Formatt Firecrest ND's instead of my big stopper. The £10 screw in one looks a good way to get into taking long exposures, the Zomie looks a good option and is easily removable for focussing.
Hi Paul, the cheap £10.00 has the capability of screwing an adapter ring to it so then the foundation kit can be applied. Still a faff screwing the bloody thing on and off though lol.
ive used 2 neewer 10 stop screw in filters and had some good images last year, but ive just bought a nisi v5 100mm holder and intend on getting a 10 stopper from lee, now im not so sure as ive no filters at all yet and £50 is quite the saving.
Have you seen any problem with not having the light seal? I take long exposure photos in bright daylight and would be concerned with light leakage...
I dont have any stoppers but if I bought one it would be the £10 one, thanks for the demo....it was most interesting,.....
You're welcome Des