Olympus 75mm 1.8 and variable ND filter

Hi

I have just purchased a variable ND filter for the olympus 75mm 1.8 and find that because it is a variable filter i now can no longer use the lens hood with the filter attached. The filter is that just bit wider than ordinary filters to accommodate the mechanism the makes the adjustment.

Is this an issue or do I return the filter and try not to save money by buying an couple of fixed filters instead?

Ian

All of the variable ND filters have a larger diameter on the outer side to prevent vigneting when combined with other filters. Also bear in mind that they also tend to degrade image quality on longer lenses. Having said that I do use them as they are convenient especially for shooting video at wide open apertures and for when I want to travel light. If I'm shooting landscapes then I tend to use a Cokin filter holder and ordinary neutral density filters.

ian parry wrote:

Hi

I have just purchased a variable ND filter for the olympus 75mm 1.8 and find that because it is a variable filter i now can no longer use the lens hood with the filter attached. The filter is that just bit wider than ordinary filters to accommodate the mechanism the makes the adjustment.

Is this an issue or do I return the filter and try not to save money by buying an couple of fixed filters instead?

Ian

This is a problem with several Olympus lens hoods - the stock hoods for the 45mm f1.8 and one or two other lenses are also poorly designed. In most cases they are too narrow to allow an average-sized photographer to insert his fingers, meaning that is difficult to use them with lens caps and filters.

You could try using a third-party lens hood (although I'm not aware of any for the 75mm that allow a decent amount of space around the lens mount) or you could buy a generic lens hood that screws into the front of your variable ND filter (assuming your filter has a front thread - I bought a Hoya Variable ND filter that did not have a front thread).

S

If you want to shoot with F1.8 wide open under bright sun and (1) shoot raw and (2) have a camera with recent Sony sensor (effective ISO in raw about 100) the only thing you need is polarizer.
But, it must be a high quality polarizer. Typical variable ND filters that cost within $150-200 are usually crap, they will kill quality.

Then, with any filter, a cheap screw-in 58m hood like this will do just fine.
http://www.amazon.com/EzFoto-Silver-Olympus-M-Zuiko-Digital/dp/B008VO54H6

micksh6 wrote:

If you want to shoot with F1.8 wide open under bright sun and (1) shoot raw and (2) have a camera with recent Sony sensor (effective ISO in raw about 100) the only thing you need is polarizer.
But, it must be a high quality polarizer. Typical variable ND filters that cost within $150-200 are usually crap, they will kill quality.

Then, with any filter, a cheap screw-in 58m hood like this will do just fine.
http://www.amazon.com/EzFoto-Silver-Olympus-M-Zuiko-Digital/dp/B008VO54H6

I disagree that variable NDs in that price range are "crap" and that they will "kill quality".

I bought a Hoya variable ND a couple of months ago and did not see any appreciable loss of sharpness, and nor did I notice any colour cast.

The filter was only USD $107, brand new.

I did return the filter, but not because it made images "crap". I returned it because it lacked a front thread and was only good for four stops with a wide-angle lens (I was able to get nine stops with the filter mounted on a telephoto).

A Hoya versus Singh-Ray variable ND comparison is here:

http://www.ronmartblog.com/2013/02/comparison-hoya-variable-density-vs.html

S

NZ Scott wrote:

micksh6 wrote:

If you want to shoot with F1.8 wide open under bright sun and (1) shoot raw and (2) have a camera with recent Sony sensor (effective ISO in raw about 100) the only thing you need is polarizer.
But, it must be a high quality polarizer. Typical variable ND filters that cost within $150-200 are usually crap, they will kill quality.

Then, with any filter, a cheap screw-in 58m hood like this will do just fine.
http://www.amazon.com/EzFoto-Silver-Olympus-M-Zuiko-Digital/dp/B008VO54H6

I disagree that variable NDs in that price range are "crap" and that they will "kill quality".

I bought a Hoya variable ND a couple of months ago and did not see any appreciable loss of sharpness, and nor did I notice any colour cast.

The filter was only USD $107, brand new.

I did return the filter, but not because it made images "crap". I returned it because it lacked a front thread and was only good for four stops with a wide-angle lens (I was able to get nine stops with the filter mounted on a telephoto).

A Hoya versus Singh-Ray variable ND comparison is here:

http://www.ronmartblog.com/2013/02/comparison-hoya-variable-density-vs.html

I have no experience with that Hoya filter so I can be wrong, of course, but that filter is uncoated. This alone makes me doubt it would perform much better than other filters in this price range.
Unfortunately, there is no full resolution image taken without filter in this test, so it's hard to see the impact of the filter. Even if there was one, 70mm FL may not be long enough to reveal the impact.

I base my opinion on tests like this
http://www.dancingphysicist.com/light-craft-workshop-fader-nd-mark-ii-review/
and on my experience with other filters. The filter can look OK on wide angle lens but may spoil IQ on telephoto.

OP wants to use the filter on 75mm lens and I assume he wants to preserve its excellent sharpness. The word "crap" may be too strong but 75mm lens raises quality bar for filters, you wouldn't want anything less than perfect.

NZ Scott wrote:

ian parry wrote:

Hi

I have just purchased a variable ND filter for the olympus 75mm 1.8 and find that because it is a variable filter i now can no longer use the lens hood with the filter attached. The filter is that just bit wider than ordinary filters to accommodate the mechanism the makes the adjustment.

Is this an issue or do I return the filter and try not to save money by buying an couple of fixed filters instead?

Ian

This is a problem with several Olympus lens hoods - the stock hoods for the 45mm f1.8 and one or two other lenses are also poorly designed. In most cases they are too narrow to allow an average-sized photographer to insert his fingers, meaning that is difficult to use them with lens caps and filters.

You could try using a third-party lens hood (although I'm not aware of any for the 75mm that allow a decent amount of space around the lens mount) or you could buy a generic lens hood that screws into the front of your variable ND filter (assuming your filter has a front thread - I bought a Hoya Variable ND filter that did not have a front thread).

Consider hood like the one below. Just kidding:)
IMO any fixed telephoto hood will make it difficult to rotate filters, be it vary-ND or polarizer (and I recommend B+W MRC polarizer with 75mm). Hood has to be long enough and it's too easy to touch filter surface when rotating filter.
I have a replica of Olympus stock hood but when using polarizer I put basic screw-in hood that I linked to in previous post.

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