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Neutral density (or ND) filters reduce the amount of light that passes through the lens. This gives the photographer more control over the shutter speed and aperture to produce effects like the smoothing of water, to shallow depth of field or to show the movement of clouds.
Firecrest NDs are glass filters that use a technologically advanced rare-earth metal coating to create the most neutral filters in the world. Firecrest ND coating is a huge technological advancement when compared to any previous generation ND filter. Firecrest ND filters feature an almost perfectly even absorption of light across all spectrums (including UV and infrared) resulting in hyper-neutral NDs at all densities. In fact they’re so neutral, that for the first time we can create 13 and 16 stop densities in a single filter without significant color cast. Clearly, the advantage of Firecrest is most evident at the darkest densities, such as 10, 13 and 16 stops.
Because the ND effect comes from the coating itself, we’ve gone to great lengths to protect it. On our rectangular filters the coating is sandwiched between two pieces of bonded glass. This protects the coating completely and allows us to lap and polish the filters to the highest tolerance in the industry, meaning your filters will have the lowest possible distortion. On our circular filters, the coating is featured on the outside of the filter because the ring protects the filter. This allows us to add anti reflective and hydrophobic coatings to the outside of our circular filters.
Firecrest filters are available between 1-10 stops of ND, plus 13 and 16 stops for long exposure.
Standard ND filters are professional quality resin ND filters available between 1-4 stops of ND. Standard NDs don’t block infrared, but they only go up to 4 stops of density, so infrared is not an issue because there is not enough filter factor to overwhelm the digital sensor. With standard NDs, you get a professional quality ND at a really low price.
Variable ND filters work between approximately 2-6 stops. Variable NDs are actually two polarizers that counteract each other to create the ND effect. Meaning there is a slight polarization effect. For DSLR filmmakers working quickly the Variable ND is a terrific tool.
ND filters are also available as grads or graduated ND filters. These filters provide the ND effect on a selected part of the scene. The most common use of a grad filter is to reduce the luminance of a bright sky to match the terrain below.
