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ND Filter Breakthrough vs others-


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Has anyone heard of or uses this brand of ND filters? 
 

https://breakthrough.photography/

 

They claim to be more neutral than their competitors.

 

If so, are you happy with breakthrough filters and you results you are getting?

 

I'm looking to pick up a .3ND, .9ND in a 100x100 or screw in mount with step down rings and a CLP to go with what I have below or to replace them.

 

I have a M240 with Olympus EVF which I'm very happy with working my 50mm ƒ1.0 (1st version) nocitlux and 50mm (2015?) summilux. When using Lee Little Stopper 100x100 (1.8ND/6 stops) and/or a Tiffen .6ND the colours have had a green cast to them which requires a little extra work in post. It's not that big of deal since I'm shooting raw files. Just looking for something that may be a little more neutral if possible.

 

I know B+W, Hoya both have introduced new filters systems as well which I'm currently looking into as well. 

 

Using ND's filters YMMV than mine.

 

Thanks in advance for your time.

 

Kevin

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B&W publish data on the varying absorbance across the spectrum for each of their ND filters. The images linked to are relevant only if processing is identical and full details are given. A great deal could be done to all of the photos to 'balance' them towards an more consistent neutral mid-tone and I'd like to see charts and 'neutral optimised' images to see what real world differences actually are. ND neutrality is an irritation and my experiences have noy been great to date but I live in hope :) .

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Has anyone heard of or uses this brand of ND filters? 

 

https://breakthrough.photography/

 

They claim to be more neutral than their competitors.

 

If so, are you happy with breakthrough filters and you results you are getting?

 

I'm looking to pick up a .3ND, .9ND in a 100x100 or screw in mount with step down rings and a CLP to go with what I have below or to replace them.

 

I have a M240 with Olympus EVF which I'm very happy with working my 50mm ƒ1.0 (1st version) nocitlux and 50mm (2015?) summilux. When using Lee Little Stopper 100x100 (1.8ND/6 stops) and/or a Tiffen .6ND the colours have had a green cast to them which requires a little extra work in post. It's not that big of deal since I'm shooting raw files. Just looking for something that may be a little more neutral if possible.

 

I know B+W, Hoya both have introduced new filters systems as well which I'm currently looking into as well. 

 

Using ND's filters YMMV than mine.

 

Thanks in advance for your time.

 

Kevin

 

I've used them all in my line of work and the Breakthrough filters are about the best in all regards. Build quality is excellent, they are all brass and have nice ridges machined in for traction. Formatt Firecrest ND's are just behind in image quality, but not by much. WRT to build quality they are not quite up to par with Breakthrough. However, the Firecrest ND's are usually cheaper, so if cost is a major consideration, they are a good choice.

 

B+W and Heliopan are far behind in the ND race and best avoided.

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I would like to add a question regarding the Leica screw in mount filters? They have just one kind: The 1.2 resp. the 16 fold filters. In the Leica store I was told that I could screw 2 filters on to of each kther in oder to get a 2.4 ND Filter (works up to a focal length of 35mm and not with 28mm). Does someone have experience with those? Maybe in comparison with the here mentioned brands?

 

By the way, with my Canon 5D MkIV gear I use LEE 10x10 plus screw in big stopper.

Edited by Alex U.
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My favorite nd filters are the B+W XS-Pro filters, as they are (almost) completely color neutral.

 

I tried others on the M240 and they were not color neutral:

 

B+W ND F-Pro filters (yellow-orange tint).

 

Breakthrough ND filters (blue tint)

 

Interesting to hear about the B+W XS-Pro ND Filters. I wonder if these are relatively new on the market? I quit looking at other brands after I discovered how well the 10 and 15 stop Breakthrough filters work.

 

Also, are you saying that you see an improvement in color fidelity vs the Breakthrough after you white balance the DNG file in post? Unless you are shooting JPEG then I wouldn't get too hung up on the AWB output from the camera, as a 10 or 15 stop filter will almost always affect the in-camera AWB function and will necessitate correcting the WB upon development.

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I would like to add a question regarding the Leica screw in mount filters? They have just one kind: The 1.2 resp. the 16 fold filters. In the Leica store I was told that I could screw 2 filters on to of each kther in oder to get a 2.4 ND Filter (works up to a focal length of 35mm and not with 28mm). Does someone have experience with those? Maybe in comparison with the here mentioned brands?

 

By the way, with my Canon 5D MkIV gear I use LEE 10x10 plus screw in big stopper.

I'm not sure who makes the Leica ND filters...it seems like I remember that B+W was making the IR filters that Leica were supplying with the M8? I could be wrong about that, but if your Leica filters are made by B+W, they are likely the older B+W F-Pro filters and those are not great.

 

Stacking filters to get to the desired density isn't a great solution in general - you would be better off getting a filter with the correct density. What size are the filters, and what density are you looking for? 

 

Also, I am fairly certain that either Breakthrough or Firecrest ND filters would be an improvement over your big stopper, as I personally tested these 3 brands, along with B+W and Heliopan, before I switched over to Breakthrough. I have also heard good things about Nisi filters, but I have not personally tested them.

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I am actually looking for a 6 stop filter (ND 1.8 or 64). I am not sure if there is a misunderstanding as you speak of 10 or 15 stop. Breakthrough have no 15 stop and this is probably useless anway as it would result in too long exposure times . . .

 

However I have 2 4-stops from Leica. These I can stack to a 8-stop package. As the base ISO of the M10 is a bit lower than 200 then having a 4 stop instead of 3 stop is probably ok.

 

I must say that when I bought them I thought that they were the best in color fidelity. I did not test too much yet. But I hope the work fine in practice for landscape.

 

I read as well the free buying guide on the Breakthrough page. Considering the different base ISOs on different cameras, I agree with what I can read there.

 

Thank you for your advice. It is appreciated.

Edited by Alex U.
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Interesting to hear about the B+W XS-Pro ND Filters. I wonder if these are relatively new on the market? I quit looking at other brands after I discovered how well the 10 and 15 stop Breakthrough filters work.

 

Also, are you saying that you see an improvement in color fidelity vs the Breakthrough after you white balance the DNG file in post? Unless you are shooting JPEG then I wouldn't get too hung up on the AWB output from the camera, as a 10 or 15 stop filter will almost always affect the in-camera AWB function and will necessitate correcting the WB upon development.

 

Yes, the XS-Pro ND filters are relatively new on the market (optimized for digital / MRC and nano tec., just as the breakthrough filters).

 

And I just realized that Breakthrough also has a new filter: The X4. For my comparison I used the older X3 filters.

 

For my needs, the B+W XS-Pro filters are slightly better than the breakthrough X3 filters (and much, much better than the B+W X-Pro filters).

 

However, I have no experience with 10 or 15 stop filters.

 

I can only speak for 2 and 3 stop filters that are needed when shooting fast lenses wide open in bright daylight (on an M camera).

When I compared the different filters (on a 50 Noctilux and a 28 Summilux), I shot raw in different light situations and just looked for any influence of the filters on AWB.

You are correct: With a few white balance adjustments in post you can easily achieve the same result with the breakthrough filters.

I admit that I just looked at the colors in general and did not inspect each color in detail for exact color fidelity after WB adjustments.

 

One more thing:

The traction frame of the Breakthrough X3 filters made it perfect to attach and remove, but once it is on the lens, it is not possible to attach the hood of the 28 Lux anymore (I had to file the filter frame down quite a bit).

Edited by anickpick
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My favorite nd filters are the B+W XS-Pro filters, as they are (almost) completely color neutral.

 

I tried others on the M240 and they were not color neutral:

 

B+W ND F-Pro filters (yellow-orange tint).

 

Breakthrough ND filters (blue tint)

anickpick- thanks for you findings.

 

Will have to wait till I get to visit a big city to test a few different filters. 

 

Understand Hoya has introduced a line of filters as well similar to breakthrough and others. B+W, Firecrest, Breakthrough, Hoya and I had forgotten about Heiliopan will give them a test next month when visiting the states.

 

Looks like I will trade or sell my Lee Little Stopper and replace it with another brand as well as my Tiffen .6ND.

 

Not looking for a 10 or 15 stop ND really. 1.8/6stop ND would be max I'm interested in at this time. Right now these filters .6ND and .9ND and a 6 stop ND would fulfill my needs. 

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  • 7 months later...

In the mean time I could give back my 2 Leica ND Filters (4 stops) to the dealer. I got a 10 stop from Firecrest Hitech.

 

Am still looking for 3 or 4 stop filter: Wonder now if Firecrest  Hitech or Breakthrough have the better product in terms of color accuracy.

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