Breakthrough coming out with glass ND grads!

[Nicolai.b]

The CPL solution NISI has on their 100mm system works perfect...

 

[Nicolai.b]

...

Personally, I've considered a 100mm system in the past but color cast and resin NDs have been concerns.

Take a look at NISIs filters...

 

[Random Orbits]

Personally, I've considered a 100mm system in the past but color cast and resin NDs have been concerns.

Take a look at NISIs filters...

Thanks for the tip! I'll look into it.

 

[Random Orbits]

It might be a reason where the Breakthrough system has an advantage. It is selling CPLs that have the ND effect in them, and that potentially saves a slot. The CPL is one of the more expensive layers and minimizing its size is cost effective.

...until you have to buy a 'Dark CPL' for every level of darkening you want. :

But if you can overcome that caveat, the 'saving a slot' idea is a neat way to thin your stack and fight vignetting.

Well, they only sell 3, 6 and 10 stops for each size, lol. I'm most interested in the 3-stop, which will help shooting fast primes in strong light, especially at beaches and lakes.

As far as vignetting goes, I'm not too concerned if I can't get down to 16mm as long as it's not any worse than NiSi, Lee or any other 100mm system.

 

[jeffa4444]

90% of all prescription glasses globally are made using the same resin that resin filters are made out of, the other 10% still use glass because of Abbe values / and or people desire to stay with glass. Multi coating on both glass and resin helps prevent against scratching as in Breakthrough claims toughened glass is supposed to do. It WILL NOT eliminate scratching. Toughened glass is quite often not totally flat as indeed nor is float glass which means it should be optically ground to be flat which significantly increases cost. Resin filters are heated to allow the dye to penetrate the material locking it in when it cools. They are then flattened between steel press plates whilst still warm to make sure they are optically flat.

Ive resin filters Ive owned for 15 years, a couple have slight surface scratches in the shooting area but it doesn't photograph (even pixel peeping you cannot see them), Ive a number of glass skylight filters screwed into the front filter thread which I remove when using a filter system some have quite bad scratches but rarely ever photograph. Whats my point? the perception of resin verses glass is often our perception but its rarely a technical issue with the added bonus resin doesn't usually brake if you drop it but glass invariably does.

Beyond that without proper testing equipment you can never be sure what ND is neutral or not and most colour shifts can be corrected by moving the white balance. What you cannot change is the clarity / abbe value these matter when your stacking filters and in this respect there is really no difference between glass or resin for the purpose of camera filters if you using the highest quality product available which makes those manufacturers more expensive than the cheaper brands using derivatives closer to the original CR39.

 

[jeffa4444]

I note that Graham has still not provided proof of his claim that you should put your CPL on the lens first and not on the front of the filter holder to get maximum sharpness.

 

[ahsanford]

I note that Graham has still not provided proof of his claim that you should put your CPL on the lens first and not on the front of the filter holder to get maximum sharpness.

Or CPL + 3 filter slots = no vignetting at 16mm FF. And that's so easy to show -- take a shot at 16mm and post the RAW file. Done.

- A

 

[neuroanatomist]

I note that Graham has still not provided proof of his claim that you should put your CPL on the lens first and not on the front of the filter holder to get maximum sharpness.

Or B+W is lying about their CPL transmission curve data, or producing filters that don't meet their own specifications.

Or CPL + 3 filter slots = no vignetting at 16mm FF. And that's so easy to show -- take a shot at 16mm and post the RAW file. Done.

That one is actually not quite so easy. He already admitted that he needed to redesign the filter holder to deliver the performance he had previously claimed, post hoc. Most likely, the redesign was just an electronic/CAD effort, meaning he would actually need to build a prototype in order to take a shot at 16mm and deliver a RAW file substantiating his claim.

Or we could just trust him… : : : : :

 

[ahsanford]

Or CPL + 3 filter slots = no vignetting at 16mm FF. And that's so easy to show -- take a shot at 16mm and post the RAW file. Done.

That one is actually not quite so easy. He already admitted that he needed to redesign the filter holder to deliver the performance he had previously claimed, post hoc. Most likely, the redesign was just an electronic/CAD effort, meaning he would actually need to build a prototype in order to take a shot at 16mm and deliver a RAW file substantiating his claim.

Or we could just trust him… : : : : :

Or the slot-in filters are...

Thinner than 2mm
Have vapor thin separators between them
Secretly 105-110 mm wide ;D

...but that's just for the holder to not be in the field of view!

Simply starting with a same diameter CPL on the lens and putting a holder ring on that may create a 'nearer to lens' vignetting problem. See pic from the kickstarter (sans CPL, btw, anyone catch that? :), which would mean that beyond your lens's native filter ring height, you would also put a CPL + an adaptor ring for the holder on there before you ever 'get wide' for the holder and filters.

I'm not saying it's not possible, but a lot is stacked against them here. And explanation of their solution and some proof of their claim would be appreciated.

- A

 

[Ozarker]

The sad thing is, Breakthrough might actually have some decent products but Graham's flippant 'because I designed it right and you should trust me and that should be enough for you' attitude is doing them no favors.

I'm not concerned with making money, just designing good stuff

Graham

I didn't have a dog in this hunt until now. Could I have a free unit to review? Well, not exactly free. I'll trade for product and write an honest review.

Sure, send me an email: [email protected]

Graham

Well, contacted Graham. Said he didn't have the product available. Have heard nothing since. Don't expect to either. B+W can have my money, along with Lee.

 

[neuroanatomist]