0:09
14 to 24 million meters. So last year when I reviewed the 14 to 24
0:28
we discussed the fact that not having a front filter thread of course is an obstacle but this
0:34
is a pretty incredible lens and so my hope was that somebody would solve that problem
0:38
and fortunately we've got a couple of options as to solving that problem. Now Sigma has designed a
0:45
really nice and logical system here for adding on filters. Now first of all I'm going to look at
0:51
the prototype from Aurora Aperture. Most of you are familiar now with the kind of quality of Aurora
0:57
Aperture filters from my reviews of their various products. And so basically what you've got is
1:03
really straightforward. You pop the filter in there and then the locking mechanism goes into place
1:08
and so that the filter can be held down. And so as a result, you've got the filter in there
1:14
nice and easy, easy to put in, easy to remove. And optically, we're already kind of familiar with
1:19
that. What I want to focus on, however, is a secondary system. And so the great news is that
1:25
that we've already got options, more than one kit. This comes as a four-filter kit from Haida
1:31
I've used Haida filters now for a number of years and going back probably eight or nine years
1:38
And so I have fairly good confidence in their products of delivering a nice product at a bargain price
1:46
Now what you've got here is actually four filters, So an ND 0 1 1 and ND 3 So to break down what that means this is a three filter four filter six filter
2:02
and then a 10-stop filter. And so you can see the filters themselves are
2:07
they're very slim, made out of the optical glass. They've got that little notch right there
2:12
that has a dual purpose. It's what you hang on to when you drop the filter in
2:16
It's also where the locking mechanism goes over the top to hold it in place
2:21
And so I've spent a fair bit of time with these filters. They are obviously very nice, they're easy to use
2:28
and they are incredibly compact, giving you the options of bringing along this little set in a kit
2:34
all the way up to and including this 10-stop filter, which can be really handy for producing long exposures
2:41
Now, to give you an idea of some of the kind of basic specifications of what we've got here, these are multi-coating
2:49
in fact they've got 10 layers of nano coatings on there that are anti-reflective and also will give
2:57
you kind of a moisture resistance water will bead on them with the coating that's on the surfaces
3:02
there and so that's nice to have they emphasize no color cast which we will take a look at in just
3:08
a moment and what is also nice is that this whole kind of kit as i've shown it here it's available
3:14
for $109. And so you can get four different filter choices here at a reasonable price with a nice
3:22
little portable kit to bring it along with. And so let's take a look at how the actual optical
3:28
performance of the filters are. Now the first claim that we want to look at is Haida's claim
3:32
that there is no color cast introduced by their ND filters. This obviously is a big deal as this is
3:38
a major shortcoming with particularly cheaper ND filters. And so here we have a raw image
3:45
without any kind of filter applied. So that gives you a look at the scene and how the color balance would look without any kind of filtering on the 14 to 24 So now we see we have introduced the three filter here on the right side and so
3:59
looking at our color balance I mean obviously there is a difference in the level of contrast
4:03
which is part of what you're trying to accomplish. You can see the shutter length has grown
4:08
significantly and so it's kind of you know dragging the water some but we can see that so far there's
4:13
no color cast to see. Now if we switch to the four stop filter we can see that yes we still have a
4:20
very very similar color balance here. We can also see that our detail is holding up fairly well here
4:27
even when adding the obviously the filters into the optical path. So how about if we move on up
4:33
to the six stop filter we can see that there's definitely a difference in the look of the water
4:38
now we're getting more of that long exposure look but we can also see that our color balance
4:43
is very much the same. And if we take a look just quickly at the image itself
4:48
we can see that while there is a little bit of loss of sharpness here now
4:53
we can see that the image is still very, very sharp, good detail across the frame
4:58
and so it's actually holding up quite well. Now, if we introduce the most extreme filter here
5:03
the 10-stop filter, we can see that we have completely changed the look of the water here
5:08
We can see that contrast, again, has been affected by putting an ND filter on there
5:13
but what we can also see is that the color balance is remarkably similar. And so definitely the claim
5:18
of not introducing a color cast is true. And we can see that as we've seen, you know, with the
5:23
trend, there is a little bit of loss of detail. And of course, remember any kind of movement at all
5:29
in things like trees is going to reduce that, but obviously we're not getting any movement here on
5:34
the, you know, these massive stones. And you can see that there is a little bit of loss of
5:39
information here, but at the same time it's still nice and sharp and usable and
5:43
of course you have that great long exposure look So when I reviewed the 14 to 24 millimeter DN art lens obviously the lack of ability to filter it at the time was a serious liability and just using
5:56
something like gel filters is not a great solution. So I'm really really glad that we have a not one
6:02
but two competent alternatives for adding filters into the rear filter holder on the lens and I hope
6:09
that what you've seen today has helped to maybe give you some ideas if you have purchased this
6:13
lens and it's a lens worth purchasing of some options to have if you want the creative ability
6:19
that filtering can give to you. Now there are limitations to rear filter systems. Obviously
6:24
doing anything graduated is limited. You know it's kind of too wide a focal length and on many
6:31
places you use a circular polarizer. Obviously something like that is not really an option here
6:35
either. But neutral density filters are arguably some of the most important for a particularly for
6:42
landscape photographer also for those of you that might want to use it for video and you know want
6:47
to limit some of the light reaching the sensor for that purpose and so I'm really glad to have these
6:52
as options you can see a few more photos here that I've taken with it it's not a great time
6:57
of year for me a lot of the water is frozen the sky is often gray and so it's it's hard to get
7:03
that kind of static subject versus dynamic movement that really makes long exposure photography
7:10
special, but at the same time, I've been able to see enough to know that these are competent
7:15
examples of what you can do. So take a look at that. I'll throw the linkage to both of them
7:20
in the description down below with as much information as I have there. And of course
7:24
there's also linkage there to follow me on social media, to become a patron, to sign up for my
7:29
newsletter. And if you haven't already, please click that subscribe button right here on YouTube
7:33
Thanks for watching. Have a great day
