ND filters...Love and hate

Followers of this blog will know I have advocated the use of variable ND filters, particularly when it comes to shooting moving images

A very useful thing to have, or so it would seem

Too good to be true?

In a word -Yes

Katherine Holley and I were using filters made by brand 'X' during the South African township project, predominantly on the Canon 'L' series 24-105mm lens

They certainly did the trick when it came to cutting light down, allowing us to use wide apertures in very bright condition, its just the footage always seemed a little 'soft' at best


Our confidence was dented to the extent that we stopped using them.

So blaming brand 'X' (and a manufacturing defect they had been suffering from) I tried brand 'Y'

Using brand 'Y'for moving images does seem to be a step forward, sharper images for sure but then Lucinda Marland and I stared to use them on a very exciting stills project (which I can't talk about at the moment)

When using the Canon 'L' series 85mm F1.2  or the EXCELLENT Phase One 110mm F2.8 Schneider lens wide open there was was a lack of sharpness that was simply unacceptable, both lenses can be very difficult to focus wide open but this was shot killing stuff

We removed the filter and bingo, tack sharp stunning image quality was back with us.

So we wanted to use an ND filter, what to do?

We tried a low tech old school solution

The 0.9 ND by LEE Filters (which allows exposure to be cut by 3 f stops), along with the fancy but very effective bellows hood

The only problem was getting hold of one, sold out everywhere.

An exhaustive search did turn one up

Boy was is worth it, even wide open sharpness was unaffected

We were back in the the land of 'Sharp' once more

For a fraction of the cost of a Vario ND filter (well not a fraction but cheaper when you consider just the filter alone)

Yes, some are better, some are worse but it is a scientific fact that when you put two polarisers together image quality will be affected

Will I use one again? Perhaps for moving image work, but for stills I doubt it

Old school has proved to be the way to go for me

Now, just to get more of those LEE filters

Check this guy out -What a shirt!

I heard on the grapevine that this guy a certain Michael Zelbel on Smoking Strobes had a mini review of my DVD Stills in Motion

Thanks Michael

What a shirt!

Thank you for Drobo Comments

So, thank you one and all for all of you comments which I will be taking into account when I replace my Drobo Pro which maybe sooner rather than later as I cannot afford the chaos that it brings all too often


I have just been sent a link to Team Chase's solution to dealing with data

A server is indeed the way to go, join me on my journey to find a reliable cost effective solution

End of my tether with Drobo-iscsi kernel panic

Readers of this blog will know of my long running issues with my Drobo Pro

And how Drobo sent a 4th unit from the USA

And how I hoped against hope that all would be well


Picture this, 350 images on my Drobo Pro which I converting to CMYK on deadline for a client


Half way through I get...the Apple grey multi lingual screen of death telling me need to hard reset my Mac Pro

So restart then same again

Yikes!!!!!!!!

So I switched to my iMac, attaching the Drobo Pro

And guess what happened?

I get...the Apple grey multi lingual screen of death telling me need to hard reset my Mac

This time I take the time to read the Apple crash report and behold what do I see.....(I think you know what is coming)

Now I'm a humble photographer and know little of how to interpret-ate crash reports but I saw the fateful words 'Data robotics'

So did a Google search and what did I find? 

A symphony of similarly afflicted users on Apple's own forum

So it would seem a conflict between OSX 10.6.4 and the Drobo iscsi controller

Causing a Kernel panic

I have just finished from a phone call with Drobo and they say they can offer 'no solution' as the issue is 'complex'

So that leaves a Drobo Pro rammed with Terabytes of my data which I no longer dare plug into any of my Mac's

I have enabled my Mac Pro as a firewire target disc so I can try to fix it from my iMac

When I did this Apple's disc utility said the damage could not be fixed and I need to reformat my Hard Disk and reinstall everything, I thought I perhaps was being harsh when I called my Drobo Pro a 'time vampire' but right now it is living up to its name

Yes, I understand such things can happen when a new OS can upset drivers for devices like the Drobo but I was talking to some VERY knowledgeable industry experts at my workshop in Belgium and they were urging caution with my reliance on the Drobo for my storage as it uses a propriety software not used by other backup solutions which use industry recognised software

I'm no expert but I feel this lies at the root of the matter

If you have lots of time and feel like taking a chance do buy a Drobo but be sure what you are letting yourself in for 

In Drobo's own words

They can offer 'no solution' and the issue is 'complex'

That leaves me with 20 years images stuck on a Drobo Pro

And a day's reinstallation on my Mac Pro after reformatting the drive

Happy days are here again

Drobo Update

Just thought I would let you all know that Drobo reacted like lightning and sent a brand new unit out to me

Special mention of thanks goes to Valerie K in their support team in the USA, a good bit of human support goes a long way........other companies take note

Their customer service if very good despite anything else

So far so good, all is well

Lets hope it stay that way

Norman 400B Flash Units

So I'm having a clear out

A big one

I found a box of Norman 400B Flash units, heads and batteries

Do they work? Not right now, though I think they will with tinkering but I have neither the time or the inclination

So if someone wants to pick them up from London they are yours - FREE!

Drew Gardner Workshop - Steenokkerzeel, Belgium - 4,5 September 2010

When I was over in Belgium earlier this year I was very impressed by the turnout at a one day photographic workshop held by Servix 

I got chatting to a friend of David Hobby's, a certain Bert Stephani who in addition to running a very cool blog, is a pretty handy photographer too

So after a bit of banter it came to pass that we are running a two day workshop in Belgium on the 4th/5th September

The aim is to share my knowledge of Lighting and the industry and get to grips with some big lighting on location, in the forest.....sounds familiar? well I do hope so, just a chance to join me, it should be a great deal of fun