variable neutral density filter for tokina 11-16

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egosbar

Senior Member
after much googling im confused as whether or not i should buy one

my main reason for one at this stage would be for waterfall long shutter speeds im sure there will be other uses though

i can get the tiffen for about 160-200 dollars which is my absolute limit for a filter if i buy one , love fathers day haha

should i just get normal filters , should i shoot with a wide angle with these , im shooting with a d7100 and the lenses i have are

18-55,55-300,50mm 1.8 and a tokina 11-16 , would buying a 52mm for the 18-55 be a better choice given the tokina is better glass

if i buy the 77mm can i adapt it to the other lenses

i love the 11-16 its my favorite lens at the moment

thanks in advance for any advice
 
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Krs_2007

Senior Member
I can't offer much other than I have read that the variable filters have issues. Trying to remember what the discussion was but try searching for "variable", it was pretty recent. It did not include that lens, just variable ND filter.
 
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RocketCowboy

Senior Member
Yeah ... I bought a variable ND filter for the 10-24mm Nikon DX lens, but had to return it due to some less than acceptable results. Granted, it was a Polaroid brand filter, but the 58mm version of the same filter seems to be okay on the 55-300mm Nikon DX lens. I'm not sure if it's the ultra-wide angle nature of the 10-24mm, but I could not get it to do anything like the waterfall effect that I was going for.

I'm not certain that you'd experience the same with the Tokina lens, but my gut says it's pretty likely.
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
I bought several ND filters and got them for my Tokina 11-16 since it was my largest filter size. I bought a adapter to size it down to fit my 18-140. Fit your largest lens and get adapters for the smaller lenses.
 
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Felisek

Senior Member
Did you consider a Cokin system? The P slim holder gives a little bit of vignetting at 11 mm, if you can accept it. Alternatively, someone suggested to stick a Cokin NF filter to the top of the lens with blu tac (!).

I know this is not a variable ND, but I doubt you can find one for the Tokina 11-16. Cokin square filters are cheap, so you can get a few of them. I'm considering the blu tac solution (with the ND8 filter) for myself.
 
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traceyjj

Senior Member
I bought a variable ND a few years ago and I used it a few times, but, it took a lot of hard work to try to get decent photos (without a colour cast, or lines across) It wasnt a top notch variable, but when I do rebuy NDs it will be good quality non variables and I will buy them for the largest filter size I need... I already have a set of stepping rings from my first variable ND.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Avoid variable ND's like the plague!!

1. Buy a good 77mm 9 or 10 stop ND, and a 77mm 3 stop ND. That's all you'll seriously ever need (every other sensor will handle pulling details out of over/under exposed images by 1-3 stops).

2. Get a set of step-down rings for every size front ring.

Now you're set. The number of times I've said, "Dang, I wish I had 6 stops instead of 9", is zero. BUT, if you think that you need something that variable then get a 1, 2, 3 and 9 stop and stack as needed.
 
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Blacktop

Senior Member
would buying a 52mm for the 18-55 be a better choice given the tokina is better glass


Click to expand...

Most of my long exposure waterfall shots were done with the D3100 an 18-55mm lens, with an ND filter(not variable) or with a circular polarizer filter.
This shot was taken in a shady area, so I got away without doing any stacking or using a CP. 4X ND filter was used.

Also if you're going to buy a filter for your UWA Tokina, get the real thin ones otherwise you're going to get vignetting.
Also depends on where you're standing, you may not need an UWA lens.



_DSC3974.jpg
 
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