Whilst Googling recently I came across a person who was using the 10-shade glass from a welding hood as a 10-stop filter. I was able to get the glass locally for only $2.07, so I thought I would give it a try.

One of the cons is that this glass has a green tint, so color correction in necessary for color photos.

Another is mounting it to your lens w/o having light leaks. I recently purchased the wrong adapter ring for my z-pro set-up, so I figured I might as well use that.

Onward noble steed!

1

Materials:
Cutting board
Shade 10 passive welding hood replacement glass
"Fun Foam" w/ sticky back
2 office clippy things
A sharp razor
82mm z-pro adapter ring
Mah 10-20 3.5

2

Make sure you get the foam with the adhesive on the backside.

3

Shade 10 glass. I think they go up to 12 or 14.

4

Cut yourself a hunk a little bigger than your ring

5

Peel the backing and stick the rings face down, and cut away the outside and the inside.

6

Screw it on

7

Use your clippys to secure the glass to the ring. The foam should act as protection against the glass, as well as provide a nice grip so there's no sliding.

8

Clean that glass!

Said color cast:


Without & with filter and correction:

This was with quick processing.
Top- f3.5, 1/80, iso800
Bottom- f3.5, 30 seconds, iso800

I'm excited to get this guy outside...

Yaaarrr! I love the DIY attitude!

I may have to try this. Thanks man!

nice, way better than limo tint.

Saweet

What application is a 10-stop filter for? Just curious.

Reducing 10 stops of light from hitting your sensor - AKA Really Long Exposures.

Yeah these look really good when color corrected...I imagine you shot those pics RAW right?

Maybe I'm missing the point, but is this for when f/22 isn't enough?

Yes. Long shutters during mid day. Stuff like that.

Originally Posted by jjswee

Yes. Long shutters during mid day. Stuff like that.

Or when trying for a desired effect. Cloud movement, etc.

Originally Posted by Slack

Maybe I'm missing the point, but is this for when f/22 isn't enough?

yes, exactly. Basically, you can only go so far with apertures. If you want good DOF you're usually at at least f/8 and a lot of lenses max out at f/22 these days. F/8 to f/22 is only 3 stops anyway. Add to that diffraction kicks in somewhere in there, so if you want crucially sharp images you try not to jack the aperture and you NEED filters to get there. 10 stops is a LOT different though, way more than you can get with slow/low ISOs and apertures. 2~3 can generally be done with tricks, but even then there are times when a 2~3 stop filter can save the day. An example I've run in to recently is using fast lenses wide open in daylight. I have a f/1.4 50mm and when using it on my Nikon (base ISO of 200, fastest shutter of 1/8000th) I run against the limits which forces it to stop the lens down (or overexpose). My GF1 is the same with it's 20mm 1.7, 100 base and 1/4000th max shutter. Outside in bright light it will max out @ 1/4oooth and need to stop down or blow the exposure. In both cases a ~3 stop ND saves the say, as would a CP (if that effect doesn't cause other problems).

RAW for sure, so you can color correct.

I haven't had much time outside, here is the only one I have taken:


It was just after sundown, so probably not necessary but I wanted to try it anyway.

You should take a picture of a 18% gray card. Save that picture and import it into photoshop. Then add it as a layer with the above picture (or any picture) to subtract out the vignetting you are getting, which I don't know why you are. Like a reverse overlay filter.

Can someone back me up on this? Will that work?

Originally Posted by jjswee

You should take a picture of a 18% gray card. Save that picture and import it into photoshop. Then add it as a layer with the above picture (or any picture) to subtract out the vignetting you are getting, which I don't know why you are. Like a reverse overlay filter.

Can someone back me up on this? Will that work?

Vignetting seems to be an issue with 10 stop filters at least in my experience, especially when the shot is underexposed by a stop or more.

Yeah, I think its actually from the adapter ring.

The adapter ring should be out of the way - especially since it's a z-pro size.

I seem to notice it more when I'm shooting wide - it could be that light has to go further through the filter when it comes from an angle and so it had more dark filter to pass through and becomes less intense.

Originally Posted by MoLS

The adapter ring should be out of the way - especially since it's a z-pro size.

I seem to notice it more when I'm shooting wide - it could be that light has to go further through the filter when it comes from an angle and so it had more dark filter to pass through and becomes less intense.

that, and the fact that the filter is planar where the front element is not.

ie, plain old reflection gets worse as the angle of incidence increases.

Used mine on a trip to the everglades - Open sky, but you could SEE the cumulous clouds racing across the bright blue sky. So I dropped my 10 stop in there, and I was getting 20 seconds @ F11, ISO 100 =D
Result:

Floridas Seedy Clouds on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I went to the local welding place today and they only had the 12 in the same size as that but are going to order in a 9 for me. I couldn't remember which one you chose but I couldnt see a difference with my own eye.

I just picked up some #10 glass from Lowes for less than $5. I've already got the Cokin adapter ring. I was thinking of using black RTV sealant and permanently mount the glass to the adapter. I have a feeling that won't be strong enough when threading it to my lens or lens adapter. I'll likely go the foam/clamp route as well.

I don't have an adapter so will have to bodgey things up like my awesome cardboard grad filter. The glass costs $11 here.

I picked up some glass from Harbor Freight.

Other than buying a 30 dollar screw on adapter, anyone have any other ideas to mount this? I saw a 75-105 step up ring, but that was 20 bucks itself.

Looking for cheap, like free or 5 dollars. Its more principle then cost.

Originally Posted by jjswee

I picked up some glass from Harbor Freight.

Other than buying a 30 dollar screw on adapter, anyone have any other ideas to mount this? I saw a 75-105 step up ring, but that was 20 bucks itself.

Looking for cheap, like free or 5 dollars. Its more principle then cost.

If you had a rubber lens hood, you might be able to get some big elastic bands and wrap them around the filter and the camera body, holding the filter fairly flush against the rubber hood. Or, maybe you could cut out a lens cap and RTV the glass to the cap?

Originally Posted by jjswee

I saw a 75-105 step up ring, but that was 20 bucks itself.

look for smaller step up rings by bower or general brand? Rings are usually <$10.

I found a bunch cheaper, but none of them were 72 to something greater

Results here

Do you guys think I need a 'z' sized adapter ring to make this work? Can I get away with a P sized?

z sized ring - $ 30 - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...pter_Ring.html

p sized ring - $17 - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...es_Filter.html
- This comes with the filter holder, which probably wont work with my 10-22, but I may be able to mod it (cut off slots) to fit against the 10stop filter.

I think the only issue with using a p size + the holder is that there will be an opportunity for light to leak through unless you seal it up really nice.

I wish i knew how wide the adapter ring in the p size was.

Well, I when i had my p setup the largest ring i had was 77mm, and it was pretty narrow. Probably between 1/4 and 3/8''.

Yeah I don't think that would work. I'll get the Z size. 30 dollars for an adapter ring.. sheesh.

Thanks.

Yeah I know, and I bought the wrong one. Glad I could still use it for something though.

finished mine up today. Maybe I'll get a chance to play with it a little tomorrow. Thanks man!

forgot to throw this in here! Thanks man!

I got a 10 shade welding glass at Lowes for $5. I just used 2 rubber bands to secure it to my lens. I did not get any light leak.


here it is all set up


straight out of the camera. canon 40d with 17-55 f2.8 IS. f8, 160 seconds, iso100


here is the correction. i did 150+ magenta on the camera RAW tint slider. then i decreased the greens some more in camera raw


f10, 90 seconds

not too shabby!

^^ wow, what a change! I wouldn't have thought you'd be able to color correct that much...

Originally Posted by Bone

^^ wow, what a change! I wouldn't have thought you'd be able to color correct that much...

it's pretty easy to do. I feel like most of these lend themselves better to b&w anyways.

Originally Posted by a.hoglen

it's pretty easy to do. I feel like most of these lend themselves better to b&w anyways.

I just didn't think that there would be that much color information left over in the image to be able to get it back to a good level. Granted you can tell that there is a bit of color information missing though. I just thought that it would be worse.

Very nice.

just picked up the welding glass from Loews. using the rubber band and lense hood method works great!

I love it! 4 minute exposure at high noon! Im in michigan for the next 4 days, cant wait to shoot more with it...sadly I am sans card reader or cable, images will have to wait till next week.

Most fun for 5$ in photography I've had in ages.

I found the welding glass on clearance at Harbor Freight, it's under $2 now.
The lens hood and rubber band technique works great. (I was actually using the Cokin adapter and rubber band, when I saw the post above I tried with the lens hood.)

Now I just need to shoot a bunch and try to figure out how to get good results.

I tried using this on vacation and failed miserably.

That last one is very nice.

loving the results thus far! 1min and a half on the beach in full sun! So cool.

Originally Posted by thomps6s

That last one is very nice.

damn right it is