Hitech ND3.0 colour cast - any help appreciated!

[janitor80]

Firstly, I hope I've put this in the right forum.

I've been tring some shots with my new Hitech ND3.0 (10-stop) filter with my Cokin P filter holder and am having some colour cast issues. I've tried correcting through white balance (WB) but some colours appear to need more attention. Examples below (obviously this is not my normal subject for using this filter but it does illustrate the issue):

Without filter (SOOC)


with Hitech filter (SOOC)


with Hitech filter 'corrected' (only WB changed)


Even in the 'corrected version you can see some really odd things happening to the green on the cusion but interestingly not so much with the green on the throw. Also the maroon colour on the rug is way out out as is the dark purple on the throw,

Any help would be appreciated but please note that I only have access to LR3 or Gimp for making corrections.

Thanks!

[janitor80]

For comparison, I have made the same shot using a B+W 110 (10-stop) screw-in filter:

with B+W filter (SOOC):


with B+W filter 'corrected' (only WB changed):


The B+W110 doesn't have anything like the same issues. I wish I'd realised this before I bought the Hitech filter tbh - it's anything but neutral density.

I could just stick with the B+W 110 but unfortunately the don't make them in 82mm which is the size I need for my Sigma ultrawide where it would probably get most use

[OsmosisStudios]

The problem with ND3.0 filters isnt that theyre so strong, getting rid of colour casts is almost impossible. What I find odd, though, is that your casts are blue: most of the time (especially with the B+W), the casts are RED.

[millephil]

I too am havin trouble with a pinky colour cast with cokin nd filters.
No great answer to this,it works on some shots, but i want to decide if i want pink, not the filter.I shoot mainly in raw, which means you can alter it a bit.
Now, here's a thing, i did shots of waterfalls at 10 seconds, no colour cast, but it was dull day with no skys involved. when sky is in the shot and its sunny i had pink cast. could mean that the colour of the light is warmer you get more cast. prob best to go take ya shots out side and see what happens.
I'm going to try some pre sets in the cameras white balance.

[janitor80]

Thanks for the responses.

I've spoken to Formatt/Hitech about it and they tell me that I should have bought the 'Pro-stop' version. I investigated it on the web and people do appear to get better results with it (something to do with the ND3.0 not working well with CMOS sensors apparently?), so my old ND3.0 filter is in the post to be swapped for the Pro-stop.

The Pro-stop is more expensive but, if it gets the results, it's still a lot cheaper than the Lee 'Big Stopper', which seems to be unobtainable both due to the price and order backlog. I'll try to take similar shots to the above when the Pro-stop arrives for comparison to help others looking at these filters.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by janitor80

Thanks for the responses.

I've spoken to Formatt/Hitech about it and they tell me that I should have bought the 'Pro-stop' version.

Nothing like the manufacturer itself telling you their product is sh!t...

[janitor80]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

Nothing like the manufacturer itself telling you their product is sh!t...

Yep! To be fair, their website does state that the filter is not suitable for some camera sensors (but less helpfully don't list exactly which ones!).

Given the infrared issues, I would rather they market it as only suitable for black & white work myself but at least they're being reasonable about the exchange. I should also say that the staff pick up the phone quickly and are knowledgeable - better than I've experienced from numerous other online retailers/services.