The Package Shot For The Landscape Shooter

I used to be a little reticent about taking package shots - it always seems to be somewhat of a cop-out on the part of an illustrator to just show the outside of the box. Some products had a little printing on the outside but some were the classic " plain unmarked box "...It seemed unfair to make the prospective client buy it with just the promise that there was something in the cardboard.

So for years I tried my best to gently ease the shell open to get the nut out. Some of the Japanese packagers who were origami experts defeated me easily - it was either guess at the possible contents or take after it full-blown with a chain saw. This seemed to worry the management and the customers.

Imagine my relief when the packagers decided to put their own advertising on the outside of good quality printing board. Pictures, descriptions, and contents out there where you could see them. Wow.
Even if they then super-wrapped it with shrink plastic and buttoned it over with Kevlar tape and strap-iron it made no difference -you could still make a decent show of it.

So, herewith we present  the new stars of the modular filter system stage - the NiSi filters. They arrived at the studio all sealed up and By Golly they'll leave in the same condition. If you buy them you'll be the first person to see whether there really is a filter in there.

a. The little one is the NiSi Nano IR ND filter

100m x 100mm at a strength of ND 64 or 1.8 pdf you use the alternate system. Neutral density and neutral colour with a great deal of light stopping power for longer exposures.

b. Next size up is the NiSi Nano IR GND filter

150mm x 100 mm graduated to slide up and down the holders. The power on this one peaks at 8 or .9 in the other measurement. A sky modifier for the land and seascapes.

c. the big one is the Nano IR ND again in 64 or 1.8.

The big difference is that this is the one with 150mm x 150mm size to provide filtration for some of the very wide FX lenses. These would be Nikon, Canon, Tamron, and Sigma special lenses.

d. The white kit pack with the convenient description on the front is the V5 starter for the NiSi system - the 100mm filter holder assembly. Looks as though it contains the holder, several adapter rings, a round circa-pol filter, and substantial hard carrying case. You could stack one round and three square filters onto it if you could figure out what for.

The literature says that the holder is aluminium and the filters themselves glass, coated to prevent excess red in long exposures.

The film also apparently makes a series of round ND and protector filters. And of course there are are the dedicated holders for the 150mm series and all the adapter rings for various sizes.

Come down to the shop and stare at the packages, or go on-line to our Nisi online store

The Round Of The Staff: Daniel

Did you know we have another contender for the systems filter stakes? I didn't, until I baled up Daniel and found out about it. You see, I believe the goods are only available from our on-line shop - either that or the rest of the staff are just being mean to me...

Nisi. This company turns out to a very complete set of 100mm x 100mm filters, holders, adapter rings, and storage cases. They also make 150mm sizes as well if you are playing with those really big wide-angle lenses.

ND's, ND grad's, polarisers, and some intriguing IR filters. All the good stuff for the landscapist and escapist shooting, and at affordable prices.

I got to see a kit that seemed to be a good start
-out deal - the basic 100 x 100 filter holder, a circular polariser to fit it, and three adapter rings all housed in a fitted case.

Pop over to the Camera Electronic on-line shop section of our website and look at the range of things that they make. Seems a fine idea.

Doin' The Maths

Nothing in this column is a surprise to anyone reading it - not even to the writer - Oh, sure, the owners of the business have learned to turn on the computer with the latest posting by using a long stick and shielding their eyes while they do it...but they are a cautious lot anyway...

What I am about to suggest may be hot stuff or heresy or hooey - and you can decide which for yourself - but here goes anyway...

The landscape shooters of Western Australia may be doing themselves an injustice - by doing a product an injustice. In particular when they overlook the Cokin range of filters in favour of other systems they might miss out on affordable opportunities.

Okay, it's your money. And if you come in and buy something it becomes our money - feel free to throw dollars at us all day if you wish - no complaints from the cash register side of the counter...but...

The Cokin system of filters has been an established product for longer than most realise - we saw it in the 1970's and it has burgeoned since then. If we remember some pretty horrible uses of the idea in the 70's and 80's...well, everybody has to have a adolescence and wedding and portrait photographers are no exception. I can take the high moral ground here as I never actually made a wedding portrait with the bride and groom in a brandy glass. I contemplated it, but never had the courage to try it.

The modern kit from Cokin that supplies three regular or three neutral density filters as well as a basic filter frame is the bargain of the shop. The filters come in a hard plastic organiser case, the filter holder is sturdy and light, and as it can be adapted onto lenses anywhere from 52mm to 82mm, it can go on the front of most of your glass.

The filters are certainly varied - and good quality. There is a useful, if bewildering, variety of graduated neutral density filters in 4 different sizes - you can accommodate some pretty big lenses. There are blue and amber varieties. There are lots of plain colour filters, if you think that is a help.

And now we address the elephant in the corner of the camera bag...some people have been told... and retell the idea... that the Cokin neutral density filters have a colour bias - in some cases people refer to it as magenta and others find some other tint to complain about. Believe what you will, but consider that nearly every cameras nowadays have a colour correction program built into the WB section of the menu. If you have convinced yourself that you are seeing a magenta colour balance, go in there and dial up a slight green correction. If your camera does not have it in the WB or you don't want to fiddle, crank in a slight green correction in the RAW converter.

And there you go - the aesthetic results you want from a plastic filter system that may be every bit as good as another plastic filter system...but at a fraction of the price.

But don't let me stop you from spending money.

Uncle Dick