Formatt Hitech 6.5 x 8" Graduated Neutral Density Filter Kit (Soft Edge)

The 6.5 x 8" Graduated Neutral Density Filter Kit from Hitech has several uses and offers the possibility to achieve otherwise unachievable results. This kit contains�one 0.3, one 0.6 and one 0.9 Graduated Neutral Density filter. These filters enable the shooter to adjust exposure without affecting color balance. A Graduated ND filter appears gray and reduces the amount of light reaching either the sensor of a digital camera or the film plane of a traditional film camera. It is clear at the bottom with a gradual transition to darker gray at the top. Primarily, this filter is used to control exposure when shooting bright landscapes where your horizon line�displays a great exposure difference between sky and foreground, and you need to balance them out for a�pleasing exposure.

A Graduated Neutral Density filter is also used to create some unusual special effects such as capturing the "blur" of the rippling water of a waterfall or the swirling effect of city traffic. Since the filter allows the use of slower shutter speeds in bright light, it becomes possible to create these special effects that would normally be impossible to capture without the filter. And since the ND filter can also help to control your depth of field, it permits you to shoot at wider apertures. Ultimately, its value is in helping to prevent bright, overly washed out images shot in bright light. Soft/Hard designation indicates the degree of transition of the filter. Soft edge grads have a smooth transition from clear to ND. Hard edge grads like the ones included in this kit have a more defined hard line transition and should be used for longer lenses.

Hitech filters are made from CR39 resin. The filters are produced to exacting tolerances that permit you to change filters mid-shoot or from day to day and know that your image quality will remain consistent.

Neutral Density Filters Have Four Main Uses

To enable slow shutter speeds to be used, especially with high speed ISOs, to record movement in subjects such as waterfalls, clouds, or cars

To decrease depth of field by allowing wider apertures to be used, which helps separate subjects from their background

To decrease the effective ISO of high speed film (above ISO 400) and allow it to be used outdoors in bright situations

To allow cine and video cameras (which have fixed shutter speeds) to film subjects such as snow, sand or other bright scenes which could cause overexposure

Absorbing Cell Technology

The secret to Formatt's consistency in filter design lies in its unique "Absorbing Cell Technology" (A.C.T.); this process allows color correct dyes to be applied to optically pure, wafer-thin absorbing cells, and offers a controllability that ensures the smoothest grad lines and consistent color across the whole filter surface

Hitch filters are manufactured to exacting standards and can be counted on to be consistent filter to filter, which means you can change filters mid-shot or from day-to-day and still maintain the same exposure

Hitech filters are made by Formatt, a company with three generations of professional filter-making experience that produces every filter to the highest technical standards. The finest materials, together with state of-the-art production technology, have resulted in a standard of optical excellence unmatched anywhere else