A budget ND1000 filter review - 10 stopper!

So summer is upon us (not that weather tells us that!) so I though I'd look to replace my B&W 77mm ND110 that went for a swim last year. The obvious choice was to just splash another £120+ on another one as I already knew how good it was but I though I'd do a little research and write up this little review to pass my initial thoughts on to anyone also considering a 10 stopper.

I came across a 77mm Camdiox ND1000 for £24.99 and although being extremely skeptical as we all know what cheap filters respresent I took the plunge anyway and bought it.

Well it arrived this morning and 1st impressions were poor and I feared the worst.

Standard white box no fancy packaging like you get with the B&W.


However once opened my optimism grew, build quality, feel and looks are all on a par with the B&W. It has a very re-assuring metal filter thread and surround with some descriptive text printed.






Fitting to the Tokina 11-16mm was a doddle, no issues what so ever.


Now the issues with cheap ND's is colour cast and this is what I feared. So I've done some quick dirty and totally unscientific tests and the results are very promising.

Back garden no filter. 11mm, f8, ISO50, 1/200th


Back garden with filter. 11mm, f8, ISO50, 4 secs.


Note the slight vignetting, but no colour cast and sharpness seems unaffected.

Now for boring long exposure test as colour cast seem to get worse as the exposure gets longer. Put the camera on the floor in my hall as it goes from dark to light very quickly which gives the metering system some work to do.

11mm, f4, ISO50, 30 secs exposure.


Impressively not a hint of colour degradation or alteration so all in all very happy and I'm looking forward to getting it beyond my back garden tomorrow.
Hopefully this will be of use to someone and I'll share some actual shots once I get out with it.

Now I'd better get back to work!

interesting - that's a cheap filter!
My personal recommendation has always been the LCW ND500 (about 1 stop less of course) in preference to the B&W 110 (both have a cast but I found the B&W has a stronger cast, B&W on the warm side and LCW on the cold side).
You could buy two and a half of these for the same price as the LCW though...

Can I ask where you purchased this from?

I'm very impressed. I've thought about a 10 stop for a while and you hear so many bad things about cheap ones and the colour cast, but those look great.

More test images would be nice

Also, were these JPG from the camera or RAW that you've corrected?

Those look close and at 9 2/3 stops apart the filter is closer than some big stoppers I've seen reviewed to the advertised number.

ShortWarning said:

Can I ask where you purchased this from?

Click to expand...

From here but it looks like they've sold out of the 77mm. Plenty of other sizes though.

DBT85 said:

I'm very impressed. I've thought about a 10 stop for a while and you hear so many bad things about cheap ones and the colour cast, but those look great.

More test images would be nice

Also, were these JPG from the camera or RAW that you've corrected?

Those look close and at 9 2/3 stops apart the filter is closer than some big stoppers I've seen reviewed to the advertised number.

Click to expand...

All RAW but no correction applied, all I've done is export open then export them straight from Lightroom.

Columbo said:

From here but it looks like they've sold out of the 77mm. Plenty of of sizes though.

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Thanks for that, I needed 52mm which they have anyway.

they also have a non ebay shop.

http://srb-photographic.co.uk/camdiox-nd1000-filter-1069-c.asp

Just ordered the 77mm one for £28 posted.

Thanks Columbo

Linked on the NeoGAF forum camera hardware thread and also put the images on there. Let me know if you'd rather them not be there.

Convinced me

Just ordered myself a 52mm one.

DBT85 said:

Linked on the NeoGAF forum camera hardware thread and also put the images on there. Let me know if you'd rather them not be there.

Click to expand...

Not a problem, glad you found it useful.

Never seen a Camdiox one myself but I use a set of 3, 6 and 10 stop Haida filters that achieve the same result. Bargain!

Hunders said:

Never seen a Camdiox one myself but I use a set of 3, 6 and 10 stop Haida filters that achieve the same result. Bargain!

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The Haida's were what I would have bought if this had been garbage but as they were x2 the price I gave this a stab.

Thanks for the review, very informative.

Srb are a great shop, ive bought quite a few bits and pieces from them, all excellent quality and service.

After viewing the TP thread I bought one the other week. Haven't tested it out yet though!

Piccy I took with mine today. Nikon D5200 / 18-55mm / 25 secs.

Like that a lot Steve, where was it taken?

I took mine to the National Memorial Arboretum last weekend.
10 second exposure in bright sunlight and with it full of visitors.


Cenotaph Front by m.ww, on Flickr

Cheers. Trent and Mersey Canal, near Sawley in the East Midlands.

Two test shots I took today. Tried yesterday and forgot to cover the viewfinder!

Forgot about the white balance so had to change it in Lightroom for the long exposure as it tried to work it out in camera with no light lol.

Not perfectly matching, but certainly no problem. These are 9 & 1/3 stops apart.

1/80, f/11, ISO 100, 24mm


8 sec, f/11, ISO 100, 24mm

Does it make much difference covering the view finder?

Mine in post 15 was taken without doing so and I got 25 seconds in bright sunshine. Could have easily done longer.

Steve M said:

Does it make much difference covering the view finder?

Mine in post 15 was taken without doing so and I got 25 seconds in bright sunshine. Could have easily done longer.

Click to expand...

I think it all depends if the camera is in shade or if the sun is shining into the viewfinder etc. The ones I took yesterday without it were all washed out and had some flaring on them. I just held a lens cap a few mm from the VF for the duration. I think a lot of cameras come with little black inserts to put in place too.