Product Description

Graduated 502 neutral density filter has a reduction of 2 f-stops due to its 25% transmission factor.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36126 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: B&W
• Model: 65-078916
• Dimensions: .15 pounds

Customer Reviews

B+W 502 filters are not consistent in color or density
B+W 501 and 502 graduated neutral density filters vary tremendously in color and density. They have a serious quality control problem.

My needs for 3D filming left me with no alternative but to find a matched pair of B+W 502 filters - it took three months to come up with a pair that had the same density and color and even then, they have a slight blue-green cast. It's next to impossible to find a B+W 502 that's actually grey (neutral) like it's supposed to be.

See my article with links to photos comparing multiple B+W 502 graduated neutral density filters in the Photo.net Large Format photography forum:

http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00MfNR

If you are using a rangefinder or any other camera that does not allow you to examine the effect of the filter through the camera lens, there is unfortunately no alternative to the B+W 501 and 502 in a round, screw-in mount other than the Heliopan graduated ND filters, but these are ridiculously low in density for their rating. The Heliopan graduated ND filters are all but useless.

If you are using an SLR, DSLR, or some other design that allows you to look through the camera lens (such as a view camera with ground glass), you should seriously consider the use of a rectangular graduated ND filter in an adjustable holder (instead of a round screw-in filter). Have a look at those made by Singh Ray, Lee Filters, Formatt, or Schneider Optics. They are all offered in both hard and soft edge gradients - the soft edge gradients are best for wide angle lenses, hard edge for normal or telephoto lenses.

Mike

Quality Filter
I'm not going to get into why one would want this specific type of filter - there are books on the subject that will go into a lot more detail - here is one example - there are many: The Photographer's Guide to Filters (Photographers Guide).

What I will review is quality of this product. B+W filters are made in Germany. Germany is consistenly one of the best producers of high end glass and optics. I have been told the reason the quality of these filters is better than most is that they don't make them as separate units, but instead they build a cylinder of glass and cut each filter off of it. Consistent quality. Screw ring is hard metal, so it is very difficult to strip the threads. I have messed up the threads on cheaper brands by accident.

In my experience, buying filters falls into the category of you get what you pay for. Cheaper brands are out there, but if you want a very high quality filter, that is durable and consistent with what you want to achieve with it... you can't go wrong with B+W filters.

Be sure to choose the right size - for example, Nikon prints the size on the back of the lens cap.