Formatt Hitech 85 x 110mm Reverse Graduated Neutral Density Kit 7

The 85 x 110mm Reverse Graduated Neutral Density Kit 7 from Hitech is unique to Hitech and is innovative in its concept. With this kit, you can now control and balance the excessive brightness typically found in sunrises and sunsets since the densest part of the filter is found in the middle. In traditional graduated neutral density filters, the dense part is at the top or bottom. However, this filter is designed in "reverse" with the high density part of the graduation in the middle of the filter that then graduates to a lower density at the top.

A Reverse Graduated Neutral Density filter is especially useful to photographers who shoot landscapes early in the morning or late afternoon when the sun is lowest in the sky. Now, with these filters, you can balance out the "hot" area in the center of the image with both your foreground and sky without worrying about the center portion being washed or blown out.

The Soft/Hard designation indicates the degree of transition of the filter. Soft edge grads, like the ones in this kit, have a smooth transition from clear to ND. Hard edge grads have a more defined hard lined transition and should be used for longer lenses.

This kit contains three 85 x 110mm Reverse Graduated Neutral Density filters: One 0.3, one 0.6 and one 0.9. These filters enable the shooter to adjust exposure without affecting color balance. A Reverse 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 top with a gradual transition to darker gray at the center. 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.

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 unique 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

Hitech 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