Lee Big Stopper ND filter on a Panasonic 7-14mm
First results using a 3D printed DIY filter holder with the Lee Big Stopper ND filter & the Panasonic 7-14mm.
Using the $2 welders glass mask filter on the Panasonic 7-14mm F4 has been a lot of fun and a great learning experience and I have taken some interesting long exposure photographs with it.
Brisbane’s Gateway Bridge though a Panasonic 7-14mm using a welders mask glass filter and a custom 3D printed mount.
A recent visit to the Brisbane’s Gateway Bridge yielded some interesting results. However totally removing the green cast and the noise has been a real challenge and in some cases near impossible. This is even with the OMD EM5’s in house “dark frame ” noise reduction on which effectively doubles the exposure time. The long exposure photographs I took with the Canon 5D mark 2 and a welders mask glass filter were a lot cleaner, most likely due to the bigger pixel size. So I decided to invest in a LEE Big Stopper to see what difference it would make when taking long exposure photographs.
My local bricks and mortar camera store had the Lee on special and in stock so for me it was a no brainer.
Lee Big Stopper & designing the filter holder
As the welders mask glass (110mm by 90mm by 3mm) has different dimensions to the LEE Big Stopper (100mm by 100mm by 2mm), the original filter holder had to be redesigned and printed to suite the difference in size. In the design process the filter holder was made smaller and lighter and out of three separate parts, the mount that attached to the lens and the two clamps to keep the ND filter in place.
All up the filter holder weights in at around 100 grams. I am still looking at way to improve the design to make it easier to mount. The 3D printed finish part as usual has a rough feel and appearance but it is designed to be simple and functional. All nuts and bolts are standard 4mm thread that can be bought from any hardware store.
The business end of the filter holder.
Shooting through the 7-14mm with the filter holder in place but no LEE filter shows no sign of vignette or artifacts on the sides.
Big Stopper Newbie
The first mistake with the Lee Big Stopper was to use it during the middle of the day. Exposures of 20 seconds or more at F20 resulted in the image highlights starting to blow out. Compare this to the welder’s mask glass filter that can be exposed for 3 minutes plus at F14. I quickly realized the Lee was to be used in low light that meant early morning or late afternoon.
First impressions
The Lee Big Stopper with the filter holder was first trialed down at the Brisbane Story Bridge early one morning. Unfortunately the cloud cover was not that interesting but the results where very promising.
A 51 second exposure at F4
A 60 sec exposure at F13
A 79 sec exposure at F7.1
Color correcting images taken using the LEE Big Stopper is a joy compared to the welder’s mask glass filter with comparatively little effort being required. All images were processed in Photoshop ACR
What’s next
If you are interested in doing long exposure photography with the Panasonic 7-14mm and the LEE Big Stopper and would like to purchase a 3D printed filter holder, please contact me at philsavory@mozam.com.au for pricing and shipping details.
You can see more of my images on my Flickr site.