hey guys,
I'm not intending this on being a "rant", but I put an order into my local Calumet(LA branch) back in the beginning of the year for a 1 and 2 stop soft GND filter + foundation holder. I called up the other day, and the guy on the phone had no idea, just that my order was still "backordered".
I know these filters are getting more popular, which is good for LEE, but in the end, bad for those of us who would love to be able to use them when photographing. Now that I'm shooting more E-6 film(4x5 and 8x10), its even more important, to keep skies in check.
And after watching a video on youtube the other night
http://youtu.be/lMu_m203YaY
I'm now having some reservations on the end-quality of what my filters will actually be like. I was at first, expecting a more automated, and exacting process in producing these filters, but after watching the (IMO) "sloppy" techniques that are used to produce a soft graduated filter, and that it seems there isn't a "standard" time that the filter is in the dye, it seems that there will be less filters put in the trash bin if they were to run a more exacting process in terms of time and withdrawal rate, so that EVERY filter that is produced is EXACTLY the same, from rack(not just done 1 at a time, but possibly 3-4 at a time) to rack, and run to run.
seeing that lots of people are getting into using filters to balance skies with foreground on their digital cameras these days, you'd think they could speed up the process by re-designing their manufacturing methods...
but maybe its just me.
still fascinating how its done, but in the end, IMO, they could be done faster and more efficiently, and more exacting if they were to somehow "automate" the process some more, for better repeatability
wadda you think?
-Dan
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