So i was very intrigued when i heard about Nisi's new 15 stop super stopper , 15 stop's is a lot !
Being a fan of long exposure photography i decided to ask my friends at Nisi to send me one of these new "Super Stoppers" and i'd put it to the test and take it out in the field for a trial run.
The first thing i noticed when i received the 15 stop filter and unpacked it was the impressive packaging and overall build quality from Nisi, as with all Nisi products it instantly screams quality. The cherry coloured Nano coating from Nisi is an ingenious design being both water and oil repellant, as with all Nisi filters i find the Nano coated glass filters easy to keep clean from sea spray and dust.
impressive packaging & quality from Nisi
So i fitted the filter to my Canon 16-35mm f4L lens and my Canon 6D camera and headed out to a local beach late afternoon for a trial run, i was shooting on a tripod with a remote shutter. I have the Nisi V5 Filter Holder and the "super stopper" easily slotted into the first slot on the filter holder as i also was using a Nisi 4 stop Soft Grad ND16 1.2 on the second slot of the filter holder.
RESULTS - I shot several test frames first off just using the grad filter to get my exposure correct and then calculated the 15 stops exposure time to be a 10 minute exposure at f4 , i was using ISO50 - f4 - 16mm focal length - with Auto white balance and i manually focused on a rock in the foreground. Due to time constraints i only shot 1 long exposure frame on this test day.
frame 1 - with Nisi 1.2 4 stop Soft Grad - Canon 6D - Canon 16-35mm f4L - 16mm - ISO50 - 1/30th sec. , manual focus , image was a RAW file then minor adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw and converted to a JPEG file , no sharpening
frame 2 - with Nisi 1.2 4 stop Soft Grad and Nisi 15 stop Super Stopper - Canon 6D - Canon 16-35mm f4L - 16mm - ISO50 - 601.00sec. ( 10 minute ), manual focus , image was a RAW file then minor adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw and converted to a JPEG file , no sharpening
SUMMARY - I have to be honest and say that with a filter as dark as 15 stops and at a focal length as wide as 16mm i was expecting an element of colour cast and quite possibly some vignetting and softening around the corners and edges of the frame, as soon as the long exposure image popped up on my view finder i was suitably impressed with the trueness to the natural colour and no visible vignetting or softness.
I had a mate with me who is a very experienced landscape photographer and it's fair to say that we were both very impressed with the performance of the Nisi 15 stop Super Stopper, i can't really fault this product in any way and i'd have to say that it has genuinely exceeded my expectations.
WHERE DOES THIS FILTER FIT INTO YOUR KIT ? - I would say that if you are a sunrise / sunset photographer only, than the 15 stop probably doesn't fit your brief, a 6 or 10 stop Nisi Filter would more suit that application as the exposure times will just be to long in low light applications. I will however say that if you are a photography addict like me and is happy to broaden your horizons by shooting varied scenarios at all times of the day then the Nisi 15 Stop definitely has a place in your kit, i can see a place for it definitely suiting long exposures in the middle of the day and even be a great tool for cityscape or architectural photography. I'd also say that value for money this filter represents excellent bang for your buck with Nisi's recommended retail price in Australia being $259.00
To purchase NiSi Filters, SIRUI Tripods or various other quality photography products visit my product partners webstore- fotosharp.com.au