cheap strong neutral(?) density hack

Well I went and put it through the ringer and here's what I found.

First, color cast is strong but easily correctable.

White Balance Image #1 - WB set to Tungsten (because that is what kind of lighting I have in my basement)


White Balance Image #2 - In camera custom white balance using image above


So it corrects the white balance for review on the camera relatively well. Color cast not an issue. Getting excited!!!


So I decide to try and shoot a subject, find a bunch of my kids crayons laying around line them up on a table, which is actually just underneath the the view of the white balance tests above.

***Images 1 and 2 are uncorrected, untouched out of the camera***

Subject Image #1 - With Filter using custom white balance


Subject Image #2 - No Filter, just lens and camera under Tungsten white balance.


Subject Image #3 - With Filter using custom white balance, corrected to match image 2 as closely as possible. (sharpen, noise reduction, saturation, and a decrease in purple luminance.)



The first thing you might notice is the washed out colors and the lack of sharpness on the images with the filter. Although colors are kind of correctable, the filter leaves many artifacts and noise, which could also just be long exposure noise.

I'm going to hopefully get outside tomorrow(or today now I guess) and try it with some more powerful light in a more possible scenario to not have to take a 15 min exposure in my basement.

My conclusion for tonight is for 5 bucks, if I wanted to get a black and white shot with motion in it and with digital correction technology, this would work just fine, for color photography this will not leave my bag.