I came to East Chicago
pretty close to the city of Chicago, it's back there
but still in the state of Indiana
I came here to take some long exposures
I love Lake Michigan
look at this the light, it's perfect
the water is perfect
it's the perfect day for photography
I wanted to come here to make some long exposures
because I have new ND filters
you know that I lost and broke all of the ND filters that I used for the last 5 years
and this long exposure is done...
that is looking very, very nice
so of course, I was in the need of replacing them
and the very generous people at Kase reached out to me
they asked if I wanted to try their ND filters
I said yes of course
I've been using them for a few weeks
I wanted to share what I think about them with you in this video
let's take a closer look at the filters
but first, I need to make clear
that even though Kase sent me these filters free of charge
I'm gonna be giving you my honest opinion
they know I'm making a video, but they are not gonna watch it before you do
and they haven't told me what to say
they actually sent me 4 filters and these 2 magnetic caps
that I'm using to carry them like this, so they are protected on both sides
it's very easy to access and use them all
I asked for a 6, a 10, and a 15 stop filter
because those are the ones that I used to have
those are the ones that I feel more comfortable using for my long exposure photography
on top of that, they sent me a CPL, a circular polarizer
but I haven't tried it just yet
that is something that I have no experience with
I haven't used one of those filters before
so I need more time testing that one out
these filters are magnetic, so that's a change from the ones I used to have from Lee
they were square, I had a holder where I would just slide them in
Kase themselves actually have a system like that
and that is great if you're going to be using grad filters or stuff like that
but I never use that kind of filters
they were a little bit overkill for what I wanted them for
because they were bigger than they needed to be
I really love the size of these filters
they are very thin
they're like screw on filters, but without the part that actually screws on
whatever the name is
so they are even slimmer than regular screw-on filters
let's do one minute here, to get started
the sun is coming out, now the light is changing
I'm gonna take a quick long exposure here
I want to do a couple minutes, but with the Sun out now
I need more powerful ND filters
one thing that I like about these filters, one thing that I liked about my previous filters
is that I can stack them up
so in this case, as I said, I have a 6, 10 and 15
so I'm gonna stack the 6 and the 10 to make a 16
it gives me just that extra stop over the 15 alone
which is pretty great
that's it
it's getting even brighter
so I guess the light I was so happy about didn't last that long
now, we have this sunny weather, which whatever
I'm trying to make the same composition I made just a few minutes ago
with this light, to see how different it's going to turn out
when we make long exposures, sometimes it's hard to predict what the light is going to
do
you never know what you're gonna get so
that's why I like to try my long exposures a few times
so the thing I like the most about these filters, by far, is the size
I got the 77mm filter thread
I should have gotten the 82mm
because I got that new lens, the Samyang 135
but anyway, they work with every other lens I have
they take no room in my camera bag
look at this, I can just put them in my pocket in my coat and forget about them
I don't need to bring a holder like I used to
I have the magnetic adapter always on my lens
now, I just wish I didn't have to bring my cable remote
but that's what it is, I guess
oh, that sign is a good one
all right
okay, another sign there
I want to make this one a little bit more subtle
for that, I'm gonna use a wide aperture
85mm
something like that
so you can still read the sign, you can still see it
but it's not the first thing that you see when you look at this photo
I'm gonna place it on the bottom right
oh, bird!
I missed it
okay, another long exposure done
gonna take it again, right away
because the light keeps changing all the time
now, I have that shadow that I wanted to capture
the shadow is gone again
anyway, so I'm trying a slightly different composition from here
I can't even say the name but this structure here
with downtown Chicago in the background
I think it's kind of cool
like a little surprise for those who pay attention
I'm using the 6 and 10 stop ND filters again
but now I have on top of those
or not on top, but before those, I should say
a 3-stop ND filter that I usually use for a video
because the 6 and the 10 were not enough
so right now, I have 19
I'm getting a one minute long exposure at 1.4
so it's wide open
that is also the reason why I have a 15 stop ND filter
it might sound overkill
most sets of ND filters out there are 3, 6 and 10
and that should be enough for more situations
because you can combine them, like what I'm doing right now
but the 15 allows you to go beyond that
in case you want to do something longer that I'm doing here
I'm getting one minute, but that's about it
if I want to do longer than that, I would have to use the 15
anyway, this one is looking nice
it's all right, I just really like the downtown Chicago down there
I actually like that crop
I might want to try a longer lens
maybe a 50mm
all right, let's try 50mm
it might be a little bit too much but
it's only one way to know for sure
no, it's pretty good
I just need to move the camera forward
all right
I kind of like this
you see, sometimes when you don't see a composition
it is very useful to switch to a longer lens
there is usually something there
hope I don't hit the other camera
all right, I think that is perfect
I'm trying to make an image now that I saw while making a different one
that I didn't really love, but I thought could have potential
it's worth always trying, because you just never know what you're going to find
while you're trying to make an image that you might not like
that you might not love at first
but you might find something else like I did here
I think I'm gonna like this one more
you might have seen on the settings that I'm shooting this at F9 or so
I still want this structure to be the main focal point
that's gonna be in focus
and the downtown Chicago is going to be just a hint
it's not going to be clear or anything like that
I'm shooting at 2 minute long exposure to make sure that that water is smoothed out
and the clouds show some movement as well
I'm using just the 15 stop ND filter here
I love this light, right now
this is done, hopefully it worked
oh man, it's totally overexposed
what did I do?
I got the math wrong
I'm taking it again with different settings
all right, let's see now, it should have worked
nice
yep
so, what could I possibly say about these filters
when just a few weeks ago I was shooting my long exposures with a $5 piece of welding
glass?
this is a pretty amazing step up from there
no, but seriously, the build quality is pretty amazing
there is no image quality loss
they offer great resolution
even when you stack a couple of them
there is almost no color cast either
and I say almost, because I want to believe that there is some there
but I couldn't see it even, again, when I stacked two of them at the same time
I did put these filters to the test, including some sketchy situations
I wish I didn't lost this 360 footage because it was really cool
in any case, the images I made with these filters look beautiful
look at this photo, I took it on a windy day, on a $150 tripod, and it's a 4.5 minute long
exposure
and yet, it has details for days
it's really sharp no matter how much you zoom in
but even though I appreciate having that in the raw file
as you know, I like to add grain, to make it look less digital
I think that from my perspective and from my background
it'd be more useful to talk about the pros and the cons when compared to square filters
the ones that I used to have
there, the pros are clearly that these are much smaller and much lighter
much easier to carry
square filters did not fit in my pocket
these are the first magnetic filters I use ever
the magnet is pretty strong and they are not going anywhere
as you can see
but that also leads me to the first con I guess
it's so strong, that sometimes it's hard to actually take one of the filters out
especially if you're using gloves out in the cold
I think the only problem I have with these filters is one that I had with the other ones
as well
is that they are very hard to tell apart
they are just black from the outside
I have to actually look at the back of the filter to see the gradation of the filter,
how strong it is
I wish that information was on the side
or maybe use slightly different colors
maybe the strongest one, the 15 stop ND filter, to be black
while the other ones could be a little bit of a lighter gray or something like that
that'd be awesome, because I could see at a glance
which one is which
but anyway, a problem that is common with many other filters so
this trip is getting a little bit too expensive
I've been here for over 2 hours and I've already paid $15 just for the parking
but I guess the upside of that is that it's pretty much empty and very, very peaceful
here
just as I say that, of course, someone is using a chainsaw now
kind of like a lighthouse there in the middle of the lake
hopefully, I can get a better view from there
so I'm gonna take that picture but I need to switch lenses, I need the telephoto
so first, I'm gonna take this other one with the 50mm lens
it's pretty straightforward, the cement... the path of cement that leads to the rail
and then nothing but just beautiful Lake Michigan and the beautiful sky
this is a very dangerous spot for me though
things can go through there and end in the water
like my brand new filters
so I need to be really careful here
there are people coming this way now
they're gonna be in front of my shot for sure
so I better hurry up
unfortunately, I need some more time to set all of this up
I need to do the math
21 stops
500
415
then 1000
2000
4000
that's 3 stops
we are 18
so 19 I can do
hello
hi
I'm running out of time again, I don't want to put yet another $5
because I think I'm pretty much done here
this place is beautiful, I have never been here to this spot before
it's pretty cool, a very nice view of Chicago
I got to make a few long exposures
I got to show you a little bit of the filters, they are great
I could keep saying good things about them
but I think that the best way to show you that I really like them
is that I'm gonna be using them from now on
every single time I take a long exposure
I approve of them
I'm gonna leave a link in the description down below just in case you want to check
them out
and now, I'm going to leave
I was thinking about stopping somewhere else on the way home
by the lake, since I'm here
it took me 2 hours to get here, it's a long drive
but I'm leaving tomorrow for Chicago, we are leaving
because we are going to be in Spain in just a couple days
so I think it's gonna be better if I just head home and get ready for tomorrow
for now, thank you so much for watching
and see you in the next one from Spain!