DIY welding glass filter/filter holders general

[scarble]

Howdy folks, I've recently got the urge to try a bit of loong exposure stuff with a "black glass" ND filter but don't want to spend £50 on one because I'm not sure if I will get bored of the gimmick or something so I was thinking of trying with some welding glass, the only issue is mounting it to the lens.
Any ideas? I don't have any dyes big enough to make my own filter housing. Sort of hoping to do it super budget but might stretch to a filter holder if I can figure out what all the letters mean!

I usually use B+W but they don't seem to do any square filters so Cokin or Lee? Can you only use Cokin filters in Lee holders? What about different size lenses? Was thinking I might use it on my 28mm prime which I think is a 48mm thread?

Also does anyone know what type of thread filter threads are, what the pitch and other.. thready properties are?

[mojitomax]

i superglued one onto a filter ring that would fit my widest lens. then use a step up ring for my other lenses.

theres a slight light leak but overall acceptable for playing around with.

it is a bit of a faff focussing and then having to screw the glass on though.

[scarble]

hmm yes. big f numbers and infinity
can one purchase empty filter rings or is it necessary to purchase a skylight and poke out the existing glass? or just keep it in I guess..?

[Teppic]

Get a cheap Cokin P adapter ring from eBay and use Blu-Tac to affix the welding glass to the ring. Place a thin line of Blu-Tac onto the adapter ring all the way around (this will also help reduce light leakage). You may not think it will be strong enough to hold the glass in place, but if the Blu-Tac is fresh it will take a fair bit of effort to remove the glass.

Edited by Teppic on Friday 26th July 20:06

[scarble]

I take it a "P" is a type of filter holder and the P series, A series and whatever else are what.. just different sizes? eta: I googled it, seems to make sort of sense. But whatever letter you go for there are various adapter rings to fit it to various lenses? Right-o. I've got an adaptor ring of some sort for some reason, iirc it's quite small. Just sort of was attached to a camera I bought or something, will have to look what size it is!
How about araldite? Araldite is the answer to everything right? They do opaque ones.

Anyone got clever ideas for long exposure photos? I was gonna do a bit of misty water stuff but the waterfall thing is way overdone. Also if I can think of a way to mount a camera rigidly in my car I can get a F&F "NOS" effect going

Edited by scarble on Friday 26th July 13:40

[The_Jackal]

How about this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9-Size-adapter-ring-for-... as a cheap way to give it a go.
One of the Photography mags reviewed them recently I think.

[The Tea Boy]

If the welding glass is nice and long you can use 2 elastic bands over it and over the back of the camera for full bodging points but I brought an adjustable nd filter off the bay for about £14 with goes almost as dark as welding glass.

Matt

[scarble]

That multi filter set might be worth a shot but it smells of cheap chinese, probably worse quality than welding glass
Why does it "must be gradual" for digital camera?

[14-7]

Presumably you've had a look through the following thread?

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=968...

Lots of good info in there but quite a lot of pages as well.

[scarble]

14-7 said:

Presumably you've had a look through the following thread?
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=968...
Lots of good info in there but quite a lot of pages as well.

Oh.
I did a search.. and read a thread but..?
I'll go over it.

Not sure if it was on PH or not but somewhere was a rather nice photo where the green cast of the welding glass actually worked well.

eta:
ah-ha, this one.

Dogsey said:

Misty Water - Colour by dogsey, on Flickr
(Also available in B&W).

I think it's lovely with the uber-green cast.
So.. hmm P-series I guess? Or.. off brand copy ND set? How to decide?

etaa: have just found I have a 52 to less than 52 adapter, not sure if I should try that, will obviously be some vignetting but.. you know..

Edited by scarble on Friday 26th July 19:33