Since the initial announcement of Irix’s new Edge filter series at PPE last year, the range has grown slowly but steadily. A new 15 stop neutral density filter, the Irix Edge ND32000 was announced just a couple of weeks ago, and today we got to see it in person during The Photography Show in Birmingham, England. We also got the chance to check out their new square filter holder, too.
A 15 stop neutral density feature pretty much speaks for itself. It’s a virtually black filter that cuts the light down to around 1/32,000th of its original intensity. This means you can get very long exposures even in the middle of a bright sunny day at a wide aperture. An f/1.4 1/8000th of a second exposure, for example, would become a very respectable 4 seconds. A 1/250th exposure would be 2 minutes. A 2 second exposure in an already dim scene would become an insane 17 hours!
Initially, the Irix Edge ND32000 will be released to fit the 95mm filter of their 15mm f/2.4 wide angle lens. Eventually, as with the rest of the Irix Edge range, it will become available in the more common diameters, too.
Also launching this weekend is Irix’s new square filter holder. It’s a unique move for Irix to produce their own filter holder. Because they only really need to cater to their own Irix lens customers, they can tailor it to those specific lenses.
With this in mind, the holder comes supplied with an adapter ring that allows it to mount right into the bayonet fitting for the lens hood. This means that the whole hood sits just that little bit further back than more traditional screw-in adapter plates for Cokin and Lee holders, so there’s less chance of it appearing in the shot at wide angles.
It also means that as the filter thread isn’t being used by the filter holder, it can be used for a separate screw-in filter, perhaps the Irix Edge ND32000 mentioned above, or an ultraslim polariser. Then you can just place your graduated ND over the top.
It also means you can quickly and easily attach the lens cap directly to the lens without having to remove the holder. For those that wish to use them with non-Irix lenses, though, adapters covering a range of filter thread diameters will be available.
The holder has slots for a pair of 2mm thick 10cm wide filters. Of course, if you go ultra-wide with your focal length, you can remove one of those pairs to reduce it even more, or twist it sideways to completely negate the chance of appearing in your images.
They weren’t able to give us any information about price just yet, but both items are expected to become available in the next 4-6 weeks. Find out more on the Irix website, and follow the Irix Facebook page for updates.
Be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube to follow DIYPhotography.net’s coverage of The Photography Show.
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