Professional variable ND filter for film - INT to EXT shot

[Oliver Janesh Christiansen]

How do you deal with the drastic change in lighting when doing an interior to exterior shot (handheld, Steadicam, gimbal etc) without riding the iris so depth of field remains constant (Example)? Are there any good professional variable ND filters out there besides the Cinefade VariND and maybe the PV LCND?

[David Mullen ASC]

That's about it.  Changing the shutter angle is very limiting and looks odd anyway.  I've had to do it on the iris.  Apparently Deakins had to do it that way on "1917" for some of those shots going from inside to outside or the reverse.

Until the Cinefade is actually available (I was told there were two in the U.S.) or the Panavision LCND, I'll have to keep using the iris.  And I'm not sure how heavy those units are since I'm always doing these long moves on a Steadicam so whatever I use can't be too heavy and it needs to be adjustable by remote.

[Oliver Janesh Christiansen]

Yes, I agree. Changing shutter is not an option. The Cinefade has been on the market for a year now, so there are certainly more than two units available in LA by itself now. 

Total weight of the VariND is 690g. The wireless receiver unit is built into the cforce lens motor, so won't add extra weight. In my experience Steadicam Operators haven't complained about the extra weight on the front when balancing.

[Mei Lewis]

 

Could use a Sony fx6 for this shot? That whole camera is less expensive than the cinefade. 

 

Not sure how easy it is to vary the nd in realtime or remotely. 

Edited December 13, 2020 by Mei Lewis

[Satsuki Murashige]

Oliver, aren’t you the inventor of the Cinefade VariND? I think you should disclose this when making posts about your product.

Or consider buying advertising space from Tim Tyler and support the forum, since that’s basically what your post is...