X100s and the Big Stopper

I’ve been experimenting with the Seven5 Micro System by LEE Filters and my FujiFilm X100s along the coastline near my home in Kiama, NSW. My first dabblings with this light-weight, nifty gear during recent walks in Cumbria and Spain, certainly whetted my appetite for playing around more with these handmade filters. I am enamoured with the SW-150 kit and filters for my full-frame camera too, although it is a significantly bulkier setup to lug around.

The Seven5 Micro System is a flexible kit that really allows one to have fun, especially with long exposure photography in the unforgiving, hard light of day. I purchased an adaptor and filter holder, Circular Polariser0.6 ND Soft Grad, 0.6 ND Hard Grad and the Big Stopper which makes for a reasonably complete kit. This brief video will give you the idea of what this micro system has to offer.

 

The Big Stopper, a filter that blocks 10 stops of light and is wonderful for long exposures, truly is great fun. I embedded my tripod legs into the sand today and was pleased with the results.


cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by Darcy Moore


cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by Darcy Moore


cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by Darcy Moore

You may find LExp a useful iPhone  app for calculating exposure values when shooting with filters.

HAT TIPS

On Flickr, a couple of months ago, I noticed one of the photographers I admire experimenting with Lee filters on his X100s. This was the first time I’d heard of this filter manufacturer and Lee filters certainly seemed to be worth pursuing before travelling to The Lake District. A few days later, at his blog FlixelPixDavid posted about these beautiful filters. His ebook, The Long Exposure, is worth a read and here is the associated Flickr group.


cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by Darcy Moore


cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by Darcy Moore

Trevor and Geoff at MediaVision Australia were extremely helpful in assisting me to get the gear I needed at very short notice. Their advice was sage and appreciated. Here’s their Seven5 Micro Filter System catalogue.


cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by Darcy Moore


cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by Darcy Moore

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Comments(13)

    • Steve Ramsay

    • 11 years ago

    thanks for posting this article . . I have been very undecided about what system to get for my X100s & X Pro . . . now I have decided . . where did you buy this Lee System from . . .
    Great shots as well. . . congrats

      • Darcy Moore

      • 11 years ago

      Mediavision: http://www.mediavision.com.au/

    • Dirk B

    • 10 years ago

    Beautiful pictures… interesting… but why would I want to go for such an expensive system, a bit cumbersome to work with in the field? I remember 35 years ago, the Cokin system was very popular. Same idea, same approach. They went bankrupt for something, now back exist. If I look at discrete HQ filters of B+W or Hoya, you can also standardize on certain diameters for the special ones – polarizer, NDX and IR. I would need to make the calculation, but I still tend to believe this kind of solution is cheaper. Certainly with Hoya. Most of all, I leave an UV or protector on ALL of my lenses. A necessity, as I once had severe lens damage by not doing so. A lot of these filter are nowadays so hard they can in theory never break. However, with this ‘free’ system, as was with the Cokin’s, the danger is a lot bigger to break them…

      • Darcy Moore

      • 10 years ago

      Dirk, I was lured to purchase after reading a post about Lee filters and seeing pics by Flixelpix http://www.flixelpix.com/

  1. […] Filters: for my Nikon lenses and X100s are just brilliant and add another layer of creative […]

    • Uday

    • 9 years ago

    Hi,
    What kind of remote shutter release were you using?

      • Darcy Moore

      • 9 years ago

      Calumet BR5012 standard cable release: https://www.calphoto.co.uk/product/calumet-12-standard-cable-release/BR5012/

  2. […] always enjoy using Lee Filters, especially the Big Stopper on my X100S. Since upgrading to the X100T I have had limited […]

    • Stefan

    • 8 years ago

    Hi Darcy,

    thank you so much; I have been using my X100S also for landscape a lot, just because of brilliant image quality. I always considered jumping into ND filters, especially for my larger DSLR, but I was hesitant to go for a system for a more compact camera. I’ll go for it.

    I have one additional question: unfortunately, I realized that the original leather case I am also heavily using left some signs of friction at the edge of the bottom plate. I looks like can be attributed to contact with the stitching. It’s not a great deal, but it’s very disappointing. Do you have similar experience?
    Thank you,

    happy shooting,
    Stefan

      • Darcy Moore

      • 8 years ago

      Hi Stefan,

      I have been happy with my X100 brown leather case. It has been given quite heavy duty use and is looking fine.

      @Darcy 1968

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