Hoya PROND EX 8 Neutral Density Filter 52mm

Neutral Density Filter Overview

Neutral density (ND) filters are essential photographic tools that allow precise control over the amount of light entering the lens, enabling greater creative control of exposure. For video creators, ND filters help maintain appropriate shutter speeds to match frame rates while preserving depth of field.

ND Filter Categories

• Light density filters (ND2 – ND8): Reduce shutter speed in bright conditions, allowing wider apertures for shallow depth of field and softer bokeh with fast lenses (e.g., f/1.4 or f/1.2).
• Middle density filters (ND16 – ND200): Enable motion blur effects in lighting conditions that normally restrict shutter speed.
• Deep density filters (ND500 – ND1000 / ND100000): Facilitate extremely slow shutter speeds for creative, surreal imagery beyond human visual perception.

Hoya PROND EX Series Features

Hoya's PROND EX series ND filters utilize clear optical glass mounted in a lightweight, precision-crafted aluminum frame with front filter threads for additional filter stacking or lens cap attachment.

ACCU-ND Technology

This exclusive technology ensures equal reduction of visible and infrared light, preventing color shifts common in lower-quality ND filters caused by poor materials, manufacturing, or infrared leakage. This results in consistent color fidelity across various shooting conditions.

Applications in Video Production

For video shooting, especially with cameras like Sony in S-Log mode where ISO cannot be set below 800, PROND EX filters (such as EX 8, EX 64, EX 1000) or their combinations enable achieving cinematic shutter speeds and natural motion blur during daylight.

Filter Combinations

Combining PROND EX filters allows photographers to achieve higher ND values for creative effects:

• PROND EX 8 + PROND EX 64 = ND500 effect for dramatic, fantasy-like imagery.
• PROND EX 8 + PROND EX 1000 = ND8000 effect, enabling capture of the Sun's surface with solid color and visible sunspots without overexposure.