The Haida Red Diamond 17 Stop ND 5.0 Filter is an invaluable tool for photographers specializing in daytime long exposure photography.

Shooting long exposures in broad daylight can be very challenging, and the Haida Red Diamond 17 Stop ND 5.0 Filter was created with this in mind. Most conventional ND’s simply don’t provide enough light reduction. When photographing on a sunny day, you’re limited to exposures of a second or two at best. That’s barely enough time to blur out moving clouds or flowing water. Thanks to the whopping 17 stops of light reduction on the Haida Red Diamond Filter, significantly longer exposures become possible. For example, a 1/60 second filterless exposure would take 36 minutes and 16 seconds to complete. That’s a notable difference. We recently got to test the Haida Red Diamond 17 Stop ND 5.0 Filter out in the wild. Check out how it fared in the real world after the jump.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Allows you to create long exposures even in broad daylight

No discernible color cast

Available in two form factors:

* Industry-standard 100 × 100 mm square filter (that can be used with both the Haida M10 Filter Holder as well as most filter holders available on the market).

* M10 Drop-In filter (for use with Haida’s own M10 Filter Holder).

Nano-coating on both sides keeps the filter waterproof and minimizes reflections, fingerprints, dust, and scratches

Cons

Precise exposure times are hard to calculate due to inconsistent cloud coverage or when the amount of ambient light changes erratically

Due to the extremely long exposure times required, you may need to enable Long Exposure Noise Reduction, but that will effectively reduce your shooting time in half

Gear Used

We tested the Haida Red Diamond 17 Stop ND Filter using the following:

Haida M10 Filter Holder System

3 Legged Thing Bucky Tripod

Sirui SR-3204 Tripod and SR-66C Column

Sony A7R III

Sony A7R IV

Sigma 35mm f1.2 DG DN Art (Sony E Mount)

Sony 85mm f1.4 G Master

Fujifilm GFX 100

Fujifilm GF 30mm f3.5 R WR

Tech Specs

Tech Specs for the Haida Red Diamond 17 Stop ND Filter taken from Haida’s official press materials:

Size: 100 × 100 mm

Thickness: 2 mm

Can be mounted onto the Haida M10 Filter Holder’s Square Filter Slots

Also available as an M10 Drop-In Filter for the Haida M10 Filter Holder

Toughened, shockproof optical glass

ND 5.0 solid Neutral Density filter

17 stop light reduction

Darkens entire image

Allows reduced shutter speed and wider aperture

Not only for long exposure but for shooting the sun

Nano coating on both sides, scratch-resistant

Water and oilproof

Ergonomics

The Haida Red Diamond 17 Stop ND 5.0 Filter is available in two form factors. It’s available as an industry-standard 100 × 100 mm square filter, and you can also get it as a proprietary M10 Drop-In filter if you’re using Haida’s M10 Filter Holder System.

The 100 × 100 mm square version of the Haida Red Diamond 17 Stop ND 5.0 Filter comes with a metal storage tin. A semi-transparent plastic storage case is included with the M10 Drop-In. Both storage options have built-in foam padding to keep the filters protected.

The M10 Drop-In version of the filter is seen here attached to a Sony A7R IV and Sigma 35mm f1.2 DG DN Art using Haida’s own M10 Filter Holder.

Here’s the 100 × 100 mm version inserted into one of the square filter slots of the same M10 Filter Holder. This version of the Haida Red Diamond 17 Stop ND 5.0 Filter is also compatible with most filter holders currently on the market.

Build Quality

We’ve been testing both versions of the Haida Red Diamond 17 Stop ND 5.0 Filter around New York City. While they are well built, the M10 Drop-In version offers more protection since it’s encased in a plastic frame. The M10 Drop-In version is also easier to keep clean since there’s less direct contact with the filter surfaces. The coatings on the filters made prints, dust, and water droplets easy to clean...