Maven Launches ‘the Most Flexible Way to Control’ Graduated ND Filters
Maven Filters has announced the Iron Slider Gradient Adapter, which it calls “the most flexible way to control your graduated ND filters.” The system combines a magnetic adapter and Maven’s 95mm Graduated ND filters to deliver precise control over graduated filters.
The Iron Slider Gradient Adapter is available for 72mm, 77mm, and 82mm filter threads, covering a wide range of very popular lenses. While the interior diameter ranges from 72 to 82 millimeters, the exterior dimension is much wider. It looks like a giant step-up ring. This extra space around the opening allows photographers to freely move a 95mm Maven magnetic filter up and down the front of their lens.
Typically, having the ability to control where the gradient is in the image requires using large square or rectangular filters, like these. As Maven Filters notes, these filters are big, bulky, expensive, and take up quite a bit of space in a camera bag.
Not only does the Iron Slider Gradient Adapter give photographers precise, real-time control over where the transition point between light and dark is with a graduated ND filter, but because the circular 95mm filter can move freely, it is also very easy to rotate, which can work well for landscape photography situations with mountains or other hilly terrain.
Speaking of landscape photography, that is the primary domain of a graduated ND filter. During the film era, graduated neutral density filters were the best and often only effective way to even out an exposure across a scene, such as when photographing a sunrise or sunset. In these situations, exposing for the sky or foreground meant messing up the exposure for the other part of the frame.
While digital ushered in the era of exposure blending and HDR photography, that doesn’t mean there’s no place for graduated ND filters. Many photographers remain fully devoted to the notion of “getting it right in camera,” and it is significantly faster and easier to achieve natural-looking, balanced results with a filter and a single in-camera capture than to tinker with multiple files and blend in a photographer’s photo editing app of choice.
The Maven Iron Slider Gradient Adapter is available now, starting at $62 for the 72mm version and rising to $69 for the 82mm version. Maven’s 95mm magnetic filters start at $139, and multiple strengths and variants are available. Photographers can also use the new adapter with polarizers, which can take advantage of the free rotation of the Iron Slider system.
Image credits: Maven Filters
