For landscape photography there are certain things that are a must to buy (other than the camera and lenses!) ND Grads are one, tripod is another and after I first seen the review for Lee’s Big Stopper, I knew I had to get a hold of one. However, I was not the only one as stocks everywhere were depleted as every landscape photographer under the sun seemed to be grabbing them…. 8 week waiting lists at times to get a hold of one of these things.

Well, several months went by and I decided to place an order with Dale Photographic as the waiting times did not seem to be getting better. It has to be said, Dale were superb, I only ended up waiting about 3 weeks in the end when everywhere else were still quoting 8, not bad!

When the filter arrived it came nicely packaged with a nice soft pouch, which went into the cupboard! I’m sure I will find a use for it at some point. It may be of use to most photographers but as the filter is made of glass and it will be going into my climbing pack I didn’t fancy it’s chances of surviving long with crampons, ice axes and other climbing gear. So, I made use of a DVD case and ND Grad soft sleeve as seen below. This offers it a little more protection and somewhere to stash the literature it comes with. For the more careful landscape photographer, the soft pouch would be more than enough, just don’t chuck it around!

It also means I can have the conversion times on the front of the box for easy reading.

So far so good. I already had Lee’s wide angle holder and lens adapter so all that was required was to slot it into place. I had read a lot about how this filter had a rubber gasket to stop the light from seeping in during long exposures and ruining a shot. Like most, I had concerns as to how long this would last but I needn’t have worried, the gasket appears to be made out of a very durable rubber and creates a nice snug fit without it being to tight and damaging the gasket. Everything about the build of the filter says quality, it really is good stuff. Oh, you also need to use your view finder cover to stop light leaking in from the view finder. It does make a big difference so don’t forget.

Once in place it leaves the remaining slot for an ND Grad to balance out the land and sky. As you can see, the filter fits perfectly into the holder.

Now all that remains to do is find a good subject to use it on….. Next trip away is beginning of November to Stoer, a nice cottage by the sea for a whole week… great walking, biking and of course, landscape photography. Just got to hope the weather is kind to me and bathes us in glorious sunshine for the week… *cough*…. ok, I’ll settle for a couple of days!

EDIT… Ok I have now had a chance to use the filter properly and I have to say I love it. Take a look at the new shots I have added to the “Scotland” page. I have added comments on the shots I used the Big Stopper. I will write a second review shortly about how I found using it, all positive to be honest!

Duncan Andison

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