The new Formatt Hitech Multi-Stop is a perfect social media tool to improve your content both photographic and cinematic.

Multi-Stop

Ben Pruchnie

Instagram (@Ben_pruchnie)

TRAVEL FILM MAKER BEN PRUCHNIE ROAD TESTS THE BRAND NEW MULTI-STOP VARIBLE ND FROM FORMATT HITECH

FORMATT HITECH’S NEW MULTI-STOP VARIABLE ND IS ESSENTIAL FOR ANYONE TRYING TO UP THEIR SOCIAL GAME AND MAKE BETTER CONTENT. WE TEAMED UP WITH A MAN WITH POSSIBLY THE MOST ENVIOUS JOB IN THE WORLD TO PUT IT TO THE TEST!

“Working as a self-shooting Director/ Producer all over the world comes with its own distinct set of challenges.”

Traveling light

travelling light

Ben Pruchnie is a Travel and Adventure filmmaker with Ink Global, making travel films for clients including American Airlines. Ben previously worked for over eight years as a photojournalist for Getty images covering subjects from Cannes Film Festival to the terrorism in Brussels.

“Working as a self-shooting Director/Producer all over the world comes with its own distinct set of challenges.”

"Sometimes being in remote locations such as a tropical island or the midst of a desert means you have to pack everything you possibly need

from drones to batteries. Weight can become a real issue as well as the bulk of items. Carrying large amounts of equipment can really slow you down and get in the way of the creative process.”

On location

The Formatt Hitech Multi-stop Variable ND filter was designed for the hybrid shooter who not only needs to take photography but more importantly film. With 1 - 6 stops of ND on demand it is fast and straightforward to change your settings to get the perfect depth of field while keeping your video at a smooth frame rate. When transitioning from one area to another; like walking out into the sun from inside, the ability to quickly and smoothly change exposure is invaluable.

In the age of social media, video is becoming increasingly important not, just photography. So we asked Ben what he thought of the filter.

“I have used the filter for a couple of jobs now. I have been using it with my Sony Fs7 which is the workhorse of the travel and commercial video scene. I first used it on a fashion shoot, the client had a new collection, and I was commissioned to film it. One of the things that was important was the ability for me to be able to move quickly. With fashion shows, you only get one chance, so it has to be right the first time. It proved to be very useful, and I particularly liked the inclusion of the handle which made using it

on a longer lens a lot easier. The other thing was the build quality; is much higher than I am used to with variable ND’s! The range of ND never felt limiting, and I found myself using it like a de-clicked aperture.”

London Fashion Week

Ben Pruchnie

“You only get one chance”

A model prepares for a photoshoot Shot with Formatt Hitech Multi-Stop ND

Ben Pruchnie

“The second job was entirely different. It was an episode of the Hemispheres Travel Show. I would typically take a full set of Formatt Hitech 4x5.65 ND filters and a wooden camera zip box. But due to the nature of the shoot, I wanted to save as much weight and luggage space as I could. When you are working all day and carrying equipment, the extra grams soon add up to kilograms.” “In the bright beach environment, the stops of ND came in handy and helped to keep everything correctly exposed.”

“In the bright beach environment, the 6 stops of ND came in handy and helped to keep everything correctly exposed. The hard stop was also useful when I was filming “run and gun style” as you can’t always stop to check the filter settings, and I have experienced in the past the dreaded cross polarisation X pattern that happens when a variable ND effect is used too strongly. With the hard stop, I could tell when I was at full ND and am safe from any x patterns which made filming a lot more relaxed.”

“The filter is definitely something that I will include in my kit bag from now on. It won’t entirely replace my need for alarger ND filter, but when I need to move quickly, and weight is a consideration, I will be using the Multi-stop.”

“If I had to say one negative, it is that with a variable ND you can get a slight colour shift. In this case, it is a little more yellow at 6 stops than 1. However, this is very slight and simple to correct in editing.”

“On the plus side the filter is extremely light and packs in the versatility of 1-6 stops of ND; as a filmmaker, I would rarely go beyond this. You could potentially even do some long exposure photography with this filter at 6 stops as well!”

“Overall the build quality was excellent, and the inclusion of a handle to control the strength was

Front view of the Formatt Hitech Multi-Stop Variable ND

Fromatt Hitech's 77mm Multi-Stop Variable ND from behind

more useful than I had expected. The filter is also very light and being 77mm easily fits my lenses. In the case of a smaller thread I just used a cheap step-up ring, and it worked fine”.