Hitech 4 x 4 PROSTOP 10 IRND Neutral Density 3.0 Filter -- looking for feedback

I am interested in experimenting with long exposures along the shoreline, and we will be visiting Mackinac Island in northern Michigan next month, giving me a great opportunity to experiment. With the long lead times in getting a Lee Big Stopper, I was looking for alternatives that will fit my Lee holder, and came across this Hi-Tech 10 stop filter.

Does anyone out there have any feedback on the Hi-Tech filter and how it compares with the Lee version?

You can find comparisons online. In my experience, the prostop irnd 10-stop is comparible to the big stopper. Just make sure you get the prostop irnd. I had hitechs regular 10-stop and it was garbage if shooting color. I think the big stopper is slightly better than the prostop irnd, but its close enough to me. FYI, I don't use the lee system anymore because I now use Hitechs new 67 filter system since I shoot a fuji x-e1.

Thanks for the feedback. I found a few reviews online after posting this, and it sounds like the biggest issue was the filter has a strong blue cast which required a custom white balance, even when shooting RAW, in order to get something that could be cleaned up in LR. but that was not the newer IR ND version.

Here are a couple positive reviews:

http://dancarrphotogra​phy.com …stop-10-nd-filter-review/

http://blog.robertstra​chan.com …4/hitech-pro-stop-review/

Here was a negative review:

http://photographylife​.com …ech-pro-stop-10-nd-filter

Anyone else care to comment? I have some credits at Amazon, so I may give it a try, as my out of pocket cost would be about $90 (it's $146 there, as well as at 2filters.com, where I have purchased other filters).

I also looked at a B+W 77mm circular ND filter, too, but thought I may want to use this in combination with my Lee graduated ND filters at times. ND filters this strong, though, are a new experience for me, so I am not sure how often I would actually combine a 10 stop ND with a grad ND. Anyone have thoughts on this?

Scott M wrote in post #16225442
I also looked at a B+W 77mm circular ND filter, too, but thought I may want to use this in combination with my Lee graduated ND filters at times. ND filters this strong, though, are a new experience for me, so I am not sure how often I would actually combine a 10 stop ND with a grad ND. Anyone have thoughts on this?

Scott, I haven't tried a circular ND filter with a grad ND, but use a circular polarizing filter with the grad ND and haven't had any problems. I don't see where it wouldn't work, but also see where it may present problems with certain colors depending on the conditions (full sun or full shade)???

BufordFZ1 wrote in post #16227990
Scott, I haven't tried a circular ND filter with a grad ND, but use a circular polarizing filter with the grad ND and haven't had any problems. I don't see where it wouldn't work, but also see where it may present problems with certain colors depending on the conditions (full sun or full shade)???

Thanks, that is helpful. I wondered how difficult the Lee setup would be with a CPL filter, since I have a B+W CPL filter. I think I am going to try the Hi-Tech ND, though, as it would seem to be easier to take off/on a square filter than a circularly mounted one while trying to set exposure, focus and compose.