Photography Accessories

Review: Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter

Pauleth Ip
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03/23/2020
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Last Updated on 11/16/2020 by Chris Gampat

Photographers shooting long exposures in brightly lit conditions will want to check out the Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter.

We’ve been testing the Haida 10 Stop Red-Diamond ND 100x100mm Filters (3.0/1000x Density) alongside their M10 Filter Holder System. Neutral Density filters are great for architectural, landscape, and travel photography, especially when shooting long exposures during daylight hours. ND filters help to prevent your images from being totally blown out when shooting long exposures in brightly lit conditions. They essentially serve as sunglasses for your cameras, helping to cut down the amount of light that reaches your camera sensor.

The Red-Diamond series is Haida’s latest generation of ND filters constructed from K9 optical borosilicate crown glass. An improvement on their existing NanoPro ND filter series, the Haida Red-Diamond ND filters feature larger, rounded corners and are said to be shockproof. Like the NanoPro ND filters, the Red-Diamond filters have a nano-coating on both sides that waterproofs the filters while eliminating color casts. Additionally, the nano-coatings minimize reflections and scratches. When it comes to ND filters, they generally come in two varieties: circular ones that you can screw onto your lens’s filter thread; or square and rectangular ones that you use with a slot in filter holders. The benefit of a square/rectangular filter over a screw on one is that you can adapt a single filter easily across many different lenses instead of being limited by the filter threads of each lens.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Cuts down a lot of light, making daytime long exposure photography possible
  • No discernible color cast
  • Industry standard filter size – can be used with most filter holders on the market
  • Nano-coating on both sides keeps the filter waterproofs and minimizes reflections and scratches.

Cons

  • Honestly none with the filter itself: the storage case could be more robust though (it scuffs pretty easily)

Gear Used

We tested the Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter using the Haida M10 Filter Holder System, the Sony A7R III, Sony A7R IV, Tamron 24mm f2.8 Di III OSD M1_2 (Model F051), Tamron 35mm f2.8 Di III OSD M1_2 (Model F053), Sony 85mm f1.4 G Master, Gitzo Mini Traveler Tripod, and MeFOTO Roadtrip Leather Edition Tripod.

Tech Specs

  • Darkens Entire Image
  • Rectangular Filter Size: 4″ x 4″ / 100 x 100mm
  • Neutral Density Type: Solid ND
  • Density: 3.0 (10 stop)
  • This Red Diamond ND filter is a 100x100mm filter that can be used in the HAIDA 100 Series / HAIDA 100-PRO Series holders or similar 100x100mm holders from Lee, Cokin, Hitech
  • The Red Diamond series are the strongest filters we have made from optical glass so far! Through a fusion of the Nanopro technology and a special hardening process of the optical glass we have made a filter that is twice as strong. This Red Diamond filter is therefore much less sensitive to shocks and glass breakage
  • Made of special optical glass and provided with a wafer-thin Nanopro multi-coating that protects the filter against scratches, water, oil and fingerprints. The filter is also easy to keep clean
  • The filter has no detrimental color cast (Color Cast) and belongs to the elite of the ND filters
  • R5 round design of the filter angles ensures easy handling of the filters
  • The Red Diamond is the choice of the professional photographer or the amateur photographer who strives for optimum quality in their photography and material

Ergonomics

The Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter comes in a branded clamshell style metal storage case.

When you open the case, you will find the Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter nestled securely within its precision cut foam slot. There’s a circular foam disc on the opposite side of the case that helps to hold the filter in place when the case is closed. It’s a basic storage solution, but does a good job of keeping the filter from being jostled out of it’s storage slot when it’s being transported within the case.

Here’s the Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter attached to a Sony A7R IV via Haida’s own M10 Filter Holder. You can attach the filter using other 100mm wide filter holders on the market as well.

Build Quality

Having used the Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter for the past few weeks, we got to really put it through its paces. The metal storage case did a good job of keeping the filter from being damaged while it was being transported in various camera bags that were tossed into the trunks of cars or storage compartments on public transit. The filter itself also lived up to Haida’s claims. On numerous occasions, we had accidentally knocked the filter into low hanging branches while we were traversing from one shooting location to the next with our camera and tripod slung over our shoulder. Luckily, the filter’s coatings withstood the abuse and no scratches formed on the filter’s surface. Fingerprints, dust, and other blemishes from handling the filter also wiped away easily with a lens cloth. While the Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter is well constructed, it’s still glass; you’ll want to handle it with care.

Ease of Use

Using the Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter is pretty straight forward. If you’ve used a square/rectangular filter before, the process is identical. Begin by mounting a 100mm wide filter holder onto the front of your camera lens, then take the filter out of its metal storage case and slot it into the filter holder. It’s really that simple.

Image Quality

When it comes to Neutral Density filters, you get what you pay for. While you can save money by purchasing inexpensive filters made from plastic or cheap glass, the truth is that you end up paying for it by having to deal with overall image quality degradation and undesired color casts in your images. Luckily, my experiences with the Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter has been positive. Long exposures produced when shot through this filter were consistently color accurate with no discernible loss of sharpness or clarity. Below are two images of the same scene: one shot sans filter, and the other a long exposure shot using with the Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter.

  • Shot at 1/30 second, f11, ISO100
  • Shot at 30 seconds, f11, ISO100

Additional Image Samples

Here are some additional long exposure images shot using the Haida M10 Filter Holder System and the Haida 6 Stop M10 Drop-In Nano-Coating Round ND Filter (1.8/64x Density). These images were processed using Capture One 20, ranging from color grading, cropping, levels adjustment, and/or perspective correction. As a matter of ethics, however, none of the sample images seen within this review have been retouched so that you can judge the quality of the images produced using this filter system for yourself.

Conclusions

Likes

  • Solid build quality
  • Lightweight
  • Attaches/detaches quickly and securely
  • Drop-In filters can be swapped out easily in mere seconds

Dislikes

  • Can only use one Drop-In filter at any one time

Haida’s Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter is well constructed and repeatedly and reliably produces consistently accurate results. Compatible with a wide variety of lenses of varying filter threads, you can mount the filter using Haida’s own M10 Filter Holder System or most industry standard 100mm wide filter holders available on the market. Although it’s not indestructible (no filter is), those who are accident prone will be glad to know that the Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter can withstand a fair amount of abuse. Photographers in the market for a 10 Stop ND filter, especially those focusing on architectural, landscape, and travel photography, should definitely consider Haida’s Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter.

The Haida Red-Diamond 10 Stop ND 100x100mm Filter earns five out of five stars. It’s excellent build quality and reliability make it a worthy purchase for photographers that require the use of ND filters as part of their workflow. You can pick one up from Amazon for US $169. Haida M10 Filter Holder by itself retails for US $99. In addition to this 10 Stop filter, Haida’s Red-Diamond filters are also available in other densities (range from one to fifteen stops), varieties (standard ND, soft graduated ND, hard graduated ND, reverse graduated ND, medium ND, and horizon ND), and sizes (ranging from 75 x 100mm to 150 x 170mm). There’s bound to be one that will suit your specific needs.