Are Lee 100mm filters worth the money?

Phil-1

Phil-1

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Phil
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I 'm wanting to upgrade my existing Kood and Cokin P filters. I've been looking at the Lee 100mm system but I've also been told that the SRB Elite system is also very good.

My questions are

Will the SRB Elite work ok on my Canon 17-40mm f/4 L lens attached to a crop sensor and soon to have full frame sensor?

Should I just bite the bullet and invest in the Lee system and add to it over the coming months/Years?

If I go for the Lee System what is the minimum I should get to start with for landscape?

Thanks
Phil
 
I looked at Lee but went for the Formatt Hitech Firecrest holder and ND grads.

Very happy with them.

I also shoot with the 17-40 and also a 24-105 F4 L

Using the included stepdown ring from 82-77mm the filters and poloriser vignette a touch but I could negate that by buying a 77mm holder ring.


Can't comment on Lee but the Firecrest are completely colour neutral, unlike Lee's stopper range, which is why I chose this system
 
To answer the minimu set question, I'd go for 2 stop and 3 stop soft edged grads. I have these and they're very useful. A 6 stop ND is next on my list.
 
I have a Lee Seven5 system as well as the 100mm System. For that latter I have a set of ND grads, Landscape polariser and little and big stoppers. The grads and Polariser are great, but whilst the stoppers do their job, the 10 stop especially adds quite a severe blue colour cast to the images. Whilst pretty easily fixed in post, I'd have preferred if it wasn't' there. I'd just assumed that all 4-10 stop ND stoppers had a varying amount of colour cast. However in May this year (when I was on an Olympus experience day in the lake district), I was shooting with my Olympus 7-14 and a Lee big stopper and getting said cast (using a NISI filter holder and special adapter for the lens by Phil Norton), when another attendee I was chatting to showed me his images using a NISI 10 stop ND grad and very kindly allowed me to use it on my camera. I couldn't believe the difference, with the NISI imparting no visible cast that I could see. A great set of filters.

So whilst I know that Lee now make some Pro Glass IRND filters (apparently without a cast), these are much more expensive, and so if I was starting again, I'd most likely build a system around the NISI system rather than Lee.
 
I reckon use the Lee holder system and Lee Landscape polariser, with Hitech Firecrest or Nisi filters.

The Firecrest holder is fiddly to use.
 
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There's also an interesting technical aspect that I've never seen proved or disproved. That is that on the NISI V5 system, the Polariser is very neatly fitted to the rear of the holder (and can be rotated via a small knurled ring on the outside). This means the polariser sits nearest to the lens front element, and supposedly helps with reflections (or lack of them), with any grads etc. in front of the polariser - it also means the polariser can be much smaller and lighter.

Lee on the other hand start the Polariser should be in front of all other filters (which is why there's is a 105mm unit) otherwise ND grads behind it won't work correctly.

Like I say I've never seen either approach proved or disproved ?
 
Sootchucker said:
There's also an interesting technical aspect that I've never seen proved or disproved. That is that on the NISI V5 system, the Polariser is very neatly fitted to the rear of the holder (and can be rotated via a small knurled ring on the outside). This means the polariser sits nearest to the lens front element, and supposedly helps with reflections (or lack of them), with any grads etc. in front of the polariser - it also means the polariser can be much smaller and lighter.

Lee on the other hand start the Polariser should be in front of all other filters (which is why there's is a 105mm unit) otherwise ND grads behind it won't work correctly.

Like I say I've never seen either approach proved or disproved ?
Click to expand...
Lee says:
Combining with Polyester Filters

If using a polarising filter in conjunction with polyester filters, the Polariser must be placed in front of the polyester filters, not behind, otherwise it will not function correctly. This problem does not arise when the polarising filter is used in conjunction with resin filters.
Click to expand...

The polyester ones they refer to are a thin film of plastic that you mount in a frame. The resin ones are the usual Lee 2mm thick ND grads.

On the subject of polarisers I've read some reviews saying the Nisi one isn't great, but I haven't used it myself. I can say that the one included with the Firecrest holder is superb having experienced it personally. Apparently one approach to testing them is to hold them up in front of an LCD monitor and turn it. If it can turn your screen black it can achieve 100% polarisation.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
I looked at Lee but went for the Formatt Hitech Firecrest holder and ND grads.

Very happy with them.

I also shoot with the 17-40 and also a 24-105 F4 L

Using the included stepdown ring from 82-77mm the filters and poloriser vignette a touch but I could negate that by buying a 77mm holder ring.


Can't comment on Lee but the Firecrest are completely colour neutral, unlike Lee's stopper range, which is why I chose this system
Click to expand...

Thanks. I wasn't aware of the issue of colour cast with the stopper range [emoji106]
 
The hitech polariser is also mounted to the back of the holder and has the same knurled knob as the Nisi by the sound of it. I don't find it fiddly to use at all but then I'm used to it.
 
Lee filters are indeed worth the money, Firecrests are not. The firecrest holder is ok, it is a cumbersome contraption though, not something you can quickly whip out for one shot and pop back away again- especially if you want to use the polariser, you're going to need to be one of the considered types who sit around and wait for the shot to get the best from it. Firecrest filters are glass and reflect REALLY badly, they are also really soft and not a lot of use on a crop camera. The reflections make them useless in anything but the firecrest holder. The Lee range is a little bit cheaper (not by much though) but offers much more choice of grads to suit any occasion.
 
I use a neck gaiter with my Lee holder for light leak protection if needed :D
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
Lee filters are indeed worth the money, Firecrests are not. The firecrest holder is ok, it is a cumbersome contraption though, not something you can quickly whip out for one shot and pop back away again- especially if you want to use the polariser, you're going to need to be one of the considered types who sit around and wait for the shot to get the best from it. Firecrest filters are glass and reflect REALLY badly, they are also really soft and not a lot of use on a crop camera. The reflections make them useless in anything but the firecrest holder. The Lee range is a little bit cheaper (not by much though) but offers much more choice of grads to suit any occasion.
Click to expand...

I've just watched a video about the Firecrest holder and it did look very fiddly.
 
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