Beginner Cokin A or P?

meddyliol

meddyliol

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Brian
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I have a few Nikon cameras with the largest lens filter size of 67mm. I have seen a few sets of used Cokin 'A' filters on ebay at quite reasonable prices. The thing is, would these work on a 67mm lens filter size? Or would I have to buy the more expensive 'P' filters which would, presumably, be downwards compatible with my smaller filter sizes. I don't know if all of this makes sense but any help would be appreciated.Lenses are:

AF-S Nikkor 50mm 1.8D (52mm filter)
AF-S 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED DX (67mm filter)
AF-S Nikkor 55-300mm 1:4.5 -5.6 (58mm filter)

Thanks

Brian
 
Going by THIS, A series is for 36-62mm filter size, P series for 48-82mm. You want to go for the size which will fit the largest diameter lens you have.
 
Thanks, so it looks as if I will have to buy 'P' filters. What are the third party ones like? They are much cheaper.

Brian
 
The cheap third party sets are as good (or bad) as the Cokin ones.
They will do to get you started, but be aware they have a colour cast, not bad used one at a time, but when stacked the colour cast is amplified.
Cokin suffer the same so no advantage in paying extra for the brand name.
If you want to go this route, this is a good starter set
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Ne...=sr_1_5?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1438273899&sr=1-5
I use this myself and have replaced the most used filters with Kood brand ones, which are about £10 each.
Hi-tech are also worth checking out, but more expensive.
 
OK, will have a look at those.
 
As a matter of interest is a Variable ND Filter (screw thread) any good?

Brian
 
Argh! The internet! (Losts posts... retype...)

I have Cokin P and they're pretty cheap and I think it's worth going for the bigger size.

I must have been lucky as I bought mine over a period of years and haven't suffered from any nasties even when stacking filters. They may not be the ultimate in quality but I'm not too sure that they're quite as bad as some internet reports suggest.
 
Last edited:
Right, I will get some 'cheap' ones and add some better ones later.

Brian
 
Steve B said:
The cheap third party sets are as good (or bad) as the Cokin ones.
They will do to get you started, but be aware they have a colour cast, not bad used one at a time, but when stacked the colour cast is amplified.
Cokin suffer the same so no advantage in paying extra for the brand name.
If you want to go this route, this is a good starter set
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Ne...=sr_1_5?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1438273899&sr=1-5
I use this myself and have replaced the most used filters with Kood brand ones, which are about £10 each.
Hi-tech are also worth checking out, but more expensive.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I did
 
They are exactly the same, just with additional colour filters and rebranded.
Cant think what you would use the colour ones for, but if you think they would be useful, then spend the extra.
The main reason for getting these sets, is for the holders and mounting rings, the filters themselves are good to get started with, then replace with better quality ones at a later date.
 
Are coloured ones not much use then? I thought they might be useful for getting different effects and experimenting.
 
Depends on the colour. Used to use a few solid coloured ones when I shot a lot of B&W film, most often red or orange to add contrast to skies/clouds.

I response to the original question, P all the way! Not much more expensive than the A range and is to some extent future proof if/when you expand your lens collection. Cokin is as good a place to start as anywhere, particularly on a budget. IIRC, pretty much all the same size filters (?84mm wide) will fit the Cokin holders.
 
Sorry, what does IIRC mean? Thanks for your reply.
 
I have almost made my mind up to buy a 'proper' set of Cokin full ND filters. However, I read a thread somewhere about the horrible colour cast they get with them. I do not want to buy them if this is the case. The article is at https://www.flickr.com/photos/brentbat/2372603825.

Any ideas?

Brian
 
I've used the Cokin P series ND Grads for some time now, never had a problem. IIRC .... If i remember correctly

Cheers
 
meddyliol said:
I have almost made my mind up to buy a 'proper' set of Cokin full ND filters. However, I read a thread somewhere about the horrible colour cast they get with them. I do not want to buy them if this is the case. The article is at https://www.flickr.com/photos/brentbat/2372603825.

Any ideas?

Brian
Click to expand...

Yes thats pretty much the results I got with Cokin filters, used one at a time they are not too bad, stack two or more though and the magenta cast gets really bad. The cheapo ebay/amazon/SRB/Hitech ones are very slightly better, but still have a cast when stacked.
 
for the nd ones then you really should go with something expensive, i got some 84.5 ones from slavaka or some place, but for coloured ones like a graduated red or purple, then the super cheap chinese ones have been fine for me :)
 
meddyliol said:
I have almost made my mind up to buy a 'proper' set of Cokin full ND filters. However, I read a thread somewhere about the horrible colour cast they get with them. I do not want to buy them if this is the case. The article is at https://www.flickr.com/photos/brentbat/2372603825.

Any ideas?

Brian
Click to expand...


Older Cokin NDs had a fairly horrendous colour cast but more recent examples are quite a bit better. TBH, with digital, a colour cast can almost always be removed in PP but that's harder to do if you're using a graduated filter!

And yes, IIRC = if I remember correctly and TBH = to be honest.
 
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