Cokin Filters

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petehb

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Peter
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I have read a lot about the relative merits of Lee over Cokin ND filters and it seems that the biggest single critisism is that the Cokins produce a colour cast most describe as magenta but I have seen it described as anything from red to blue. I assume that the cast is caused by the light transmission / absorbtion charictaristics of the glass and its coating and would expect all filters to have some effect on transmitted light. Am I correct in thinking this but more so if it is a general colour cast then it is easily removed in processing so why is it that their is such a strong prefference for Lee perhaps it's a case of they cost more so must be better, I don't know.
 
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Colour cast with grads can be a real problem. maybe not so much with a straightforward ND but not with grads. It's also down to the quality of the resin used. What you are looking for is as little degradation of the images as possible. Apart from a UV filter, which is more for protection than anything else, I try not to put anything else in front of the lens.

There are occasions when you have to, and if you've spent several hundred, or even thousand pounds on a lens you want to ensure you get the image quality you've paid for. So you need to use the best filters you can afford. To be honest if I need anything less than a Lee 0.6 grad I tend to try and use the grad filter tool in Lightroom.

However Lee filters are not cheap, and in many cases Cokin for a lot of people do an excellent job.
 
Bit early to be sure as I'm new to filters too, but I have a KOOD 0.6 ND grad and as far as I can tell there've been no colour casts. They are around the same price as Cokin and fit the P series holder I bought before hearing the bad news on Cokin filters.

Of course, I'm sure they don't compare to the Lee brand.
 
I am looking at the Hitechs as they seem to have the best cost/benefit balance. My only issue is do I go for the 85mm or 100mm as there's about £40 difference in the holder prices.

That said the Koods are velly velly cheap to see if I will even use them, and if there's minimal colour cast even better. If it turns out I will use them then I can invest in some decent 100mm ones.
 
I have been after some filters myself and was getting confused with all the difference of opinion. maninsuitcase makes a great point, so I'm going with the Koods. Then if I get plenty of use out of them I can upgrade if needs be. Don't know if all this advice helped Peter, but it helped me so thanks all:)
 
The one question no one really seems to have addressed is IF there is a colour cast from the Cokins can it be adequately addressed in processing with photoshop there does seem to be a school of thought that it can so I am going to buy a single ND filter and see. I am comming to the opinion that all filters give some degree of cast which some will admit to and some won't and in any case it can be processed out. Thanks to all that have replied.
 
I have a cokin ND grad, only used it once but I wasnt impressed with effect on colour, I assumed that I had done something wrong!
 
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