Hard, soft or nd?

David_G_

David_G_

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I am a novice photographer shooting a range of landscapes with a D7000 and a Nikon 12-24 f4 and a Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4. I have pretty much settled on the idea of investing in the Lee filter system but what do people advise getting first? full nd or hard or soft grads? And which stops?

Any suggestions would be very welcome, thanks!
 
I wouldn't bother with a set. The 1 (0.3) stop is not usually required.
I would get 2 stop soft and a 3 stop hard to begin with. This is what was recommended to me when I first got my Lee filters.
Plus I have the big stopper and the 105mm polariser and of course the foundation kit.
 
No I wasn't going to get a set as such, but get one or two to start with and add to it over time. I wasn't sure whether to get hard or soft...guess it depends on what sort of stuff you're shooting
 
gary996 said:
I wouldn't bother with a set. The 1 (0.3) stop is not usually required.
I would get 2 stop soft and a 3 stop hard to begin with. This is what was recommended to me when I first got my Lee filters.
Plus I have the big stopper and the 105mm polariser and of course the foundation kit.
Click to expand...

Indeed 0.3 is a waste in a digital age. Don't forget Lightroom does very fine adjustment grad filters as long as your RAW file has the extra latitude.

David_G_ said:
No I wasn't going to get a set as such, but get one or two to start with and add to it over time. I wasn't sure whether to get hard or soft...guess it depends on what sort of stuff you're shooting
Click to expand...

Yes, it totally depends. What do you plan shooting?

I reckon most the typical setup will include 0.6 hard + soft or similar. However if the horizon or image features are very uneven you may be better of with manual exposure blending.

big stopper is apparently very easy to trash. A screw in may be a safer bet... A CPL sounds tempting but don't rush investing tons into something you may use very sparingly.
 
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