Hitech ND filters but which filter holder for an UWA lens?

bomberman

bomberman

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I would love to just splash out on the lee foundation kit and set of ND filters but can't afford it. I like the look of the Hitech filters and have a cokin P size holder which vignettes at 10mm on my sigma 10-20..

So which is the best wide angle filter holder for my Hitech ND grad filters? I'm looking at the cokin z-pro but have seen reviews which say it's badly designed. will the Lee Foundation Kit filter holder be suitable for my 10-20?

Another option for me is to buy the cheaper Hitech cokin-p sized filters and sacrifice a few mm at the wide end (£70 for 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 in hard and soft grads). but this might get on my nerves a bit in the long run...

Another question i have for anyone in the know is will i be able to mix the Hitech grads with other makes of filter successfully, ie the B+W 10 stop or the Hoya circular polarizer? or will this cause unwanted colour casts?

Thanks in advance!
 
I use the lee foundation holder and the 77mm wide angle adapter on my 10-20 with the hitech filters, and havn't noticed any vignetting yet. Calumet had the best price for the foundation holder (via amazon marketplace) when I purchased last week, but bought the wa adaptor and filters from teamworkphoto.
 
Is there anywhere where i can buy single Hitech grad filters on their own?
 
I use the Z pro filter holder it's fairly basic but does the job, just waiting for my 10-20mm and 77 mm adapter to arrive should be able to answer the question re vignetting tomorrow / Thursday. You can stack up to 3 100 mm filters in it, to do that with the lee you would have to buy the add on kit which allmost doubles the price think twice. Untill I actually see one and think it's worth twice the price of the Cokin I will stick with the Z pro.
 
I bought the Lee Foundation kit from the Calument Outlet on Amazon Marketplace - great service. I also bought a set of filters from Formatt - a couple of soft and hards grads as well as ND's - not so great service. Took three weeks to post out to me plsu they charged for postage (Don't mind paying for postage when they're offering great service).

I don't think you should have a problem with a 77mm Wide Angle Lee Adaptor plus the Foundation Kit - no vignetting on my 5DII and 17-40 (eqv to around 11mm).


DB
 
You can buy them individually from teamwork, but the sets of 3 are much better value. I bought the soft nd set and the nd set for £100 plus vat, so worked out at about £20 each all in.
 
Thanks for those suggestions it's a bit of a minefield of options! I'm very tempted to just keep my p-series holder, use the sigma 10-20 at 14mm and buy two full sets of ND grads (hard and soft) for £70 from teamwork on ebay. And maybe even stretch to a third set of non-grad ND's: total = about 110 including postage!

you seem to pay so much more for that extra 4mm at the wide end :(

Realistically, what ND filters do people use? i'm just not sure what to go for - hard, soft, full etc... i'd like to be able to combine a couple for tricky shots or long exposures.

should i start with just a set of soft grads?

:help:
 
I emailed formatt last week about getting screw in filters - mainly the 10stop in a 77mm fit. They said they might be able to make me one but havent replied as yet. I ordered the 85mm filter for my cokin holder anyway.
 
When I had the 40D and a 10-22 I used to use the Cokin single slot holder with Hitech grads. You can see it at 10mm but it's fine by 12mm.

I have a set of soft grads (to answer your other question).
 
Just got my Sigma 10-20mm. With a Heliopan thin filter and a Cokin Z pro holder with 77mm adapter ring at 10mm no vignetting. Hope that helps I would guess that it's similar wit a Lee holder, also without the filter even less chance of vignetting.
 
bomberman said:
Thanks for those suggestions it's a bit of a minefield of options! I'm very tempted to just keep my p-series holder, use the sigma 10-20 at 14mm and buy two full sets of ND grads (hard and soft) for £70 from teamwork on ebay. And maybe even stretch to a third set of non-grad ND's: total = about 110 including postage!

you seem to pay so much more for that extra 4mm at the wide end :(

Realistically, what ND filters do people use? i'm just not sure what to go for - hard, soft, full etc... i'd like to be able to combine a couple for tricky shots or long exposures.

should i start with just a set of soft grads?

:help:
Click to expand...

Firstly I have Hitech grads, and as I shoot mainly landscapes, and I nearly always use the 0.6 soft, which in most cases balances the sky and ground. On occasions when I get the chance to shoot seascapes, I then use hard 0.9 if it is a sunset.
Regarding holders, after spending ages researching what would and wouldn't cause vignetting, I discovered the best tip I ever got was not to use a holder at all, but use blu tac to hold the filter to the lens.
 
Regarding holders, after spending ages researching what would and wouldn't cause vignetting, I discovered the best tip I ever got was not to use a holder at all, but use blu tac to hold the filter to the lens.
Click to expand...
:lol:

I'm not sure i'd trust my expensive new hitech grads on a couple of blobs of blu-tac. I am guessing stacking 2 filters together is not an option either?

Pete, have you had any compatibility issues with the z-pro holder and the hitech grads? I read an article somewhere which showed the plastic pins used to secure the holder to the lens fouling the edge of the grad when using the first slot, meaning that you couldn't push the filter down into the holder. I know that the cokin grads are square and not as long as the hitechs. Have you had the same problem? or can you see how it could be an issue?

Thanks

Tim
 
Hi Tim
I have not used Hitechs I use Z pros which are I think the same size as the Hitechs 100*100 for the solid NDs and 100*150 for the grads. Yes the pegs were a bit anoying and you have to push them prety hard but you can move them so they hold the mount onto the adapter ring and do not foul the filters, it's the one real criticism I have about the holder but as I said if you use a bit of force you can get the pegs to move and they don't foul the long grad filter as you move it up and down. Hope that helps. when stacking filters and I have only done two I wrap a piece of cloth or tape around the edges to stop any possibility of stray light, I am going to experiment with a strip of black foam rubber which I think the Lee Big Stopper has.
 
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