Lee Filter Kit Questions?

snerkler

snerkler

Suspended / Banned
Messages
26,078
Name
Toby
Edit My Images
No
I've been looking into 100mm filter kits as my current 85mm one causes vignetting at 18mm (FF). I was looking at the Nisi but reports of the filter bracket failing mean that I'm not looking at the Lee and so have a few questions.

1. Is there just one 100mm Lee filter bracket or are there different ones.
2. If there are different ones which do I need that I can use an integral polariser?
3. Can you buy starter Packs that include an ND filter, CPL and case (or something similar)?
4. Can you use any 100mm filters such as hi-tech firecrest?

Any help appreciated.
 
Last edited:
snerkler said:
I've been looking into 100mm filter kits as my current 85mm one causes vignetting at 18mm (FF). I was looking at the Nisi but reports of the filter bracket failing mean that I'm not looking at the Lee and so have a few questions.

1. Is there just one 100mm Lee filter bracket or are there different ones.
2. If there are different ones which do I need that I can use an integral polariser?
3. Can you buy starter Packs that include an ND filter, CPL and case (or something similar)?
4. Can you use any 100mm filters such as hi-tech firecrest?

Any help appreciated.
Click to expand...

1. There's just one type. Basically, there's a backing plate with a big hole in it. The hole takes the lens adaptor to attach to your lens. Attached to the front of the plate are the slots for the filters. These can be stacked, so you can add more or take them off, as many as you like really but they'll eventually appear in shot if you have too many. I think the standard foundation kit just comes with one slot. The ring for a 105mm polariser needs to be bought separately and just screws to the front of the outer most slot and then you screw a suitably expensive polariser to that. There is an alternative polariser arrangement though where you attach a second 'plate' with slots to the front that can rotate independently of other the other plate. You can then put a square (100x100) Lee circular polariser in the outer slot and rotate it. You can also use this set up to have grads sat at different angles. Sounds complicated but it's all very obvious with the kit in front of you. Maybe there's something on youtube showing it all.

2. No. But there is nothing to stop you attaching a polariser directly to your lens and then attaching the lee filter kit to the polariser. Might make things fiddly though. Never tried it.

3. Don't think you can get that exact combo. To be honest last time I looked the starter packs that included actual filters all seemed to contain stuff that I wouldn't need personally. Can't see much point in 1 stop ND's or GND's.

4. Yes, or any others I believe. Firecrest stuff sounds excellent though muchos ££££
 
Last edited:
i use this stuff to hold my lee nd's and polariser

http://www.thefilterdude.com

I have 3 different adapter rings for different thread sizes, the holder kit and the polariser ring for the front. Good quality stuff.
 
You can save a bit on the holder, adaptor & polariser ring by getting them s/h, as they're not things that generally suffer from wear & tear (for some reason when handling relativly delicate Lee filters & grads folks tend to be careful with things :)).

They often appear on the Classifieds here.
 
Would any 100mm holder not work? The Lee kit seems quite expensive at £50 for what it is.

EDIT: Just noticed that doesn't come with adapter rings which are another £20 each. I realise that there is obviously a market for this and some folks are happy to pay for the best, but essentially all it is doing is holding the filter in place, would you not be better off getting a cheapo set from ebay for £15, discarding the filters that come with it and just using the Lee filters? Many of the holders come with 10 or so adapter rings as well and pouches to hold them in etc...
 
Last edited:
Mr Perceptive said:
The hitech 100mm holder is available with built in polariser, maybe an option?
Click to expand...
Hitech are doing a 25% offer at present. Their prices don't include VAT so that's an additional 20% added at checkout.

I looked at the new hitech holder. It looks quite good, what put me off what how its connects and the need to unscrew the adapter ring to more it between one 77mm lens to another 77mm lens as they don't sell additional 77mm adapter rings (yet sell 3 different rings with the holder, two of which I had no use for). I like the ease of having Lee adapters on both lenses and quickly swapping between the two. I like the ease of removing the Lee holder from the adapter ring to recheck exposure/refocus without unscrewing anything. You can do this with the hitech filter but the polariser would stay attached to the adapter ring.

I use both Lee and hitech filters in a Lee foundation holder. I use firecrest ND's and Lee grads and polariser. I've slowly purchased the different parts and filters when they came up for sale on here or there were sales. I started with one adapter, foundation holder and a 10 stop filter.

gad-westy said:
2. No. But there is nothing to stop you attaching a polariser directly to your lens and then attaching the lee filter kit to the polariser. Might make things fiddly though. Never tried it.
Click to expand...

That could make things quite fiddly when setting the polariser and levelling the holder, but could an option until a polariser was purchased.
 
Wow, thanks for all of the replies guys (y) I'll not respond to each but they're all appreciated. I'll take a look at the hitech and the filterdude before committing. It's going to be a present from Santa so I don't think second hand would be favourable.
 
Looking into it I'm going to go for the Hitech Firecrest 100mm kit as with the 25% discount it comes in under £100 vs £300 for the Lee kit if I was to add the polariser. I see that you can get 100mm x 125mm and 100mm x 150mm are there any advantages/disadvantages to either? I guess the longer one gives you more scope to how much you can move the filter up and down? I see you can get some that are 100mm x 100mm is there still scope to be able to move them up and down before the edges become visible in the frame?
 
snerkler said:
Looking into it I'm going to go for the Hitech Firecrest 100mm kit as with the 25% discount it comes in under £100 vs £300 for the Lee kit if I was to add the polariser. I see that you can get 100mm x 125mm and 100mm x 150mm are there any advantages/disadvantages to either? I guess the longer one gives you more scope to how much you can move the filter up and down? I see you can get some that are 100mm x 100mm is there still scope to be able to move them up and down before the edges become visible in the frame?
Click to expand...
For grads get the 100x150 I suspect the 100x100 are nd and colour filters.
 
snerkler said:
Looking into it I'm going to go for the Hitech Firecrest 100mm kit as with the 25% discount it comes in under £100 vs £300 for the Lee kit if I was to add the polariser. I see that you can get 100mm x 125mm and 100mm x 150mm are there any advantages/disadvantages to either? I guess the longer one gives you more scope to how much you can move the filter up and down? I see you can get some that are 100mm x 100mm is there still scope to be able to move them up and down before the edges become visible in the frame?
Click to expand...

The hitech kit is very well priced compared to the Lee with a polariser. If you don't already have a Lee holder and want a polariser Hitech is the cheaper option. I looked at moving to the hitech but at the time selling up the lee holder wasn't really a cost effective way to get a polariser, and I also like the ease of the two ring setup and caps I have with the Lee kit I had. The integral seal on the hitech filter looks good. If hitech had sold their kits without adapter rings and sold the adapters separately with end caps I think I would have made the jump.

Regarding filter sizes 100mm x 100mm would only cover the filter opening. You can't move a 100 x 100 filter, usually these are only solid NDs (big stopper etc). I'm guessing you mean ND grads by 100 x 125 or 100x 150. I personally would go with 100x150mm grass just because there will always be scope for the grad to move up or down. I suppose it depends on how much sky you are going to have in your composition, the 150mm grass with allow more scope of movement and won't dictate your composition. What price difference is there between the 125mm and 150mm filters?

Don't forget hitech websites prices are shown without VAT. VAT at 20% is add at checkout.
 
Last edited:
rob-nikon said:
The hitech kit is very well priced compared to the Lee with a polariser. If you don't already have a Lee holder and want a polariser Hitech is the cheaper option. I looked at moving to the hitech but at the time selling up the lee holder wasn't really a cost effective way to get a polariser, and I also like the ease of the two ring setup and caps I have with the Lee kit I had. The integral seal on the hitech filter looks good. If hitech had sold their kits without adapter rings and sold the adapters separately with end caps I think I would have made the jump.

Regarding filter sizes 100mm x 100mm would only cover the filter opening. You can't move a 100 x 100 filter, usually these are only solid NDs (big stopper etc). I'm guessing you mean ND grads by 100 x 125 or 100x 150. I personally would go with 100x150mm grass just because there will always be scope for the grad to move up or down. I suppose it depends on how much sky you are going to have in your composition, the 150mm grass with allow more scope of movement and won't dictate your composition. What price difference is there between the 125mm and 150mm filters?

Don't forget hitech websites prices are shown without VAT. VAT at 20% is add at checkout.
Click to expand...

The hitech kit is very keenly priced when you consider that the polariser is included. I watched a video of the hitech kit last night and I like the way the polariser is controlled but felt it might be irritating to have the polariser where it is when you want to remove it. It looks like it's expected that you'd always leave it in place if you're using filters at all. I guess that might be okay.
 
PaulButler said:
For grads get the 100x150 I suspect the 100x100 are nd and colour filters.
Click to expand...

rob-nikon said:
The hitech kit is very well priced compared to the Lee with a polariser. If you don't already have a Lee holder and want a polariser Hitech is the cheaper option. I looked at moving to the hitech but at the time selling up the lee holder wasn't really a cost effective way to get a polariser, and I also like the ease of the two ring setup and caps I have with the Lee kit I had. The integral seal on the hitech filter looks good. If hitech had sold their kits without adapter rings and sold the adapters separately with end caps I think I would have made the jump.

Regarding filter sizes 100mm x 100mm would only cover the filter opening. You can't move a 100 x 100 filter, usually these are only solid NDs (big stopper etc). I'm guessing you mean ND grads by 100 x 125 or 100x 150. I personally would go with 100x150mm grass just because there will always be scope for the grad to move up or down. I suppose it depends on how much sky you are going to have in your composition, the 150mm grass with allow more scope of movement and won't dictate your composition. What price difference is there between the 125mm and 150mm filters?

Don't forget hitech websites prices are shown without VAT. VAT at 20% is add at checkout.
Click to expand...

Thanks 100 x 150 it is then. Thanks for the tip on VAT, that's a bit cheeky. Will need to compare with amazon prices now. With the current 25% discount they looked cheaper on the website, but I didn't know about the VAT at the end :(

gad-westy said:
The hitech kit is very keenly priced when you consider that the polariser is included. I watched a video of the hitech kit last night and I like the way the polariser is controlled but felt it might be irritating to have the polariser where it is when you want to remove it. It looks like it's expected that you'd always leave it in place if you're using filters at all. I guess that might be okay.
Click to expand...
I watched that video too. Yes it is a pain re the CPL but looking at the lee filter system the polariser looks like it's not a quick clip on and off system either (although not looked at vids yet)
 
snerkler said:
Thanks 100 x 150 it is then. Thanks for the tip on VAT, that's a bit cheeky. Will need to compare with amazon prices now. With the current 25% discount they looked cheaper on the website, but I didn't know about the VAT at the end :(


I watched that video too. Yes it is a pain re the CPL but looking at the lee filter system the polariser looks like it's not a quick clip on and off system either (although not looked at vids yet)
Click to expand...

The lee one is okay from what I remember but like all filters it can get a bit stuck from time to time particularly in cold weather when the metal contracts a little and your hands are numb. Because the polariser is screwed into a plate, it's a little harder to get a proper grip of it too. That's the appeal I guess of using a slide in 100mm square CPL. Though I've never seen or used one so I don't know if there are hidden drawbacks, other than the cost.
 
gad-westy said:
The lee one is okay from what I remember but like all filters it can get a bit stuck from time to time particularly in cold weather when the metal contracts a little and your hands are numb. Because the polariser is screwed into a plate, it's a little harder to get a proper grip of it too. That's the appeal I guess of using a slide in 100mm square CPL. Though I've never seen or used one so I don't know if there are hidden drawbacks, other than the cost.
Click to expand...
I didn't know you could get slide in polarisers.
 
snerkler said:
I didn't know you could get slide in polarisers.
Click to expand...

Scroll about a third of the way down on this page.

http://www.leefilters.com/index.php/camera/polariser

For some reason it's recommended for studio use though I can't see an obvious reason why.

You'd use that in conjunction with so that you can rotate the polariser independently of the other filters.

http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-lee-upgrade-kit/p1010394

Does get expensive and complicated though. The more I think about this, the more I think there must be a gap in the market for something much simpler. It seems that all the options have pros and cons but none are just right. On the face of it Lee's method of sticking a large polariser on the front is probably best but it would be better if the CPL holder could just clip on and off quickly so that you don't need to mess around trying to unscrew the polariser when it's not needed.
 
Last edited:
gad-westy said:
For some reason it's recommended for studio use though I can't see an obvious reason why.
Click to expand...

Using a square polariser and a grad is a tricky combination,the filter holder only allows 'all' filters to be totated, so in a studio suning coloured filters or a full ND is fine witha polariser as rotating it doesn't matter, but out on a windswept moor, and combining with a grad, then you will want a circular CPL.
 
You can have two holders (an adapter fits between them) and they can be rotated independently.

I think the reason Lee suggest the square cpl in studios is that typically in studios longer focal lengths are used. The square cpl is likely to cause vignette at modest wide angle, particularly if it is mounted in a forward slot or twin holder.

For landscape use I'd really suggest the landscape 105mm cpl, it works nicely. Only issue is it is so thin that getting off can be a real challenge for the ham fisted amongst us.
 
gad-westy said:
I thought that's where this came in?
http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-lee-upgrade-kit/p1010394

Effectively two Lee filter holders that can be rotated independently.
Click to expand...
The other problem is once you purchase the upgrade kit, additional foundation holder and polariser it would cost roughly the same as a circular landscape polariser. I would be cheaper to use a screw on polariser and attach the holder to that (pretty much what hitech have done but with an external scroll).
Mr Perceptive said:
OK, fair point, but with a wide angle lens, won't the multiple holders get in the field of view?
Click to expand...
i would guess there would quite a bit of vignette at wide apertures.
 
PaulButler said:
You can have two holders (an adapter fits between them) and they can be rotated independently.

I think the reason Lee suggest the square cpl in studios is that typically in studios longer focal lengths are used. The square cpl is likely to cause vignette at modest wide angle, particularly if it is mounted in a forward slot or twin holder.

For landscape use I'd really suggest the landscape 105mm cpl, it works nicely. Only issue is it is so thin that getting off can be a real challenge for the ham fisted amongst us.
Click to expand...
I've been thinking this, especially when it's cold outside. It's a shame the ring holder has screw fixing rather than clipping on the front.
 
rob-nikon said:
I've been thinking this, especially when it's cold outside. It's a shame the ring holder has screw fixing rather than clipping on the front.
Click to expand...
Graham from Lee Filters suggests using a thin wipe of lipsyl on the threads. It does seem to work. He also suggests not screwing it in too tight which I have a habit of doing :oops: :$
 
PaulButler said:
Graham from Lee Filters suggests using a thin wipe of lipsyl on the threads. It does seem to work. He also suggests not screwing it in too tight which I have a habit of doing :oops: :$
Click to expand...

I've also hear of people running a pencil over the thread as the graphite acts as a lubricant.
 
gad-westy said:
The lee one is okay from what I remember but like all filters it can get a bit stuck from time to time particularly in cold weather when the metal contracts a little and your hands are numb. Because the polariser is screwed into a plate, it's a little harder to get a proper grip of it too. That's the appeal I guess of using a slide in 100mm square CPL. Though I've never seen or used one so I don't know if there are hidden drawbacks, other than the cost.
Click to expand...

will definatly agree with this struggled a few weeks ago in the dales when my polarisor got stuck to the ring, abit of oil later it came to. keeping my ring lube up (excuse the wording :LOL:)
 
Interesting reading all the pros and cons. I've decided on the Hitch firecrest holder but will buy the ordinary resin filters otherwise the price goes up quite a bit in what is already an expensive system. I'm going to get the zomei 10 stopper too as it's much cheaper than Lee or firecrest and still gets 5/5 stars on amazon with over 100 ratings. I already have the zomei 10 stopper circular filter so know what I'm letting myself into in terms of colour cast, which is minimal although present.

Thanks again for all the help (y)
 
I have the Lee Z-Pro kit. I used this on the DX format with a 10-20mm lens. The kit consists of three grads, an adaptor ring for the lens and the filter holder that clips onto the adaptor ring. Later on, i bought a Lee polariser. This came with it's on adaptor ring that screwed onto the filter holder. The polariser can then be screwed onto this in front of the grads. The grads sit behind. It did vignette if i remember correctly, however, mine is the old style polariser. The newer ones i believe have a thinner rim to minimise vignetting, but you'd have to confirm this. I'm working tomirrow, but if you wish, i can take pix of it all after work and post them here if it helps? P.S. On the D750, the vignetting is, well, like looking down a drainpipe... :(
 
snerkler said:
Interesting reading all the pros and cons. I've decided on the Hitch firecrest holder but will buy the ordinary resin filters otherwise the price goes up quite a bit in what is already an expensive system. I'm going to get the zomei 10 stopper too as it's much cheaper than Lee or firecrest and still gets 5/5 stars on amazon with over 100 ratings. I already have the zomei 10 stopper circular filter so know what I'm letting myself into in terms of colour cast, which is minimal although present.

Thanks again for all the help (y)
Click to expand...

Thats a good start, the Hitech REsin 10 stopper has quite a blue colour cast, whereas the Firecrest is pretty neutral.
 
Moey said:
I have the Lee Z-Pro kit. I used this on the DX format with a 10-20mm lens. The kit consists of three grads, an adaptor ring for the lens and the filter holder that clips onto the adaptor ring. Later on, i bought a Lee polariser. This came with it's on adaptor ring that screwed onto the filter holder. The polariser can then be screwed onto this in front of the grads. The grads sit behind. It did vignette if i remember correctly, however, mine is the old style polariser. The newer ones i believe have a thinner rim to minimise vignetting, but you'd have to confirm this. I'm working tomirrow, but if you wish, i can take pix of it all after work and post them here if it helps? P.S. On the D750, the vignetting is, well, like looking down a drainpipe... :(
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. I'm set on the HiTech Firecrest holder now though thanks, looks just what I was after (y)
 
snerkler said:
Thanks for your reply. I'm set on the HiTech Firecrest holder now though thanks, looks just what I was after (y)
Click to expand...
If you are buying 100mm filters too it's worth shopping around, I priced up the 13 stop firecrest 100mm slot in, with the 25% sale and delivery it came to £165. Bristol cameras do it for £135 and amazon £100 without any sale.it sounds like it's worth checking other places.
 
The zomei stuff looks interesting. Anybody used their grads? They seem to do glass and resin versions.
 
I hesitated to add to this thread earlier at the risk of seeming predictable, because it's the same point I always make whenever a question about Lee (or other mnfr's) filter "kits" comes up.

You just don't need a kit. If you're using a polariser and a ND grad just leave the polariser on as normal and hold the grad against the rim of the filter. I've very rarely had a problem doing this.Three filters at the same time does get tricky though..
 
snerkler said:
I've been looking into 100mm filter kits as my current 85mm one causes vignetting at 18mm (FF). I was looking at the Nisi but reports of the filter bracket failing mean that I'm not looking at the Lee and so have a few questions.

1. Is there just one 100mm Lee filter bracket or are there different ones.
2. If there are different ones which do I need that I can use an integral polariser?
3. Can you buy starter Packs that include an ND filter, CPL and case (or something similar)?
4. Can you use any 100mm filters such as hi-tech firecrest?

Any help appreciated.
Click to expand...

1 - There's only one. I buy 3rd party from the filterdude, he's cheaper by half for adapter rings and holders and IMO they're the exact same quality from Lee except it says filterdude on them. I've owned Lee filter holder and adapaters so can make that comparison. I've had my filter dude stuff for a couple years now and never had any issues with them. I buy from the ebay store but his holders on the website http://www.thefilterdude.com/

2 - For Lee holders you get a 105mm adapter ring to sit on the front of the holder and that allows you to add a 105mm polariser (Lee). Others require you to put ito n the lens first or Nisi (I think) has an integrated one in the holder that you can spin with a dial on the side. Unsure of the Firecrest filters.

3 - From Lee? Sort of. You can buy all the seprate things in a bundle but not all together like in a single box like you might with Cokin, firecrest etc. I think the biggest pack you'll get is ND filters which are 3,6 and 9.

4 - You can use 100mm filters in the Lee filter holder.
 
rob-nikon said:
If you are buying 100mm filters too it's worth shopping around, I priced up the 13 stop firecrest 100mm slot in, with the 25% sale and delivery it came to £165. Bristol cameras do it for £135 and amazon £100 without any sale.it sounds like it's worth checking other places.
Click to expand...
Thanks, yeah I've looked around and at present the official site is the cheapest for the kit I want.
 
jerry12953 said:
I hesitated to add to this thread earlier at the risk of seeming predictable, because it's the same point I always make whenever a question about Lee (or other mnfr's) filter "kits" comes up.

You just don't need a kit. If you're using a polariser and a ND grad just leave the polariser on as normal and hold the grad against the rim of the filter. I've very rarely had a problem doing this.Three filters at the same time does get tricky though..
Click to expand...
I've thought about doing this but often I'm shooting at very low level, and sometimes I'm away from the camera and in both scenarios it's not ideal/impossible to hold a filter in place.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top