Lee Filters

MadFrankie

MadFrankie

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Hi,

After some pretty in-depth research and help from you wonderful forum people, I'm pretty comfortable now to go for Lee Filters.

However, with the wide range of options available, can anyone give me some real life experience about what actual filters to go for.

I take mainly landscapes and sun rise / set shots. I want to get some hard and soft grads but would 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 be good enough or is the 0.9 / 3 stops not really enough???

:shrug:
 
I purchased the Lee filters in the sets of three but find I rarely use the 0.3 (1 stop). You could purchase individual 0.6 and 0.9 filters. Remember that you can use more than one filter at once. So a 0.6 and a 0.9 used together would give would give you 5 stops.
 
Ah yes, a very good point I hadn't even thought of...doubling up on filters...

I did think the 0.3 was a bit pointless and I was wondering about the 0.6 but now you've got me thinking it can be used as a 'multiplyer' it might be worth while.

Thanks for your thoughts.
 
I'd say go for a .6 & .9 soft plus the .9 hard. You can us the .6 soft stacked with the hard on a seascape if need be.

I've the .03 .6 & .9 soft set but hardly used the .3
 
The Lee Filters' book "Inspiring Professionals" is worth buying too. They show you a landscape and a simple graphic of how the filters were used. Sometimes they use an ND grad for the sky as normal, and another ND grad inverted for the foreground.

Good luck finding any filters at the moment though! I am still waiting on NDs and hard grads from Morco for 2 months now.
 
User Name said:
The Lee Filters' book "Inspiring Professionals" is worth buying too. They show you a landscape and a simple graphic of how the filters were used. Sometimes they use an ND grad for the sky as normal, and another ND grad inverted for the foreground.
Click to expand...

:thumbs: Good advice. You'll be surprised in the book how often a hard is used when you would imagine a soft would be the order of the day.

I recently bought a Lee Filter set and a 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 hard. I haven't used the 0.3 yet. The 0.6 and 0.9 have been used but the 0.9 can look a bit unreal if not used with care.

Also get a 2 stop ND if you want to do longer exposures on say water during the day :)
 
A 0.6 and 0.9 are pretty essential.

Don't dismess Hitech - remember these are just thin bits of plastic or glass, and one brand will do the same as the other here.
 
User Name said:
The Lee Filters' book "Inspiring Professionals" is worth buying too. They show you a landscape and a simple graphic of how the filters were used. Sometimes they use an ND grad for the sky as normal, and another ND grad inverted for the foreground.
Click to expand...

Yes the Lee book is certainly worth having.

puddleduck said:
Don't dismess Hitech - remember these are just thin bits of plastic or glass, and one brand will do the same as the other here.
Click to expand...

In principle yes but Cokin are renowned for producing a magenta cast. I've heard good reports on the Hitech but haven't used them myself.
 
I've always bought my Lee filters from http://www.studiokitdirect.com/ Next day delivery and very nice people to do business with.

As said above.... I have 0.3 0.6 0.9 Not often i use the 0.3 but somtimes i'm glad i've got it. Also if you buy all 3 as a set they are a little cheaper and you get a nice case and soft insert for them.
 
:thumbs: Hitech filters almost the same quality as Lee but half the price
 
Looks like Lee Filters are not in stock anywhere. This supply problem seems to have been going on for a while, not great for business :gag:

Maybe I'll look at Hitech...
 
ShrubMonkey said:
Looks like Lee Filters are not in stock anywhere. This supply problem seems to have been going on for a while, not great for business :gag:

Maybe I'll look at Hitech...
Click to expand...

www.robertwhite.co.uk might have some in (well according to a recent thread they did a few days ago).

Lee Filters are the top filters in terms of quality, closely followed by Hitech and Singray in most opinions respected and not so..
 
Thanks guys, on my way to spend all my money on filters!

ooh, 100 posts...
 
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