ND Grad filters

DorsetDude

DorsetDude

Spud
Suspended / Banned
Messages
7,018
Name
Keith
Edit My Images
Yes
First posting, go easy on me if I missed a sub forum on filters! :)

Decided I really must get 2 or 3 ND Grad filters as I like taking sunset shots on the coast or new forest and the sky is always blowing out or the land is just black. Tried "HDR" ing images with photomatix trial, but always get grainy results and cloud or water movement doesnt help anyway.

Umming and ahhing my way round the websites trying to decide whether to splash out on Lee filters or cokin Z pro or what.

Decided its best to get a decent quality set going from the off so grateful for any advice really.

If I go for Lee filters, foundation kit and 1 filter for now, plus w/a adapter ring it comes to about £150.

Should I go for a "Hard" grad or a "soft"? I think a 2-stop would be a good one for the first one to get?

Will this set up be ok with the Sigma 10-20mm f4.5 EX?

Many thanks.

My current gear: EOS 450D with kit lens and Canon 70-300mm zoom, tripod. remote release cable, CP filter (cheapish Hoya one)
 
I used the cokin p series and have just changed to lee which i cant recommend enough.
the lees are fantastic in comparison and in my opnion to invest in a lee system you will have the piece of mind knowing you have bought the best and in 6 months time if you buy the cokin you wont be sitting asking youself could i have had better results if i bought the lee.im no pro...far from it but i think to start you would be better with the hard grad as taking seascapes you generly have a non cluttered horizon unlike taking pics of mountians.hope this helps and as i say im no pro but just giving my personal advice.
 
:agree: I've just upgraded from Cokin to Lee and the Lee is the way to go. I usually find that I need a 3 stop to hold back the sky on a sunset or sunrise. Hard is best as said above if you're doing seascapes. Should be OK on a Siggy 10-20mm providing you don't have any other filters on, otherwise you might get vignetting at 10mm. Also the Cokin do have a slight magenta colour cast, especially when using more that one filter at a time. The Lee seem neutral to me (so far).
 
Last edited:
Lee over cokin for sure...

I personally use the 3 stop soft most, even for seascapes.

Also, have you considered hitech filters? They are much cheaper than Lee but still pretty good quality. You might be able to get few filters for the price of one Lee...

Of course, if you don't mind the cost, definitely go with Lee. :thumbs:
 
existent said:
Lee over cokin for sure...

Also, have you considered hitech filters? They are much cheaper than Lee but still pretty good quality.
Click to expand...

:agree:

Hitech are a great option if the cost of Lee is a blocker. Much more Neutral than Cokin.

It's horses for courses but the 'soft' set suit me as most of my landscapes have hills in them.
 
I'll echo the Lee option... Certainly the way forward imho. Buy cheap and you buy twice. Start with spending as little as possible on the better kit and add to it slowly. You won't regret it.
 
Great stuff.
Thanks for the info guys.

Although I (try to) take coastal shots, they are never looking straight out to sea, there's usually cliffs or something at one side or t'other so I wasnt sure about hard or soft grads.
Best perhaps to start with a 2 stop soft then add a 2 stop hard and perhaps a 3 stop soft as I move on.
Thanks again.

Any advice on online suppliers? Ive tried warehouseexpress and Speed Graphic so far.
 
I had a set of Cokin's for a year or so, which were fine if you used them by themselves to avoid as much colour casts as possible. However this year I just bit the bullet and cracked out some money on a set of Lee's - I don't regret it.

I personally find the 2-stop to be a bit weak for my liking, as I like nice punchy skies, so almost always use a 3-stop. My hard is used more than my soft, but again this is personal preference. I avoided the hard and soft sets (comprising of a 1, 2 and 3 stop of each) in order to get what I wanted in stages.

Speed Graphic are good, as are Studio Kit Direct (really impressed with them) and Calumet.

HTH
Stu
 
As far as Lee stockists go, I've no idea to be honest. I got mine from focus the event before last, and for the life of me I can't remember the name of the dealer! As above really, calumet are a no brainer. Warehouse Express are OK for Lee from what I hear, but I've heard mixed reports on their stock levels.
 
DorsetDude said:
Great stuff.
Thanks for the info guys.

Although I (try to) take coastal shots, they are never looking straight out to sea, there's usually cliffs or something at one side or t'other so I wasnt sure about hard or soft grads.
Best perhaps to start with a 2 stop soft then add a 2 stop hard and perhaps a 3 stop soft as I move on.
Thanks again.

Any advice on online suppliers? Ive tried warehouseexpress and Speed Graphic so far.
Click to expand...

What's wrong with Robert White ?
http://www.robertwhite.co.uk/about.asp
Alder Hills Poole is quite near Bournemouth isn't it ? LOL
C
 
For starters I'd go for a 2stop hard. My second purchase was a 1stop hard and I prbably use that more often now. Yu get lovely natural looking skies with a 1stop and a polariser.

In most cases, by adjusting the angle of a hard edge grad you can get the result you want, especially with one of the weaker ones - and at larger apertures.

I've often thought about trying a soft edge grad but never got round to it. Perhaps I don't know what i'm missing.

You can use grads without holder/adaptors. It's quite easy as long as the camera is on a tripod, and not impossible without.
 
I have Cokin P and just one filter and was going to get more adapters for my lenses but may change over to a Lee filter kit if the difference is really that noticable.
 
Ceejay said:
What's wrong with Robert White ?
http://www.robertwhite.co.uk/about.asp
Alder Hills Poole is quite near Bournemouth isn't it ? LOL
C
Click to expand...


That's where I got my lee filters, maybe not the cheapest but go in and have a chat, first class service and advice, I got soft grads as they are more versatile. I also got the cpl adaptor and the 105mm b&w kassman cpl which is just awesome but not cheap.
 
Does the Lee filters fit in Cokin holders or do i need the Lee adapters/holders and filters?
 
Seems to be a backlog on orders at RobertWhite for ND grads. :(

Good call on not HAVING to use a holder. :D I might just get a couple of Lee's, a pouch and see how I get on. Can always get the foundation kit and adapter bit later on if I find the filters become essential.

Also reading through some good posts in the techniques section on using layers and 2 exposures and letting the sky "show through" the other layer(or was it vice versa?).

I wonder if Elements 7 supports this?

Thanks again.

My consolations to the poor bloke who bought the Cokin P bits. :(
 
Hi,

In a similar situation as you one year ago. I would recommend to get the Digital starter kit. It has a 2 stop hard ND grad and a 2 stop ND. More than enough to get you going.

Where we live you'd be surprised how often a hard grad will do where you might think you need a soft...

I recommend you get the Lee book about filters. It's 10-20 quid but describes basic technique quite well.

Regards

Mark

PS I used to expose twice, once for sky and once for land then blend in Photoshop. It works OK but is really hard to get it right so there is no Halo. Something really satisfying and good quality about getting it right in camera with a grad :)
 
What if you already have a Cokin P holder knocking around (must be a good few decades old now) and are on a budget, would Hitech be the best balance as there's no way I can afford/justify the cost of Lee.
 
Hmm I had this dilemma once, so what I did was invested in a lee filter holder system + the WA adapter.

But then bought the following Hitech/Formatt Filters based on David Noton recommendations: http://www.davidnoton.com/ctlfilterkit.htm

So I ended up with the following Hitech filters:

0.9 ND
0.9 ND Grad Hard Edge
0.6 ND Grad Soft Edge
0.6 ND Grad Hard Edge

The hitech's are slightly thinner than the lee filters but they still fit nicely into a Lee Filter Holder system and I have no complaints about the performance of the Hitech filters at all. I have noticed I generally like to shoot my landscapes/seascapes using the 0.6 ND Hard Edge filter as I can brighten up any subject if required in photoshop.

If money is no object, Lee is the way to go, but if you want to have good quality and save some dosh for other camera stuff, I can recommend hitech wholeheartedly

Some pictures using the Hitech 0.6 ND grad Hard edge filter in conjuction with the B+W 10 stop filter:


4835674082_e6509d9222_z.jpg


4782539358_7ab4b4d620_z.jpg



And this picture was using the Hitech 0.9 ND filter inconjuction with the Hitech 0.6 ND Grad Filter:

4768811940_ba04c119c0_z.jpg


Hope this helps,

cheers,

andy
 
Thanks for that recommendation Andy, certainly worth pondering the Hitechs.

I cant see your photos you posted though, have I a setting wrong somewhere perhaps?

Cheers

--
Check that, am at home now and can see the photo's. Excellent!:clap:

Why did/would you use the pure ND on the walkway one to slow down the exposure? No real water to blur there is there? Just interested is all!:thinking:

Thanks
 
Last edited:
Lee grad nd filters are out of stock everywhere:'( as I found out when I recently decided to upgrade to them from my Cokin set...

BUT.. I did find a set @ http://www.studiokitdirect.com/ who also have some individual grads in stock too if you didnt want to get a full set right away.
Their service was excellent (free 1st class delivery on orders over £75.00) & the price was reasonable too @ £140 + vat for a soft grad set concidering how hard it is to find them in stock anywhere.
I hope this info is usefull to you:thumbs:
 
I have a code for 20% off of the Hitech Formatt filters site anyone from TP interested drop me a PM :thumbs:
 
Last edited:
Hiya Dorset Dude,
I used the pure ND filter just to increase the exposure time to get some slight motion blur in the clouds, a subtle effect, but if you look at the cloud texture i think it is visible.

cheers,

andy
 
existent said:
Lee over cokin for sure...

I personally use the 3 stop soft most, even for seascapes.

Also, have you considered hitech filters? They are much cheaper than Lee but still pretty good quality. You might be able to get few filters for the price of one Lee...

Of course, if you don't mind the cost, definitely go with Lee. :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Could anyone advise where to get hitech from?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top