ND Filter considerations

I had a very pleasant afternoon over in the sunny Brecons, fouled only by the autofocus on my K5 playing up.

For those who've never been, the area south of Brecon is full of waterfalls and is a lovely place for a walk on a sunny day. It's also a perfect area for photography, hence my visit over the weekend.

The only limitation - aside from equipment malfunction - is that I don't have any ND filters, which limits ability to get the longer shutter speeds for silky water images. I'm looking at getting a set, but not sure what I should look to buy.

I use any of my Pentax 16-45 and Sigma 8-16 and 28-70 f/2.8 EX. The Sigma lenses pose a bit of a problem, given the protruding front element and lack of a filter ring on the 8-16 I'm unlikely to be able to mount any filters, and the 28-70 has a hefty 77mm filter ring.

I've used Cokin in the past, where I had a set of the smaller size filters which were fine for my old 28mm lenses but vignette or obstruct the lenses I currently use. I managed to lose these on a beach in Cornwall anyway, so I'd like to take the enforced opportunity upgrade to a more useful set.

I'd like to get the slot in type so I can use across lenses, but would consider screw-in given it's really the 16-45 which will see most use. Lee and the like are out purely on grounds of cost, and I'm aware that some of the cheaper 'gel-type' ones (I forget the material) are susceptible to damage.

Are there any decent slot-in system filters that I should consider for the ND type? I'm looking to get the bare minimum, and bearing in mind I suspect I'll be forking out some way or other for the AF issues on my K5, I'd like to keep it reasonably cheap.

I'd eventually look to get some grad filters, but I'm unlikely to use any other type (I already have a screw-in polariser for the 16-45). Another factor to consider, if I dare raise it here, is that I have an Olympus m4/3 system which I would also like to use the filter system with - the only substantial difference I'm aware of being a contrast-based AF as opposed to phase-based. I would expect this only to impact the polariser, which I'm less concerned by, but I mention it just in case. Filter thread is 55mm on my Pansonic 14-45.

Any and all advice gratefully received.

Ta all for comments - I've noted the kood filters in AP before, I might give those a try. They've got a set of 77mm ND filters for £40ish, but might be a little small. I'll go for 100mm, will hopefully future-proof if nothing else.

I'll also have a look at Haida and Hitech.

Lee sadly quite a way out of my price range, although I assume if I go for a 100mm system there's nothing stopping me getting some Lee grads in the future, if so desired?

Any 100mm filter will fit in any 100mm filter holder. However - you need to match the adapter rings to the filter holder. For instance - a hitech adapter ring will not necessarily fit in a Lee holder. If you buy a cheap holder and ring - just make sure they are advertised as fitting the same system - generally Cokin on the 'Chinese copies'

Carl

Ah man, just sold a set of 100mm square ND filters on eBay.

If you're local then Hitech filters are based in Aberdare.

For my ND and ND grads I use Cokin P size filters with generic Chinese eBay special filters. Non stacked there is no colour casts.

My big stopper is a Hitech filter. As the biggest filter thread I have is a 82mm then I just insulation taped an 82mm Cokin P sized adaptor ring to it! Works well, no light can get behind that filter! I then use step down rings to use it on my other lenses

The Haida 10 stopper is excellent, does not give a blue colour cast like the Hitech 10 stopper does. I have the 77mm pro version which I adapt to various lenses via cheap step down rings.

For ND Graduated filters, I use the 85mm Hitechs. They do not vignette with a 16-45 lens, even on the smaller 85mm filter size, although they do vignette a little with the Pentax DA17-70, for some reason. There is a simple solution for this; buy a cheap Chinese Cokin P type filter holder and cut it down with a hacksaw so you only have two filter slots instead of four. This eradicates the vignette.

I now use the Hitech 85mm ND Grads on my DA 12-24 with no issues. A set of three cost about £60 three years ago, this got me the 0.3 , 0.6 and 0.9 strengths, of which the 0.6 is most used. Be careful with them as they are made of resin and scratch very easily, but you can get rid of minor marks with T-Cut Metallic Paint restorer.

Hope this is helpful.

Regards
David

Don't make a mistake when it comes to filters. No use having a good lens with a crappy filter in the front is there. From past research I believe that there are 3 brands to choose from which are excellent quality: cokin, lee or high tech. I myself settled for the wide z pro system from cokin and I only use the nd8 grad filter.

The SRB resin filters have had good reviews in various photo mags, recently tried a 0.6 soft grad and very pleased, they come in a nice imitation leather wallet to keep them clean and as scratch free as poss.

My problem with these filters is keeping the dust/fluff etc of them!

The colon z pro Filters have anti dust pockets so each time you pull them out they are dust free. Very helpful

Sounds useful.

only problem with Cokin is the magenta colour cast you get if you need to stack them, the slight blue you can get from Hi-Tech is much easier to remove with a little warm up in colour temp.

Interesting. I wasn't aware of that. But, and I think I speak for many, I today's digital age is there really a need for stacking? After nd and polarisers what else would you need today that Lightroom can't do for you afterward