ND Filter considerations

mattie · 2015-06-08T16:11:43+0100

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.

General Photographic DiscussionGeneral Photographic...

Add Comment

redbusa99 redbusa99

1700 posts
17 years
stroud,glos

Posted 14/06/2015 - 01:07 Link

i was saying that this happens if you have to stack a combination of the Cokin ND filters to get the balance you need for the shot, i have seen it commented on many times in various places and suffered from it myself so swapped to Hi-Tech but as you say not actually needed as much these days with the advances in software to replicate their use .

odd lens or 2

Flickr