What ND filters and vignetting risk

Hi all,

I've little used filters until now. I'd like to have a play on our holiday to Northumbria at the end of the month with both ND and graduated ND for my coastal landscapes. I'd like to see how graduated help with the K5 which of course has a big EV range anyway before you start messing with HDR.

Some questions - not compulsory to answer all, it's not a poll

Do you all use ND?
Do you use soft or hard for graduated? I guess the two stop ND2 soft would be most popular
Do you prefer screw in or P type with holders?
Do the 'wide angle' holders available avoid vignetting at 18mm?
Finally where best to buy? Premier seem to have a big range.

Any advice from first hand experience much appreciated.

Hi Bill,

I use the Formatt/Hi-tech ND Graduated Soft in the 85mm (Cokin P) size with a cokin P wide holder that has the outer filter slot cut off (to allow it to be used on a 14mm without vignetting). I have read that Cokin filters have a pinkish colour cast.

I bought mine direct from http://www.formatt.co.uk/stills-filters/filter-kits/graduated/grad-kit-4-nd0-3-n... (you have to change the options on the page to the 85mm to see the correct price) they were delivered quickly and I didn't think the pricing was too bad.

I have "stacked" 2 of these on a few occasions, but 3 didn't work too well for me (became a bit "muddy" and lacked clarity). Sometimes I will just hold the filter in front of the lens (if the 'P' holder isn't on) and if you get the position right it works fine. I've no experience of straight ND's on digital.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, that does help. I'd read the Cokin's had a colour cast and that stacking had mixed results. Kood holders and filters are the only other ones i've seen for sensible prices like these.

A 14mm for landscape is my next ambition for landscapes having sold my wide zoom. Vignetting at that width must be a potential issue even wit screw filters if not thin enough profile.

Hi Bill

I have used virtually all types you can think of.

I now exclusively use Cokin P (85mm) and the hi-tech 100mm system. the Cokin set will be totally redundant once I buy a couple more adapter rings for the hi-techs

The Cokin P are fine if you just use one filter but as Lenny mentions - stack them and they have a magenta cast. Also you do get vignetting on this size if you are using a lens with a large filter thread - 77mm in my case - and at 10mm - you get both left and right sides of the holder in the image.

The hi-techs have none of the above problems and are superb instruments (second only to Lee IMHO) but they are pricey - a set of 3 soft ND grads + holder + one adapter ring will cost you £160. I have only recently purchased these but so far - they are proving to be worth the price - stacking multiples has caused no issues.

Soft or hard?

Personal preference to some extent - I prefer soft - but theoretically - hard are for use where you have a straight horizon - e.g. seascapes - soft for when you have an uneven horizon - trees - buildings etc

Grads or solids? Both have their uses - I tend to always carry a solid ND4 for very bright days - otherwise I stick to the grads (and with the 100mm filter size - can cover the whole frame if I need to

Bottom line Bill - if you have not used ND grads before - you will notice a massive improvement in landscape shots - and controlling exposure when there is a marked difference between sky and land becomes a doddle.

Carl

Bill if you are interested in buying a used set of Cokin P ND grads + holder + various rings - PM me

Carl

Bill

I use the Hitech too but the 100 size

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HITECH-FILTER-MODULAR-HOLDER-WIDE-ANGLE-STARTER-KIT-w-...

These are hard edge. On the listing they suggest hard for seascapes and soft for landscapes. Simonkit on here uses the hard on landscapes too I believe (though his filters are Lee).


I can use these with my Sigma 10-20 at all focal lengths. In addition to using as grads, with the hard you can position the filter so that it acts like a uniform ND

I've posted some pics in threads using them

https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/1st-try-with-hitech-grad-filters-35454

https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/st--mary-s-lighthouse-plus-a-bonus-squirr...

https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/down-by-the-sea-35917

When stacking, there is a colour cast, which can be removed in lightroom. Takes a bit of getting used to. The second photo in the last link for example looks flat. I've re-processed it and it looks a lot better now.

Went away from my computer for a minute before posting, came back to find that Carl had prety much covered things

Enjoy your hols. Here is a link that you might find useful from a local photographer http://www.flickr.com/photos/neetanic/sets/72157629710958187/

Thanks Carl and Alan,

Your input is much appreciated.

So much of my photography has been abroad, especially in Greece where I've not experienced the same exposure range between land sea and sky. I can see from the examples the dramatic difference you can make!

I had noticed the big leap in spend for 100mm but can see why the cost and why the sense.

I have a couple of Kood soft graduated filters (ND2 & ND4) which I bought from Premier Inks.

They don't (to my eyes) have any colour cast and are reasonably priced.

They are made from plastic and having dropped one recently it has a couple of scratches which happily are well down in the clear part. They do scratch easily, next time I might go for glass ones.

regards
Bernard

Thanks Bernard,

The Kood kit for £43.99 does sound good for a starter kit.

The kit contains:

1 x P-Type ND2 Filter
1 x P-Type ND2 Soft Graduated Filter
1 x P-Type ND4 Filter
1 x P-Type ND4 Soft Graduated Filter
1 x P-Type Filter Holder
1 x P-Type 62mm Adapter Ring

Lee are clearly the ones to have if serious but outside my budget at this stage.

Hi Bill,

Having seen Alan's results with the Hitech 100 kit I went ahead and bought them myself. I bought the soft grads, though. I haven't used grads before, but so far I am very happy with my purchase, though not used much as yet.

I've used 2 grads stacked and have seen no cast at all.

I have also bought the Hitech 100 Pro 10 stop ND filter. This works well, but has a considerable blue cast which can be removed in PP with care.

I'm quite a novice with ND filters, but I do feel this set up will do me proud for some considerable time.

Thanks for all your help guys. This really is a good forum.

Despite my not even getting as far as the classifieds, Carl has, as he offered, found a Cokin P set to get me started. Thanks again Carl.

If I get on with them then I'll look at the posh stuff you all seem to be moving towards. The Hi Tech do sound a very good alternative to Lee filters which even my pro friends balk at th price of. I'm told there is a shortage anyway on Lee whih are hand finished!

Having had firstly Cokin, then Hitech & now Lee I can honestly say Lee are worth it, even though they do seem rather expensive.

Hard NDgrads should be fine in almost all situations, on cropped sensor cameras the graduation line isn't nearly as obvious as you might think, it's only really that evident at UWA focal lengths (12mm etc) & even then not too bad..I've never found the need to use my Soft NDgrad regardless of whether it's coastal shots with a defined horizon or mountainous shots.

It's probably best worth trying the cheaper ones first though...one other advantage of the Lee system worth knowing though is that its not nearly as cumbersome to use as the Cokin/Hitech so you're probably more likely to use it

Simon