If those images are representative, it looks like a superb lens.

Regards
David

Hi Stuart

I've not been on here much lately due to ongoing house renovations, so apologies for the late entry to this thread. I use Hitech 85mm soft ND Grads, 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9. Of the three strengths the 0.6 is the most useful, but I do use all three and occasionally stack them, but not often.

The Hitechs are very effective, have no noticeable negative effect on sharpness but they do add a very slight blue cast to clouds, which is easily adjusted in post processing if you feel you need to. Being made of resin, they scratch very easily, this is not usually a problem unless shooting straight into the sun. You can remove light scratches with T-cut solution and a damp cloth, I find the T-cut designed for metallic paint is the best for this.

Regarding vignetting, it can be an issue with some lenses. I found it a particular problem with the Pentax DA 17-70, although strangely it is not such a problem with the 12-24. If you get vignetting one easy solution is to cut down the Cokin P type filter holder with a junior hacksaw so that it only has one or two slots, this makes it stick out less and therefore reduces vignetting risk.

I also use a circular polariser and find the Hoya Pro1 to be superb. I wouldn't go on a landscape shoot without a polariser and a set of ND Grads, they are extremely useful.

BTW, if you are considering a 10 stopper, don't rule out a Haida, they are very good indeed and a lot cheaper than other similar filters from better known makers. They add very little colour cast and what they do is a mild warming effect which is much better than the blue cast caused by some 10 stoppers.

Most of the landscape shots in my gallery were taken with a Hitech ND Grad of some description. Hope this information is useful.

Regards
David

Well done Andy, my favourite is actually the Windmill, but they're all great.

Regards
David

Nice one Neil, this was a regular watering hole for myself and my mates in years gone by! It's a very pretty corner, even more so now that the River Don is cleaner.

Regards
David

And the same to you too Bill, many thanks for the feedback on my images during 2014.

Regards
David

Thanks all for the feedback, 2014 was a less prolific year for me photography wise as I had too many other things to do, here's hoping for more time in 2015 to take a few snaps.

Best wishes
David

Apologies Bill, I think I missed this set earlier! There's a lot of humour on show here, the tank and the dog shot in particular. The Cormorant is great, as is the beautiful Swallowtail butterfly.

Regards
David

A lot of variety here again and there are several that stand out for me. I love the martial arts group on the beach and the sunrise over the church. The last one too, of the V&A, this is one of those rare shots where distortion adds rather than detracts from the image.

Regards
David

Lovely images Nigel, very well thought out and taken. The compositions here are what catch my eye, I think you must 'see' things in a quite similar way to me.

Regards
David

A super set David, but I expect that from you! July and December are the ones that really catch my eye, but the standard throughout is high.

Regards
David