ND grad filters

HuntingMartians

HuntingMartians

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When I use an ND grad filter for some reason I get a red tint to the photos in the area of the ND grey especially when I do longer exposures. Can anyone help?
 
Not accidentally bought a tobacco filter have you? :LOL:
 
Thats actually a possibility, you never know :)

Is it a Cokin? What's the code on the bottom corner?

I haven't heard of ND Grads (Well Cokins anyway) having a red tint, not a hugely noticable tint anyway.
 
what filters are you using?

a quick google will tell you if they have a tendency to give a colour cast
 
It a Cokin ND Grad? They are unfortunately known for having a magenta cast. Two ways to fix it; Put up with it and fix it in photoshop, or buy better ND grads. Ive gone with Lee filters as they are true neutral, but are very expensive. Your could also try Hitech ones which are supposed to be the middleground bewtween Cokin and Lee.
 
yup messiah - A friend is on lee's - very expensive kit but the quality of the glass is just stunning. I'm using Hi-Techs - very good and excellent value for money - i feel a little safer to use them. If i'd spent £120 on a lee ND grad set i wouldn't feel that id be able to use them freely without permanently worrying about scratching or breaking one.
 
I've heard of Cokins ND grads giving a colour cast, but I have a full set and they are fine. They are quite a recent purchase so either it's a problem that they've now fixed or I was just lucky :shrug:
 
it is definitely a cokin ND giving a magenta cast. And thanks for all the replies I am guessing if you buy cheap then this happens Oh well :( Guess I can't do anything about it other than buy better ones :(
 
hitech ones are only about £30 ex vat for a set (0.3, .06, 0.9) or £12 each - available only from teamworks in the uk i believe.
 
ThisPhotoGuy said:
it is definitely a cokin ND giving a magenta cast. And thanks for all the replies I am guessing if you buy cheap then this happens Oh well :( Guess I can't do anything about it other than buy better ones :(
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sometimes fiddling with the white balance can help a bit. I've had problems with the lee filters where the camera has screwed the WB because of the colours of the sunset, the foreground and the filters. If that makes any sense. The cokins are renowned though for being off-neutral.


MichaelPlace said:
hitech ones are only about £30 ex vat for a set (0.3, .06, 0.9) or £12 each - available only from teamworks in the uk i believe.
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For the 85mm ones, yes. The 100mm ones the same size as the lee ones are a touch more expensive....
 
Their website is here.

The 85mm ones (which are the same size as the Cokin P) are 12ish each (plus Vat), and the 100mm (Cokin Z?) are around £25-35 each.
 
The hitech filters are good and do not suffer from the colour cast issue that Cokins are known for. They are a good middle ground between Cokin and Lee, but they do seem to scratch easily ...
 
Hitech filters are made by Formatt Filters, who are very friendly people to deal with, and bent over backwards to help me out when I was in a rush for a few bits. Not sure how to do a link, but a google will take you to them...
 
Cool, this thread just answered a bunch of questions for me (y)
I can't afford the Lee's but didn't want the casts (film) of the cokin's - looks like hitech is the way to go!
 
Holy Thread revivial batman!

Sorry to drag this up from the grave but the thread covers everything I want to know apart from one thing!

Would people recomend a soft or hard grad set? I know it depends on usage and I'd say my major use would be landscapes, I'd like to tone down the sky and bring ot the foreground. I'd also like to use them for shooting sunsets as I've tried a few and felt limited in waht I could capture without a filter.

Any help much appreciated!
 
a1ex2001 said:
Would people recomend a soft or hard grad set? I know it depends on usage and I'd say my major use would be landscapes, I'd like to tone down the sky and bring ot the foreground. I'd also like to use them for shooting sunsets as I've tried a few and felt limited in waht I could capture without a filter.

Any help much appreciated!
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I think you'd be better off with hard grads. I've got a 1 stop and a 2 stop; I find I get excellent natural looking skies using the 1 stop combined with a polariser. I used to use the 2 stop in the same way but it sometimes looked un-natural. I use the 2 stop now mainly if I want dark stormy grey skies.

By the way, its not necessary to use a holder. Just hold the filter lightly against the rim of the lens. Easy when the camera is on a tripod, possible if not!:)
 
a1ex2001 said:
Would people recommend a soft or hard grad set?
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I read somewhere that soft are *better* for digital but that might be a load of rubbish. I have a soft set of Lees which work well. Whether I use 'em well is another question.
 
Hi,
I was thinking about some hitech filters myself but I am not sure what size 85mm vs 100mm any advice on the size format?

Cheers,

andrew
 
I had to shunt up the size due to going full frame so I'd always buy trying to anticipate future uses.
 
you will get a magenta cast with the cokin filters. Lee filters are neutral density rather than the cokin grey grey. Cokins are NOT neutral. I have compared the two, and sold on my cokins in preferance of Lee Filters.
 
Depending on what you're shooting and how strong a filter you're using, you can get the same effect by taking multiple exposures and averaging them in software. No colour casts.

edit: Ah I didn't see that you were talking grads when I wrote this, though I suppose you can still get the effect in software.
 
a1ex2001 said:
Holy Thread revivial batman!

Sorry to drag this up from the grave but the thread covers everything I want to know apart from one thing!

Would people recomend a soft or hard grad set? I know it depends on usage and I'd say my major use would be landscapes, I'd like to tone down the sky and bring ot the foreground. I'd also like to use them for shooting sunsets as I've tried a few and felt limited in waht I could capture without a filter.

Any help much appreciated!
Click to expand...

Traditional 'knowledge' says that hard grads are for shots with clearly defined horizons e.g. seascapes, soft for when the horizon isn't straight e.g. woods and mountains etc.

Personally, I find softs the best as if you heavily filter the sky with a hard grad and don;t get it positioned exactly right you can have a nasty dark strip of land, if that makes sense?

Ideally though, if you're shooting sunsets, you'll probably want a Singh-Ray reverse ND grad.

You may need pockets lined with gold though.
 
If only I had read this thread a couple of weeks ago! Never the less, thanks for reviving this, it has been very helpful to read.
 
Does anyone have a link to the Hitech range guide, preferably with pictures?
 
I'll also point out the Kood range to those with less expansive pockets - I've just got a pair of Kood 1 and 2 stop ND grads, just waiting for the murk to shift from up here to try them out...
 
Are the Kood ND / Grad ND better than Cokin?

Seeing that the Cokin give a colour cast, I've looked into ordering a set off Hitech ... but if Kood do the job well and better than Cokin, then I can just make do with that?
 
Hey, thanks for the links .... I saw these earlier, but this time round I did a search and found exactly what I was looking for.

Thank you (y)
 
MichaelPlace said:
yup messiah - A friend is on lee's - very expensive kit but the quality of the glass is just stunning. I'm using Hi-Techs - very good and excellent value for money - i feel a little safer to use them. If i'd spent £120 on a lee ND grad set i wouldn't feel that id be able to use them freely without permanently worrying about scratching or breaking one.
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They dont scratch that easy and if you put them away neatly everytime you should be fine, tbh i dont think lee filters are that expensive. At the end of the day you pay for what you get! lee are top quality filters , but then ive never used any other brands. if i was you i would sell it on ebay and buy LEE.(y)

Talking of lee filters any one interested in some coral grad filters? 0.2,0.4,0.6 only used twice. except the 0.6 which is new. a gift from the gf but i never really wanted them. Oh well!
 
Do you still use a polarized filter with nd grad filters.

mark
 
cwp said:
Do you still use a polarized filter with nd grad filters.

mark
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You can. Remember the polariser will change the exposure settings needed for both foreground and sky. It's a good idea to set up the polariser on the lens first, then decide what strength filter you will need.
 
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