Lee versus Cokin filters - Help please.

D

Dinsdale

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I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on ND Grad filters. My problem is this. I have a decent camera (Nikon D800 Teamed with 24-70 F/2.8 and 70-200 F/2.8) and only buy the best accessories I can afford - you wouldn't put re-moulds on an Aston would you?

As it's my 50th this year, my lovely wife is treating me to a couple of days in the lake district so I can take the camera out and shoot some landscapes. I'm hoping to buy an HD Grad kit so that I can really do it justice. I've always been of the opinion that you should buy the best you can afford and Lee, to my mind at least, are the best. I've looked into getting the DSLR Starter Kit and a set of ND Soft Grads and the 77Ø adapter ring but that all comes in at £408.00 and most places are out of stock or more expensive. Looking for alternatives, I came upon the Cokin Z Pro series for well under half the price of the Lee ones. At present the Lee filters are a bit of a stretch, financially speaking, but well worth doing so. However, the Cokin filters from a cost point of view are tempting, but are they a match for the Lee ones?
Questions:
  1. How do the Cokin's fare in quality of output as opposed to the Lee's?
  2. Is it worth stretching for the Lee's? i.e. am I likely to be very disappointed with the Cokins having spent a couple of hundred on them?
I'd really appreciate any advice, or other quality alternatives.

Many thanks.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think you've answered your own question bud :)

You have the best of kit and you know the Lee range is the best of kit too. Cokin are easily good enough I'd say, but if you want the 'best' then Lee it is

As for an alternative, I never use Grads of any kind and especially wouldn't in such as the Lake District. The only filters I own are both full NDs. So there's a thought for you to save £408 lol

Dave
 
I personally wouldn't bother with Cokin, Lee would be my choice but I hear very good things about the Hitech Firecrest if you wanted an alternative.

Enjoy the Lake District :)
 
1st choice Lee, 2nd choice Hitech :)
 
I've got loads of different types of filters and I always recommend the KOOD Z-pro ones over the Cokin 100mm filters. The Cokin have a strong magenta cast when they are stacked whereas the KOODs don't.

I've got a set of LEE grads and they are fantastic, I let folk use the Koods when im doing workshops and they are always surprised by the quality considering the low outlay.
The 100mmx125mm grads are only about £19.00 each but they're decent. I wouldn't bother with the Kood or Cokin z pro holders though. The LEE holder is far superior and you can get the wide angle rings which help a lot with reducing vignetting. I got quite a lot of vignetting with the Cokin holder at 17mm even when only using 1 filter.

This is with Cokin Grads only - You can see the magenta at the top.


This is a Kood z pro ND8 hard grad stacked with a LEE 0.9 Soft grad - As you can see there's no cast.


This one is with a Hitech firecrest 10 stopper but Just LEE grads which are epic.


Sorry for all the pics but thought you'd like to see the difference :)
 
Richard,

I purchased a Lee foundation system with 4 Hitech 100mm filters (no Lee available at the time) also Lee Polarisor circular 105mm rotating glass filter and holder.

Was purchased for me new only 8 weeks ago from WEX, I have now purchased a 43 camera because I have problems handling my Nikon body and lens (Arthritis aim afraid, it's an age thing)?.

I haven't got around to listing it for sale yet as I have been spending my time with my new camera. But I will have to sell soon because I plan to buy the Lee Seven5n kit.

If your interested I could try and list in the for sale thread over the week-end with full details.

Trevor
 
DG Phototraining said:
I think you've answered your own question bud :)

You have the best of kit and you know the Lee range is the best of kit too. Cokin are easily good enough I'd say, but if you want the 'best' then Lee it is

As for an alternative, I never use Grads of any kind and especially wouldn't in such as the Lake District. The only filters I own are both full NDs. So there's a thought for you to save £408 lol

Dave
Click to expand...

Many thanks for the advice Dave. Much appreciated.
I'll give the Grad's a miss for now and just get a couple of standards, before getting others at a later date. Reading above, I think I'll give the Cokins a miss and possibly look at the Koods & Hitech's if push comes to shove.
 
nickjohnwatson said:
I've got loads of different types of filters and I always recommend the KOOD Z-pro ones over the Cokin 100mm filters. The Cokin have a strong magenta cast when they are stacked whereas the KOODs don't.

I've got a set of LEE grads and they are fantastic, I let folk use the Koods when im doing workshops and they are always surprised by the quality considering the low outlay.
The 100mmx125mm grads are only about £19.00 each but they're decent. I wouldn't bother with the Kood or Cokin z pro holders though. The LEE holder is far superior and you can get the wide angle rings which help a lot with reducing vignetting. I got quite a lot of vignetting with the Cokin holder at 17mm even when only using 1 filter.

This is with Cokin Grads only - You can see the magenta at the top.


This is a Kood z pro ND8 hard grad stacked with a LEE 0.9 Soft grad - As you can see there's no cast.


This one is with a Hitech firecrest 10 stopper but Just LEE grads which are epic.


Sorry for all the pics but thought you'd like to see the difference :)
Click to expand...

If I could produce images like that, I wouldn't be sorry, I'll tell you. Beautiful images, really.
Thanks also for the advice and alternative suggestions. (y)
 
Thanks, everybody else who replied. It's great to get so much feedback and ideas. :)
 
Another vote for Hitech from me. I found the Cokin's left a cast. The Lee are very good, no question, but I couldn't see any difference between the Lee & Hitechs.

I also found Hitech had great customer service. I rang them a couple of times to discuss different things and they were really healpful
 
UPDATE:
Well guys, many thanks for the info and advice. I've taken the plunge and ordered the following:
  • Lee Foundation Mount Kit
  • Lee ND 0.3 standard
  • Lee ND 0.6 standard
  • Lee ND 0.9 standard
  • Lee Field Pouch in Black
  • Lee cleaning cloth and solution
... all for £352 delivered next business day from Robert White.

Then, I hadn't forgotten it, a 77Ø adaptor ring from Amazon which I got for free(ish) as I had credit on there from Xmas.

I can't wait to get out and start playing with it. :banana:
 
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