ND Grad filters

LongLensPhotography

LongLensPhotography

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So what is my best choice in 100mm size that is cheaper than Lee, and no colour cast. Multicoated would be fantastic but I am not holding my breath on that one.

Hitech 100x125, something else?

The problem with Lee is price and the fact it is short life span consumable item. I can't throw away £80 every 2 months or so per each filter. Last one, bought a few weeks ago fell off the LEE filter holder up in the mountains in Tenerife (cold temp) and smashed into the rocks. The older one is all scratched, and it didn't need much effort from my side. I don't know if there is anything wrong with the holder, but £100 a piece filters falling off when its cold is a disaster. Maybe I should also get a different holder.

I do exposure blending for many images, but it is not always possible or practical. Hopefully the next Canon with electronic shutter (if we believe the rumors) will do just that in camera.
 
ecoleman said:
Why would you consider them a consumable?
I've had my filters for ages. I look after them and they are still as good as new.
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Because they are a consumable item, and I too look after my gear. Of all my bag content this is the one single item that keeps making me nasty losses every time I turn around. I know some people only take 100 photos on their 1DX a year. I take double that in a day.
 
If you break and damage them as often as you say you do, then it might be best if you cut your losses and stop using them. Perhaps move away from landscaping and into something like portraiture where filters are not needed.
 
Stuart M said:
If you break and damage them as often as you say you do, then it might be best if you cut your losses and stop using them. Perhaps move away from landscaping and into something like portraiture where filters are not needed.
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Yep, treat the disease by eliminating the problem. I shall give up everything, that will certainly help. Thanks for commenting.
 
What you will miss with other brands is Lee's quality control. Consistently high optical quality, always neutral, properly hard/soft grad lines - and the same each time.
 
All filters are going to be consumable, as they can and will (by their nature) get scratched and broken.

That said mine have faired well so far, perhaps I've been lucky.

Anyway, on topic, the Hitech filters aren't actually much cheaper than lee if it helps. I have got a 0.9 soft grad of theirs and I've always been impressed by it, no colour change and optically good. I would go with the longer of the 100mm filters they do as I have the shorter one and you can sometimes see the bottom of the filter in shot.
 
Film is a consumable, filters, lenses and camera bodies are not, I've never read such nonsense !

If your breaking that many you're either very clumsy or not looking after them. I have a few filters over 25 years old still in perfect condition.
 
daugirdas said:
Yep, treat the disease by eliminating the problem. I shall give up everything, that will certainly help. Thanks for commenting.
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Perhaps the disease is not looking after your filters? :p This could be treated quite easily by looking after them.

If you think there's something wrong with the filter holder then perhaps try another brand or check there's nothing wrong with yours. I'm fairly sure they shouldn't just fall out!
 
daugirdas said:
.....I don't know if there is anything wrong with the holder, but £100 a piece filters falling off when its cold is a disaster. Maybe I should also get a different holder......
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Have you got the correct guides in the holder for the filter you're using? The guides come in 1, 2 and 4mm thickness for gel, resin or pro-glass/stopper ....having a 4mm guide and resin filters would lead to a very sloppy fit.

Bob
 
Canon Bob said:
Have you got the correct guides in the holder for the filter you're using? The guides come in 1, 2 and 4mm thickness for gel, resin or pro-glass/stopper ....having a 4mm guide and resin filters would lead to a very sloppy fit.

Bob
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The plastic bits in the holder are ~1mm thick, which leaves around 2.5mm gap at the ends for the filter. That's all I've got. In normal conditions the filters move around when shaken but do not fall off. In the cold or extreme desert heat they seem to get loose enough. I have one old and fairly useless hitech filter and it is even thinner than Lee's. It barely stays in. What size should the guides be and where do I find them?

stumeech said:
All filters are going to be consumable, as they can and will (by their nature) get scratched and broken.

That said mine have faired well so far, perhaps I've been lucky.

Anyway, on topic, the Hitech filters aren't actually much cheaper than lee if it helps. I have got a 0.9 soft grad of theirs and I've always been impressed by it, no colour change and optically good. I would go with the longer of the 100mm filters they do as I have the shorter one and you can sometimes see the bottom of the filter in shot.
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100x125 are £45.50 at WEX, or pretty much half price of Lee. That's a very significant difference. I haven't checked other suppliers yet. Do you have yours in Lee holder and does it stay in securely?

Phal said:
Perhaps the disease is not looking after your filters? :p This could be treated quite easily by looking after them.

If you think there's something wrong with the filter holder then perhaps try another brand or check there's nothing wrong with yours. I'm fairly sure they shouldn't just fall out!
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Polycarbonate resin can scratch very easily, but is shatter-proof and very cheap (clearly not here though!). From experience I know they scratch when you put them in the original wallet thing. Now I use cotton wrap to store them in the bag. However you get rain, dust and dirt out in the field, and good luck cleaning them and not scratching the eventually. It is consumable crap and that is a well documented fact. None of my lenses have any scratches, and all my screw in filters except the s***ty hoya PRO1D CPL are spotless. I am not going to expect over 1-2 years life for a mainstay resin filter, but < 2 months due to falling out was a real shocker.
 
I have only ever had Lee from the off so can't comment on Hitech, as for falling off? the many years I have slipped my filters into the holder it has always been very sturdy and never came to the point where I thought it was going to fall off, so maybe you have a faylty holder, like I said many years usage with Lee holder
 
Kevin O'Brian said:
I have only ever had Lee from the off so can't comment on Hitech, as for falling off? the many years I have slipped my filters into the holder it has always been very sturdy and never came to the point where I thought it was going to fall off, so maybe you have a faylty holder, like I said many years usage with Lee holder
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It could be; that's what I'm trying to establish. Could you tell me what is the width of the gap in your holder? Thanks.
 
Not going to get any tape measures out now, still thawing out from my outing on the hills from today by the fire and a glass of wine, it is the standard filter holder that came with set still going strong.
 
My guides have '2' embossed on them, presumably that means 2mm, but in real life they are 2.5mm. Is this normal?

The Lee filter is almost precisely 2mm thick, so you can see what that 0.5mm is doing. Hitech is just ~1.5mm, so that's even more likely to fly away. I can't believe there is no rubber gasket, nothing in between. I think I'll have to do some DIY here, probably use sandpaper or file to reduce the thickness of the guides for a start.
 
daugirdas said:
100x125 are £45.50 at WEX, or pretty much half price of Lee. That's a very significant difference. I haven't checked other suppliers yet. Do you have yours in Lee holder and does it stay in securely?
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Ah I was looking at the price of 100x150. Mine isn't a great fit in the Lee holder but I don't use it often so I kinda put up with it.
 
I have been using the Hitech filters for several years without any major problems, although I haven't ever used Lee so can't compare them. The only issue I have is that they do scratch quite easily, so you do have to treat them carefully. I use them with the Hitech holder.
 
daugirdas said:
I have now. It will be quite interesting how they respond.

Once I get this sussed out I am pretty interested in this glass multicoated hitech https://www.formatt-hitech.com/en/products/Firecrest-ND-Grad~182.html
Certainly I don't want it falling off. If I am getting nowehere with the holder, I'll have to look at KOOD and ebay s*** under £20.
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If you are looking at Hitech filters there is currently a Christmas 20% discount code xmas2014, I'm not sure how much longer the discount code is valid for but it may be worth trying to make it a little cheaper.
 
rob-nikon said:
If you are looking at Hitech filters there is currently a Christmas 20% discount code xmas2014, I'm not sure how much longer the discount code is valid for but it may be worth trying to make it a little cheaper.
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I could buy their whole their Firecrest Elia Locardi kit from Amazon, and off-load all duplicated screw in stuff and lee holder. Admitedly that still leaves non glass 0.6 hard ND (they don't make that in glass aarrrrgh).

Questions.
Is hitech holder any good with 16-35mm?
Do Lee WA adapter rings work with Hitech holder?
And would the holder lens hood thing help to secure / catch falling off filter? Thanks.
 
Your guide slots may be worn. Inside each slot is a bowed piece of plastic that moves out of the way as each filter is slid in and then exerts pressure on the filter to hold it in place. Perhaps yours are worn or damaged. I can shake my holder pretty hard without the filter moving. Maybe worth buying a new set of guides.
 
daugirdas said:
I could buy their whole their Firecrest Elia Locardi kit from Amazon, and off-load all duplicated screw in stuff and lee holder. Admitedly that still leaves non glass 0.6 hard ND (they don't make that in glass aarrrrgh).

Questions.
Is hitech holder any good with 16-35mm?
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I use the Hitech holder with the Hitech WA adapter ring on my 16-35 f2.8 and it works fine.
 
daugirdas said:
I could buy their whole their Firecrest Elia Locardi kit from Amazon, and off-load all duplicated screw in stuff and lee holder. Admitedly that still leaves non glass 0.6 hard ND (they don't make that in glass aarrrrgh).
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I don't know if the discount code works on amazon, it works fine on format hitech own website.

Gaz J said:
Your guide slots may be worn. Inside each slot is a bowed piece of plastic that moves out of the way as each filter is slid in and then exerts pressure on the filter to hold it in place. Perhaps yours are worn or damaged. I can shake my holder pretty hard without the filter moving. Maybe worth buying a new set of guides.
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I would check this, if the guides are loose and your hitech filters thinner than the lee filters it could be the reason why they are loose and falling out.
 
rob-nikon said:
I don't know if the discount code works on amazon, it works fine on format hitech own website.



I would check this, if the guides are loose and your hitech filters thinner than the lee filters it could be the reason why they are loose and falling out.
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Amazon is cheaper / Hitech own site shows prices w/o VAT.

I have 2 spare guides, so I could try them. But if I go hitech route, I am now certainly changing over to hitech holder. Lee's just too expensive and different width to be properly compatible.
 
daugirdas said:
Amazon is cheaper / Hitech own site shows prices w/o VAT.

I have 2 spare guides, so I could try them. But if I go hitech route, I am now certainly changing over to hitech holder. Lee's just too expensive and different width to be properly compatible.
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The discount code means they are selling at the without vat price. It's worth adding to the basket and applying the discount just to check. Some look to be cheaper on amazon but others not when the discount code is applied. I purchased the 6 stop firecrest for £87 using the code but it's £101 on amazon. The 10 stop is about the same on both with the code. Worth trying to compare if you could save even £10.
 
Today things took an interesting turn. I was supposed to get Hitech Firecrest kit from Amazon. Well I instead got old resin version from these cheapskates, but it was also enough to find out hitech holder is complete bonkers and a real liability due to very unreliable locking mechanism (who wants to see their holder and filters fall all at once?!). The POS is going back on Monday morning. This is not to say that Firecrest filters are bad, but I simply won't find that out :(

re Lee holder. I installed a spare / less used pair of guides. There is indeed less play now. They must need changing like every 1-2 years of regular use. It would have helped if it was written somewhere on the packaging.

So I am ordering KOOD pro jobby from ebay now. My CC will be happy and going by another recent thread here they are good ones. I'll happily keep on using screw-in dark NDs...
 
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