£300 for some filters... talk to me.

minnnt

minnnt

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Right, looking for some filters for landscape work, what's the best i could get for £300 and what would you suggest i get?

It's to fit a Samyang 12mm f2 on aps-c so 18mm FF if that makes a difference? It has a 67mm filter thread also.

I have the Cokin P holder atm but I'm not sure if it will fit the 12mm or not without vignetting etc. If it's fine then i could use the holder and just buy better quality filters than i already have (cheapy Amazon set).

Any thoughts?

Thanks.
 
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Thanks Stu. Never gave the Seven5 filters a thought.

What type of filters do people use for landscapes? Do i need the full set of soft grads and hard grads? Or is that a stupid question? :D
 
minnnt said:
Thanks Stu. Never gave the Seven5 filters a thought.

What type of filters do people use for landscapes? Do i need the full set of soft grads and hard grads? Or is that a stupid question? :D
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It really depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you want long exposures then nd filters are needed and depending on light levels and effect desired will depend on how strong the ND is, a 10 stopper will often be used to get milky water etc, where if you just want to show a subtle water movement you may use a 3 stopper.

As a very simple rule of thumb you would use hard grads where there are straight lines between light and dark areas and soft grads in other scenarios. In practise though it can be a bit more interesting, I prefer to use soft grads rather than hard, purely a personal preference.

Then we get onto polarisers, some will insist they are not needed, others will insist they are. I like to use polarisers in some circumstances, shooting in shady places with dappled light is one, shooting over water can be another. Either way I find them to be very useful and as for me I'll always carry one in my filter kit.

I use Lee filters (the 100mm size) and find them to be good, can't comment too much on other brands. Like camera and lenses, filters should be looked at as a system imo too. Whilst Lee seem expensive (they are in truth) if looked after they do last ime. Having a holder in which you can stack filters also increases the flexibility and what not too, this is where the square filter systems excel imo. From memory I started with a 3 stop ND and a 3 stop soft grad, I've since added others including the Lee landscape polariser. I don't own a big stopper as I'm not really that keen on "milky water" shots ... although I may end up getting one in due course :rolleyes:
 
minnnt said:
Right, looking for some filters for landscape work, what's the best i could get for £300 and what would you suggest i get?

It's to fit a Samyang 12mm f2 on aps-c so 18mm FF if that makes a difference? It has a 67mm filter thread also.

I have the Cokin P holder atm but I'm not sure if it will fit the 12mm or not without vignetting etc. If it's fine then i could use the holder and just buy better quality filters than i already have (cheapy Amazon set).

Any thoughts?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Are you planning on using it a lot? Keeping the same lens? Thats a lot of money for filters. I dont know much about posh filters but Id say choose your size wisely, £300 is a lot for filters. Bigger may be better in case you want to use them on larger lenses one day.
 
Lee filters are best, costly and usually out of stock!

1. Screw ons are bad for landscape. unless its a C. polariser ;-). get a polariser
2. Squares are better but holder+ filter edge will encroach into FOV with very wide angle lenses.
3. For landscape you'll need (soft imo ) graduated AND standard ND's. the grads for the sunset/rise/horizon and the standard for the water/skys slow shutter stuff.
4. don't bother with 0.3, if you can only get 1 get the 0.9.
5. Proglass is awesome and pricy. but resin is for the everyone.

don't forget the tripod

S
 
macro_man said:
2. Squares are better but holder+ filter edge will encroach into FOV with very wide angle lenses.
S
Click to expand...

if you've got the cokin plastic holder you can resolve this by carefully cutting one or two slots off with a junior hacksaw - its rare to need to put more than one filter on and ive never needed 3
 
I'm quite happy with the Seven5 system i think. The two lenses i would use it on are the:

Samyang 12mm f2 with a 67mm thread.
Fuji 18mm f2 with a 52mm thread.

Main lens will be the Samyang though so will pick up the 67mm thread first.

Thinking of

Filter holder
67mm adapter ring
0.9 soft grad
Little stopper
Big stopper

That should all be in budget, shouldn't it? Would like the polariser too bit at 200 quid it's a bit steep atm!

Is the two filter holder of the Seven5 system restrictive for anyone?

What does the bigger LEE system offer? The ability to use them on FF/wider lenses?
 
macro_man said:
Lee filters are best, costly and usually out of stock!

1. Screw ons are bad for landscape. unless its a C. polariser ;-). get a polariser
2. Squares are better but holder+ filter edge will encroach into FOV with very wide angle lenses.
3. For landscape you'll need (soft imo ) graduated AND standard ND's. the grads for the sunset/rise/horizon and the standard for the water/skys slow shutter stuff.
4. don't bother with 0.3, if you can only get 1 get the 0.9.
5. Proglass is awesome and pricy. but resin is for the everyone.

don't forget the tripod

S
Click to expand...

Lee are not out of stock if you know where to go and are certainly some of the best UK made filters.

World wide Singh-Ray are very highly regarded, with prices to match, but you did ask about the best so these and Japanese Marumi are also IMHO in the top echelons that I have used.

http://www.singh-ray.com

http://www.wexphotographic.com/circular-or-threaded-filters-marumi/b3072-m351?&mkwid=sf62rrksi_dc&pcrid=78104996769&kword=marumi filters&match=e&plid=&gclid=cjvg5oozzsycfyyfwwodgdsova

Of course it all depends on:-

1. the lens you are putting them on and of course
2. your budget for such accessories.

They won't make 'silk purses' out of cheap 'sows ear' lenses though.

If you are looking at x10+ big stoppers and the like, sometimes slot in filters allow light leaks (although I have no problem with the Lee ones) and a screw on may be better, for instance solar filters at x16

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_8hmu3120i3_b

The Lee full sized system allow very wide angle lenses to be utilised such as the Nikon 14-24mm full frame. Take a look at the Lee website for details.

http://www.leefilters.com/index.php/camera/system-sw150
 
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minnnt said:
...

What does the bigger LEE system offer? The ability to use them on FF/wider lenses?
Click to expand...
Basically yes, I would suggest that 67mm is the widest lens you could use with the 75 system, if it was me I'd bite the bullet and get the 100mm system unless you are 100% certain you won't want to use a lens with a filter width wider than 70ish upwards (72, 77 etc) ...
 
One thing to keep in mind with the Seven5 system, is that you will be stuck with using Lee filters. As far as I'm aware, nobody else makes filters in that size. Both the 85mm (Cokin P) and 100mm (Cokin Z) are a lot more versatile in that respect.
 
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minnnt said:
Thanks Stu. Never gave the Seven5 filters a thought.

What type of filters do people use for landscapes? Do i need the full set of soft grads and hard grads? Or is that a stupid question? :D
Click to expand...

If you've not used filters before and are unsure what to get, I'd suggest a cheap system like Kood (some of their filters are actually very good quality) and play around a bit before spending £300. I use a screw-in polariser and 10-stops ND, but create grad effects in post - either using HDR technique, or increasingly, just careful exposure and darken the sky in post processing. It's easy, and in the latest version of Lightroom it's been enhanced.

Using filters can be quite fun, and it's nice to see the effect in-camera, but to my eye grad filter effects often look naff and artificial unless the horizon is dead flat, eg seascape. Otherwise, working around trees and buildings and hills etc that cross the grad transition line is tricky.
 
Thanks Richard. I've had plenty of filters before, various screw ins etc and currently have a set of the cheap and nasty filters from Amazon. I fee like i want to step it up a level hence the thread. I have used the merging function in the new version of Lr and it's quite good, but it can only do so much imo.

I see the draw of the screw ins as they take up next to no space and are pretty inexpensive by comparison but it was more grads i was interested in.

Any advice for a good quality screw in CPL?
 
minnnt said:
Thanks Richard. I've had plenty of filters before, various screw ins etc and currently have a set of the cheap and nasty filters from Amazon. I fee like i want to step it up a level hence the thread. I have used the merging function in the new version of Lr and it's quite good, but it can only do so much imo.

I see the draw of the screw ins as they take up next to no space and are pretty inexpensive by comparison but it was more grads i was interested in.

Any advice for a good quality screw in CPL?
Click to expand...

I like the lighter-toned variety of CPL (1.2 stops, instead of 1.7-1.9-ish) with easy-clean multi-coating. I use a Hoya HD, or Marumi Exus is similar.
 
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