Buying ND Filters

Buzzpod

Buzzpod

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Name
George Spyrou
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Hi everyone,
I shoot on a Canon 5D Mark iii and feel it's time to invest in some ND filters for some landscape work I've got coming up however, I have been overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choice there is on the market.

Firstly, should I go for a circular (screw-on) filter or is a proper filter holder better,

Secondly, do you really get what you pay for.

Finally, are the variable ND filters i.e: (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tiffen-Vari...F8&qid=1428681302&sr=8-1&keywords=variable+nd ) any good?

Thanks in advance for your time.
 
I bought a cheap set of Cokin compatible from Amazon to have a play with and get to grips with. They were OK, did the job but put a big purple cast on the image - nothing that couldn't be fixed in Light Room but a bit of a pain. Once I'd decided I "needed" some, I bought mid range SRB Photographic screw in as solid ND's and Cokin for grads, which I have found to be very good so far. I'm sure Lee and the like will ultimately be better but I couldn't justify the cost personally.
 
Variable ND's are ok providing you bare in mind that they use polarising filters so your image will have the effect of using a circular polariser and if you use "too much" ND you will end up with a cross shape in your image. I use a Tiffen one for video and it is very good, the cheaper ones can be hit and miss. If you are only going to use it for photos I wouldn't get a variable ND. Benefit of using a filter holder instead of a screw in filter is you can use ND Grads and adjust them to taste; very useful with landscape photography.

HTH.
 
Thanks guys for the replies. I really like the fact that the variable ND is so compact but I think I might be driven towards the better quality of a proper filter set, perhaps a lee filters kit if I can stomach the cost
 
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