C-Pl or Grads

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kiko

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Ric
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Hello there,

I am heading off to the Alps in Italy at the end of the week and i am going to take my slr with me but was curious what to take up the hills with me?

I've twisted my Dads arm to lend me his 17-40mm lens for the trip as i don't own anything that wide. (28mm prime on a 400D) and the big question is do i use his C-Pl or shall i stick to my Cokins?

In my arsenal i have P121 (Neutral Grad), P122 (Blue Grad), P124 (Tobacco Grad) P003 (Red) P004 (Green) and P007 (Infrared) versus his Pro-1 C-Pl.

As i'm skiing i don't want to lump a huge amount up the slopes but what would you do?

I haven't done much landscape shots (because i'm not that good) and so haven't used a C-Pl before and so not entirely sure what to expect.

:help:
 
Both have different uses and I would think you could benefot from CP and Grads for your location. Make room :-)
 
IMHO, with bright white snow and clear sunny blue skies the Circ Pl is a must, particularly as you're talking about something that weighs a couple of ounces or so and next to nothing bulk in your backpack.

Here a useful link about polarisers: -

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/polarizers.shtml

But I'm afraid I can't advise about the rest of your filter kit, a Circ Pl is the only one I use

Pete
 
Circular P & three grads, the polarizer could be left on the camera to transport that will be the most useful to really add punch to the colours
 
If it has to be one or the other, I'd go with the CPL as you can replicate ND Grads in post processing. Just take 2 shots, one exposed for the sky and another exposed for the foreground when required and merge them together.
 
Cant you get the circ pol tht fits in the first slot of your cokin holder? you can use both that and grads at the same time if necessary.
 
I stil say both. You cannot duplicate the grads in PP except to darken part of the image. The point of grad filters is to stop the sky being over exposed - once you blow that you can't bring it back in PP.

Janice's suggestion of a CP to fit in the filter holder is a good idea. If you use the screw in CP and then a filter holder in front you might have problems with vignetting at wide angles although on a crop camera you might get away with it.
 
AndyB said:
I stil say both. You cannot duplicate the grads in PP except to darken part of the image. The point of grad filters is to stop the sky being over exposed - once you blow that you can't bring it back in PP.
Click to expand...

Yes you can. As I said in my previous post, take 2 shots and merge them. Its a common process and better than nothing if you can't take everything with you.
 
grads are good if you have dark landscape and very bright sky (a lot of white clouds)

in your case, snow - reflection and maybe a lot of blue skies, then i would suppose a good CPL is far more useful
 
The CPL would definitely be more versatile. I usually have that fitted most of the time but carry a ND Grad in my bag
 
Sorry Haggis - I didn't read your post properly - my mistake.

I would still rather use grads though but it's a case of personal choice I guess.
 
No problem Andy. As you rightly say, its down to personal preference. :)
 
Definitely take the polariser and leave the grads at home - or most of them anyway.

If your landscapes have a lot of snow in them a ND grad won't be much use. It might just be handy trying to use it upside down, though, as brightly lit snow is brighter than a clear blue sky!

As for the colour grads don't even think about using them!

I'm not sure a Cokin ND grad would be neutral enough to give satisfactory results.:)
 
cheers for this, think i'll probably end up just using the C-Pl up on the hills, and muck about in the town with everything else. My camera has just broken this evening so am trying to persuade my boss if i borrow a s/h slr from my shop tomorrow :S
 
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