Cokin P vs Lee vs Other Brands (Filters)

EdinburghGary

EdinburghGary

Reply not Report
Messages
19,065
Name
Gary
Edit My Images
Yes
Guys,

Ready to invest in a set of filters for my 24 to 70. Not sure where to start, prices between Cokin P and the Lee filters vary hugely. £200 or so for a set of Lee, vs £60 for Cokin.

Anyone able to advise on whether there is a notable difference in quality?

I want the 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 ND softs and perhaps a 0.6 hard.

Gary.
 
You should also consider Hitech - slightly more than Cokin but much cheaper than Lee

To save duplicating have a read through this thread
 
Ive ordered a set of Hitechs a few days ago.

Formatt filters allowed me to swap one the filters within a kit. I got the soft ND grad kit (0.3/0.6/0.9) but swapped the 0.9soft for a 0.6hard. the way i see it 0.3+0.6soft = 0.9soft anyway lol?? Also got 0.9 ND.

Hopefully they will arrive tomorrow, Gonna try and do a like for like comparison against my cokin and Tian Ya ones
 
Just done a load of research on this as I bought my own. It's between hitech and Lee.

I bought a set of hitech 85mm filters for £30 and a kood holder and ring for like a tenner.
 
As has been suggested, go with HiTech, which are really Formatt fitlers.

Search under my user-name, I have a number of post on this.
 
I had a Tian Ya filter off ebay, put it stright into a cupboard never to be used (may as well use the bin i guess) but i found the Tian Ya filters the gradient wasn`t smooth it was like in stages?

Ended up with a nice Hitech ND set, both hard and soft, brilliant quality.
 
Just to add, I've "upgraded" from Cokin to Formatt after using Cokin for close to 20 years. The quality is far superior, by a long shot.

Of course, Lee and singh-ray are supposed to be a lot better ... but I can't vouch for that.
 
I've not used any other than Cokin P, but I would advise to go for something a bit pricier if you can afford it. My Cokins have a fairly strong magenta cast, though I have heard that QC is variable, so some may be worse than others.

The lower density filters aren't too bad, but stacking 2 or more gives images that 'shot on Mars' look.
 
Gary,

If you can justify the expenditure, get the Lee ones. They really are top notch. The Hi-Tec ones are nearly as good IQ wise but a little flimsy by comparison. If you buy the lee ones you also get a nice soft filter holder and a pouch to keep them in. The filter holder comes in very handy for cleaning off the inevitable finger prints.

I'd recommend getting the soft grads to start off with as they are easier to work with inland, the hard grad is really only useful when the line between horizon and sky is very straight eg at the coast.

whichever you choose, I'd get the lee holder as it's much more substantial than the Hi-tec one. Oh, and make sure you get the wide-angle adapter or you will have problems with the 24-70 on the d3 and the 10-20 on the d200.

Finally, Teamwork Digital do next day delivery and have brilliant customer service!
 
Gandhi,

Gonna go with Lee. Do you know the product name for the wide angle holder? Perhaps I am being dence, but not able to find.

Am I right in thinking with the Wide Angle holder, I can only add one filter at a time, making my .3, .6 and .9, all equally useful? (ie, I will not be able to combine .3 and .6 to make .9).

Gary.
 
Also very strange:

"WHEN CHOOSING HARD or SOFT GRADUATED PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING ADVICE: Choose HARD Graduated when using with 35mm cameras, Digital SLR cameras including full frame and Medium format cameras. Choose SOFT Graduated when using with large Format cameras."

This would suggest I should only go for the ND Hards.

Gary.
 
It's just the adapter ring that is wide angle... whatever dia you need for your lens.

Lee foundation kit + adapter ring.

Also, get the front ring that allows you to screw on a 105mm polarizer.
 
EdinburghGary said:
Also very strange:

"WHEN CHOOSING HARD or SOFT GRADUATED PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING ADVICE: Choose HARD Graduated when using with 35mm cameras, Digital SLR cameras including full frame and Medium format cameras. Choose SOFT Graduated when using with large Format cameras."

This would suggest I should only go for the ND Hards.

Gary.
Click to expand...


If you are generally shooting wide (say 17mm on a FF body), then I'd go for the soft grads.
I have a couple of hard grads, but unless I'm shooting say a view to sea (with a flat horizon) I rarely use them.
 
Have purchased a set of soft, the 77mm ring and the holder. Now, don't shoot me. I was on the phone placing the order, and on IM talking about Ajax and .NET. I was not really concentrating, total cost was £289. I paid, and now I wan't to know what I paid for and how much :D

Basically, don't go shopping whilst talking about programming in Instant Messenger.

Gonna call the guy back and say, apologies, but what have I bought :D

Gary.
 
EdinburghGary said:
Have purchased a set of soft, the 77mm ring and the holder. Now, don't shoot me. I was on the phone placing the order, and on IM talking about Ajax and .NET. I was not really concentrating, total cost was £289. I paid, and now I wan't to know what I paid for and how much :D

Basically, don't go shopping whilst talking about programming in Instant Messenger.

Gonna call the guy back and say, apologies, but what have I bought :D

Gary.
Click to expand...

lol thats funny.
 
EdinburghGary said:
Have purchased a set of soft, the 77mm ring and the holder. Now, don't shoot me. I was on the phone placing the order, and on IM talking about Ajax and .NET. I was not really concentrating, total cost was £289. I paid, and now I wan't to know what I paid for and how much :D

Basically, don't go shopping whilst talking about programming in Instant Messenger.

Gonna call the guy back and say, apologies, but what have I bought :D

Gary.
Click to expand...

Is this what people call a money and sense imbalance? ;):D
 
lukewoodford said:
Im sure you will get it sorted. Is this way over what the price should have been?
Click to expand...

I don't think so. I just think I spent more than I expected to. The filter set was £130, the holders appears to be over £100, the adapter ring, no idea what it should cost, and next day AM Saturday delivery...

Gary.
 
EdinburghGary said:
I don't think so. I just think I spent more than I expected to. The filter set was £130, the holders appears to be over £100, the adapter ring, no idea what it should cost, and next day AM Saturday delivery...

Gary.
Click to expand...

That sounds spot on then. Be good to just have them clarify it though.
 
Hi
Your order is for:

Lee Universal Hood £ 108.43
Lee 77mm wa adater ring £32.40
Lee ND Grad set soft £138.17
Carriage £10
Total £289.00

Inc Vat

Regards
Stephen
 
Where's the holder?

EDIT scrap that the bellows hood has a filter holder in the back.
 
EdinburghGary said:
Have purchased a set of soft, the 77mm ring and the holder. Now, don't shoot me. I was on the phone placing the order, and on IM talking about Ajax and .NET. I was not really concentrating, total cost was £289. I paid, and now I wan't to know what I paid for and how much :D

Basically, don't go shopping whilst talking about programming in Instant Messenger.

Gonna call the guy back and say, apologies, but what have I bought :D

Gary.
Click to expand...


Just be thankful for the One Up There, that you only paid £289 and that you didn't say "yes, I do" :p
 
EdinburghGary said:
Am I right in thinking with the Wide Angle holder, I can only add one filter at a time, making my .3, .6 and .9, all equally useful? (ie, I will not be able to combine .3 and .6 to make .9).

Gary.
Click to expand...

No, you can use three filters at the same time with the WA adapter, with no vignetting.
 
Don't think you can use a Polariser filter with that Universal hood fitted
 
EdinburghGary said:
Hi
Your order is for:

Lee Universal Hood £ 108.43
Lee 77mm wa adater ring £32.40
Lee ND Grad set soft £138.17
Carriage £10
Total £289.00

Inc Vat

Regards
Stephen
Click to expand...

Dam you Gary i'm looking for a new fillter system and this Lee set up looks very nice indeed but £289 I need my head read. :bonk:
 
Claire said:
No, you can use three filters at the same time with the WA adapter, with no vignetting.
Click to expand...

I get very prominent vignette on my Lee set up as follows on the 17-40...

Holder with shims for 3 filters, front ring with slim 105mm heliopan polarizer, wide angle adapter ring.

I need to do some tests to see how much better it is with just two shims as I don't really use 3 filter slots at once.
 
68lbs said:
I get very prominent vignette on my Lee set up as follows on the 17-40...

Holder with shims for 3 filters, front ring with slim 105mm heliopan polarizer, wide angle adapter ring.

I need to do some tests to see how much better it is with just two shims as I don't really use 3 filter slots at once.
Click to expand...

Interesting - were you aware of any vignette, with the 3 filter config, prior to the polariser and ring being fitted?
 
I think I read any lens wider than 22ish will vignette. Should be here soon so will test!!!

Do it STEPHEN :)

Gary.
 
erding said:
Interesting - were you aware of any vignette, with the 3 filter config, prior to the polariser and ring being fitted?
Click to expand...

The transition to full frame and the polarizer came in one move, so I can't answer that yet. However, I'm going to sit down one night and 'remake' the Lee and have more of a play to reduce it.

Edit: For comparison, the Lee was fine with a 10-20 on a crop body (so that's down as short as 16mm), without the polarizer fitted.
 
68lbs said:
The transition to full frame and the polarizer came in one move, so I can't answer that yet. However, I'm going to sit down one night and 'remake' the Lee and have more of a play to reduce it.

Edit: For comparison, the Lee was fine with a 10-20 on a crop body (so that's down as short as 16mm), without the polarizer fitted.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it is the CPL then? Weird as I was just about to ask if it is OK to use the CPL at the same time as ND's.

Gary.
 
EdinburghGary said:
Weird as I was just about to ask if it is OK to use the CPL at the same time as ND's.

Gary.
Click to expand...

If use the Lee or Heliopan 105mm as they screw into the Lee adaptor ring which is fixed to the Lee holder. However don't think these CPL can be used with the Lee bellow style holders.

A CPL that screws directly onto the front of the lens will be a problem as one the Lee holder is mounted on the lens you will have getting to the CPL to rotate it.
 
68lbs said:
The transition to full frame and the polarizer came in one move, so I can't answer that yet. However, I'm going to sit down one night and 'remake' the Lee and have more of a play to reduce it.

Edit: For comparison, the Lee was fine with a 10-20 on a crop body (so that's down as short as 16mm), without the polarizer fitted.
Click to expand...

This is the same Lee/Heliopan that I have recently got. Have just checked it out and the Lee holder, 2 filter config, and the CPL don't have any vignetting on a 1.3 crop body and a 16-35 lens.

On a full frame start to notice vignetting at around 18mm even set at 1 filter config.
 
erding said:
If use the Lee or Heliopan 105mm as they screw into the Lee adaptor ring which is fixed to the Lee holder. However don't think these CPL can be used with the Lee bellow style holders.

A CPL that screws directly onto the front of the lens will be a problem as one the Lee holder is mounted on the lens you will have getting to the CPL to rotate it.
Click to expand...

I think the CPL I have is a Hoya Pro1 Digital. Not sure if it will work, but will soon find out...hope to get some filter practice in before the trip.

Gary.
 
EdinburghGary said:
I think the CPL I have is a Hoya Pro1 Digital. Not sure if it will work, but will soon find out...hope to get some filter practice in before the trip.

Gary.
Click to expand...

I have the Hoya Super Pro 1 Digital @ 82mm and the Lee holder just totally covers it which prevents you from rotating the ring.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top