Hitech filters - Hard v soft

Dman

Dman

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I'm looking to buy a Hitech 1.2 GND filter as I want to start experimenting with them, however I'm not sure which to go for. The website says hard should be used for longer lenses, but is this set in stone? I'll be using my Sigma 10-20mm, should I stick to soft?
 
Depends on how and what you're using it for. I shoot predominantly seascapes so I bought the 1.2 ND and the 0.6 Hard GND because the horizon at sea should be pretty flat :P If you're using it in circumstances where the horizon isn't going to be a straight edge like at sea I'd go for the soft. People often say that soft grads also give you more flexibility but I think that depends on the circumstances more than anything :)

You won't be disappointed with Hitech though, they're top notch! :thumbs:
 
You should also consider sensor/film size along with focal length and the type of horizon. If I was using an APS-C sensor I wouldn't bother with a soft grad.
 
I'll be using the wide angle holder, but I know these only take one filter. I've read something about cutting a part off the normal holder which will allow for more than one, but it's all experimental at the moment.
 
Dman said:
I'll be using the wide angle holder, but I know these only take one filter. I've read something about cutting a part off the normal holder which will allow for more than one, but it's all experimental at the moment.
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Not necessarily, if you get the Lee foundation kit holder and wide angle adapter ring you can use two filter slots at 12mm without vignetting. At 10mm you will see the edges of the filter holder blades but it's easily cloned out in post :thumbs:
 
chewyuk said:
really? I've used soft grads on a 30d for A few years. What should I have been looking out for?
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Well I guess it comes down to personal preference really and maybe to some extent the lens being used. If you take a full-frame lens with a full frame camera and imagine the image on the front of the lens it would reach towards the edge of the lens. If you then attach the crop camera you're using a smaller section of the front element.

With this in mind imagine having the same filter (hard or soft) over the front of it and picture the transition area of the graduation. The amount of lens area (and so) image area given to the horizon for example is different so the transition of the filter has a different effect. With a crop camera you're not only zooming in on the scene but also the transition of the filter. In effect this makes a hard grad "softer" (not soft) on a crop camera than a full frame. If it has this effect on the hard grad then what does it do to the soft grad?

I've got medium format gear which uses the same filters as 35mm and APS-C and I still think soft grades are limited in their uses.

This is all of course my opinion and as long as you're happy with soft grads and getting the results you want then none of it really matters:thumbs:
 
Kev M you've got my grey matter spinning :-) I have used soft grad Hitechs for years, quite happily (yes, a lot of seascapes in those years). Now I'm making the move to FF and was assuming the grad effect would be the same or similar to what I'm used to. According to your reasoning, I should actually expect a noticeable difference. Just the excuse I need to get a set of Hitech hard grads!
 
Remember chaps this is all theory in my head, not gospel. The fact is that soft grads have their place otherwise people wouldn't use them it's just that personally I'm not convinced by their usefulness.
 
I'm off to purchase a Hitech filter kit today (just the filters, not a holder)

Set of soft grads, and NDs. £50. Picking up as the delivery charges the place has in place are huge! Would've cost me about £60 in total I think, and this way I get to have a play at the weekend
 
Dman said:
I'm looking to buy a Hitech 1.2 GND filter as I want to start experimenting with them, however I'm not sure which to go for. The website says hard should be used for longer lenses, but is this set in stone? I'll be using my Sigma 10-20mm, should I stick to soft?
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1.2 is four stops - pretty dark. I would get a soft-cut for that on a 10-20. Hard cut for 0.6 two stops maybe.

You can vary strength of the cut with f/number. It's a depth of field effect and high f/numbers pull the grad line more into focus.

You need a harder cut and maybe stronger filters with longer lenses as, due to focal length, they look through a smaller centre portion of the filter and might never get to see the darkest part. For example, if you fit a 0.6 soft-cut on a 200mm lens, it's almost invisible.
 
There is an interesting previous thread on this subject (can't locate it at the moment), where someone states that only two ND grads are required for most cases, a 0.6 soft and 0.9 hard. I have read this on more than one occasion, and this is the two Hitech filters I have, and so far they have matched all requirements.

A thumbs up for Hitech, over similar priced other brands :thumbs:
 
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