Hitech Vs. Cokin

Astraeus

Astraeus

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Ciaran
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The time has come to invest in some filters if I'm to stop getting these blown-out skies which are the bind of my photographic pursuit. I've heard good stuff about so many makes and so now I just want to hear absolutely which you have/would go for, Cokin or Hitech.

I am going to either get that £30 Hitech set of graduated filters (0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 ND) or the same from Cokin - which would you recommend for me? :suspect:

Also, if anyone wants to answer...hard or soft grad on a D40?
 
I personally prefer the Hitech, as there is no colour cast.

My mate however prefers the Cokin, as the slight colour cast is quite creative.

Also, i think soft grads are more useful than hard grads. Not that often do i take a photo with a flat horizon.

Both however, reduce the IQ of the image.
 
General consensus is with a smaller sensor the transition of a hard grad is comparable to that of a soft grad on 35mm.

The new Cokin have removes their colour cast, but some stores still have old stock which may have a colour cast or not. There are a couple of users on here (can't remember who) who have noticed a cast with the Hitechs but these appear to be almost isolated instances
 
I had Cokin A size for my old EOS film camera and 58mm diameter lens, when I upgraded to digital, they were too small for my new kit lens (62mm diameter I think) so I had to replace them. I found the cokins had a caste to them, and read the hitechs didn't have a caste, so bought those. Been very happy with them so far. I have the soft grads and plan on buying the full ND's later in the year.

They are thinner, and don't come in the hard plastic cases like the cokin - so take up less space in my bag.
 
Uneducated_Rick said:
General consensus is with a smaller sensor the transition of a hard grad is comparable to that of a soft grad on 35mm.

The new Cokin have removes their colour cast, but some stores still have old stock which may have a colour cast or not. There are a couple of users on here (can't remember who) who have noticed a cast with the Hitechs but these appear to be almost isolated instances
Click to expand...

I seem to remember reading a thread about this not so long ago, but I got the impression the caste only became apparent when the filters were stacked. I could be wrong though? :shrug:
 
Depended on the strength of the filter.

I had a 3 stop nd grad from cokin. The colour cast was noticable. White fluffy clouds were becoming witch smoke.. Big purpley whisps in the sky..

Sure, it becomes more noticable when you start to stack. but TBH, if you're just using a 1 stop, or even a 2 stop, i doubt that the colourcast would be THAT noticable. Especially on teh 1stop.
 
Pretty certain I'll go with the Hitech filters in that case - don't want to end up with old, colour-casting Cokin filters. As for the hard vs. soft, which would you recommend? Again, I don't find myself taking many straight horizons and a lot of them will have buildings etc. poking up - all in all a soft grad more appropriate?
 
Uneducated_Rick said:
General consensus is with a smaller sensor the transition of a hard grad is comparable to that of a soft grad on 35mm.

The new Cokin have removes their colour cast, but some stores still have old stock which may have a colour cast or not. There are a couple of users on here (can't remember who) who have noticed a cast with the Hitechs but these appear to be almost isolated instances
Click to expand...

Yup :thumbs:, there was a debate on this, but in all fairness it wasn't with 1, 2 or 3 stop NDs .. it was with the 10 stop ND from Formatt (which is the same as HiTech). Mind, I wasn't the original poster of that thread.

I used to use Cokin, but moved on to Formatt and was surprised to see this cast creep in.

I've since done my testing and found that the colour cast was primarily caused by light leaking in from the eye piece, and because I hadn't used the nearest slot in the mounting frame. Taking these two factors in to account when shooting has helped me reduce the amount of discolouration tremendously; but it still does creep in with long exposures :shake:, but again .. this is an ND10, not the 0.3, 0.6, or 0.9.

Hence, if you are serious about ND10 ... go with the B+W which is talked about in another thread (can be had for under £60 apparently). If, on the other hand, you're looking for ND0.3 up to 1.2 then HiTech is the one I'd choose.
 
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