Lee Filters - anyone use them?

[Hacker]

I've been thinking about a decent set of ND and ND grads for a while now and Lee appear to very well respected. The kits appear to vary, if anyone has used them what did you start with and are they easy to upgrade to enable further filters i.e. can you use more than one filter at a time?

Ta.

 

[P-E]

I use the Lee filter system but can't remember if I started with the starter kit to begin with and built up from there

The most I have used was 2 ND grads & a polarizer all at the same time on a 16-35L lens using the wide angle lens adapter.

 

[seriousrikk]

*raises hand*

I decided to buy the lee system last year and it was a very good decision.

I initially bought the foundation kit which has the filter holder and fittings for up to three filters on the front. I also purchased the wide angle 77mm adapter at the same time. This got me set up with the holder - I've built on my grads since then. I now have a .6 in a soft & hard grad and a .9 hard grad (Which I use most).

With the foundation kit you can upgrade to the full pro kit over time if you need it - this is why I like Lee as it is a fully ugradable system.

 

[BobC]

Doyou need to buy a wide angle adapter to use this system with a 10-20 mm lens (Icurrently get vignetting around 10-12mm with the cokin P holder), or does the larger filter size prevent that anyway?

 

[seriousrikk]

I'd say you caould get away without it as the filter size is pretty huge. That said it would be better to be on the safe side and get it as it would allow you to stack filters or change the filter distance from the lens for different effects...

 

[HIMUPNORTH]

Colin.

They are awesome! If landscape is the thing they are a must for the camera bag.

For long exposures you need a solid. I have the .9ND but sometimes want less (.6?)

I have the .6 and .9 ND grads. Both hard. No problems but want to add a .3 soft for the more subtle shots. What I have is great when at dawn dusk / very low conditions but not always great during day when all you want is to tame the sky.

They are expensive and I have had other makes but I won't be going back to them. They need careful handling but worth it.