Lee Vs Hitech (Vs...??) Grads

James Blonde

James Blonde

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OK, so one of the perennial questions....

It's time to invest in a set of grads for my D7100 / D90 IR combo but I'm struggling to figure out which route to go. On paper, Lee are by far the best route to go (I've got a starter kit, big stopper and a 0.6ND) but in terms of investing in a set of grads, that's a hell of a lot of money! But individually is even more expensive! Would I ever use the 0.3 grad to make the kit worthwhile?

Is Lee really worth the significant difference in money though? I mean you're looking at £30 more each or £70 more for a set. Google results on Lee vs Hitech seem to date from around 2008-2011, and suggest that Hitech filters tend to have a colour cast and have a harsher graduation, so the soft Hitech grad would be more like the Lee soft grad. Is this the case? Have they fixed the colour cast?

My gut feeling is that 3 grads would probably do - 2 hards and a soft, or vice versa. If so, what would you go for in terms of mix and strength? Or is 3 too much of a compromise?

Anyone had any experience of reverse grads as well?


Alternatively, I could of course go for something completely different and go by the reviews here:

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2...al-density-filters-6-models-tested-and-rated/

I see that Cokin P series come far more highly rated than Lee for example! that did make me chuckle a little...
 
Have a read of the previous Threads on the subject. There's plenty of them.
 
I've read a few - I did do a search and didn't find anything obviously answering my question, but will do another search if that's more appropriate. As I said, it's the perennial question!
 
If you're going to stack the filters, go for Lee. If not hitech are ok. My experience of hitech was that used on there own, there was no cast but as soon as I stacked it with a 10 stop, it went very blue.

I don't get that with Lee

I agree with the sentiment about the 0.3 - I don't think I'd ever use one so my next purchase will be a 0.9 hard grad
 
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I get along fine with the 0.6 and 0.9 soft. I have the 0.3 but I have never used it.
 
Bob, I respect what you say, but from scratch I'd suggest hards, the transition is still evident but it's such a small format, particularly with a crop sensor, that generally........and I emphasise that word!!...hards are fine and are what Lee suggest ideally..

George.
 
George said:
Bob, I respect what you say, but from scratch I'd suggest hards, the transition is still evident but it's such a small format, particularly with a crop sensor, that generally........and I emphasise that word!!...hards are fine and are what Lee suggest ideally..

George.
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No problems George. I reflect only my personal experience as a landscape specialist. It has to be said that the type of landscape and horizons has more than a little to do with a specific photographer's preference. :)
 
Yellowbelly said:
No problems George. I reflect only my personal experience as a landscape specialist. It has to be said that the type of landscape and horizons has more than a little to do with a specific photographer's preference. :)
Click to expand...


Absolutely agree, Bob, whatever rings your chimes!! :)....best to try both and see what suits your style and subject!!

Edit...and I agree, forget the 0.3..
 
I use 4 grads with my SW150 kit

0.6 soft and hard grad
0.9 soft and hard grad

I never used my 0.3 grad when I had the 100mm Lee stuff. Those 4 grads are, IMO, all you'll ever need

Because Lee don't do a big stopper for the SW150 kit I had to source one from Hitech - a 150x150 IRND 10 stop.

It has less of a colour cast than the Lee Big Stopper in my experience although, in fairness, there isn't much in it.

When stacking Lee and Hitech I haven't noticed much of a colour cast at all - maybe a slight cool, bluish tint but very easily PP'd out.
 
I much prefer Lee, I've tried multiple Hi-Tech and always had a horrible cast if I was shooting anywhere near the sun. Moved to Lee and never had a problem.

I use hard and soft 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9. A lot of people, as is apparent from this thread, don't use their 0.3 but I find it just gives the sky that little boost. It can also double with the 0.9 to give you 4 stops but it's debatable about how often you might use that scenario.I also use the 0.3 regularly for the reverse grad scenario below.

I use softs mainly on landscapes with any number of things breaking the 'light horizon line', hards are used with clean (or cleaner) horizons.

I don't use reverse grads per se, but I have been using a grad upside down in the holder and using it in combination with a grad the normal way round. It's a bit tricky initially but I'm a lot better at it now, and it's giving me results I'm more than happy with.
 
Awesome, thanks folks! I guess I could see myself having 2 or 3 out of 4 initially - so I guess the 2 higher hard grads, and possibly the 0.9 soft grad.

If I do get the 0.9 soft grad, I'm happy enough to play with a negative soft grad in ACR to compensate if needs be to provide a little boost if 0.9 is too much. I suspect that wouldn't be so easy with a hard grad. but obviously you can't correct for no grad and a blown sky!
 
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