ND and Grad ND filter advice.

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RSMarco

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Hi all,
I have recently purchased from these forums a Lee WA adapter and filter holder. I understand the Lee filters are rated very highly but due to the availability these seem a second choice.

So reading around it seems the Hitech filters are a good alternative.

The advice I am asking for is what filters to get as a good starter kit (ND Grad, ND plus there is Hard and Soft to concider).

Also, there are 100mm and also 150mm. I'm intending to use them on a Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens and also on a 24-70mm L lens.

Thanks in advance

Mark
 
The general thinking is a hard edge is used for seascapes with a pretty clear horizon whilst a soft edge is employed more in landscapes - however this isn't a strict rule. (There was also a thread recently about uses of the edge based on sensor size, focal length, lens construction and angle of view- at the moment its maybe not best to link this thread as I don't think the findings where entirely proven beyond doubt).

The Hitech I have is a 4stop soft edged grad. Its 150x100mm, the grad edge is perpendicular to the long side so it presents a larger area to slide within the filter holder.

The Lee Big stopper is 100x100mm which obviously has no edge to consider as it sits squarely in the holder.

I see each filter you buy being equally usable in the field in either lens mentioned. I use them on my 10-22.


*EDIT*

The edges and strengths are entirely down to the situation and your preference. I started off with a 4stop soft edge, often I think its too strong yet on the other hand I think its the correct edge. So its just a case of adding maybe a two stopper for me in the future.
 
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Thanks Andy. I did read the thread you mention and TBH it just started to confuse things.

The reason for asking is I don't know if it's a good idea to just buy a series go ND, grads to cover everything or if there is a select few that is good to start with?
 
I spent nearly two years with just a single Lee grad, a hard 0.6.
It was fine and I rarely felt I was missing anything by only having the one filter.

I've recently got myself a soft 0.9 and a Big Stopper - but the 0.6 is the one that still gets the most use.
 
So do you use the 0.6 for most of your sky control?

I'm also thinking of a slide in 10 stopper as I like these kind of long exposures.
 
Yup, sky control - 0.6 is two stops darker.
There's a school of thought that the majority of bright sky situations are about two stops too bright.
But that's not why I like the 0.6 so much.

I'm not after the perfect ready to print image in-camera...
What I'm actually after is reducing contrast in the scene to something my camera is capable of capturing in a single shot.
Two stops is usually enough to do this without being so extreme that the edge of the grad looks obvious.
Which is why I went for the soft edged 3 stop grad; it's much easier to hide the edge with a light bit of PP.
 
Regards the Big Stopper - good luck finding one!

If looking at alternative manufacturers, don't worry about colour casts.
All the 10 stoppers have colour casts, including the Lee.
Different manufacturers produce different colour casts and some manufacturers casts are more pronounced than others.
They are all capable of being fixed in PP (assuming you take in RAW), except Welding Glass.

I'd give the crossed polariser variable ND a miss.
They seem like a good idea - but there's a lot of reviews where people struggle to get good evenly darkened images at 10 stops.
 
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