ND filters

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Dom
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Hi All,

I'm looking to invest in some filters, just looking for some advice on the most useful ones to get. I mostly photography landscapes and I already have a circular polariser.

Thanks,

Dom
 
Hi Dom,
Other filters that are worthwhile for landscape photography are ND and ND grads.

ND filters come in various strengths but all with the same purpose of allowing the shutter speed to be reduced by a number of stops (good for capturing movement)

ND graduated filters come in two types a) hard grad and b) soft grad.
These filters are used to control the exposure when the sky is brighter than the foreground and you need something to balance them out.

Hard ND grads are best for seascapes due to the solid horizon line
Soft ND grads are best where an uneven horizon is being shot (usually change of vegetation etc).

Hope this helps!
 
Some ND grads sound good. Not sure whether to get hard grad or soft. Normally shooting mountain landscapes so I'm guessing soft.

What makes should I look out for / avoid? What strengths would you recommend as being the most useful?

Thanks,

Dom
 
Makes depend on whether you want screw in filters or slot in filters.

Personal preference for me is slot-in (more convenient if you have multiple lenses with different filter thread diameters). As for makes Lee are about the best you will get for slot-ins. Hitech are a good interim choice and reasonably priced too. Then there's Cokin. The Cokin can produce a magenta colour cast but if shooting RAW that can be fixed in PP.

As for screw on filters,these are made by Hoya, Tiffen, B+W, Lee and are all pretty decent (they work well when all your lenses have the same filter thread diameter)

Ultimately it boils down to the price you are willing to pay for what you need.
 
DrPips said:
All my lenses have different threads so I think I will go for slot in ones.

What do you think to these? http://teamworkphoto.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1047_78_767_277&products_id=10288

Just the ticket and highly recommended and used amongst us TPr's.

For those filters you will need a Cokin p style holder and filter rings to fit the different threads. You should be able to get holder for about 3 quid off ebay and the rings for a couple of quid each.
 
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