ND Grad Filters

Magic3rds

Magic3rds

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Jez
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I'm looking at buying some ND Grad Filters, can anyone recommend what I should look for when buying, also any reasonable places to buy getting best deal :)

Thanks,
Jez
 
What lenses are you looking to use them on? If it's an ultra wide, you'll need a holder designed for UWA's otherwise you'll get Vignetting at 10-13 mm.

Otherwise something like a Cokin P series holder and grads will do.

I use Cokins and they do me very nicely. Some complain of colour casts but I don't get any with mine!

As for ND's, I have 2, an ND4 which is standard strength and an ND8 which is very dark which I use for very bright days or shooting Towards the direction of the sun.
 
odd jim said:
What lenses are you looking to use them on? If it's an ultra wide, you'll need a holder designed for UWA's otherwise you'll get Vignetting at 10-13 mm.

Otherwise something like a Cokin P series holder and grads will do.

I use Cokins and they do me very nicely. Some complain of colour casts but I don't get any with mine!

As for ND's, I have 2, an ND4 which is standard strength and an ND8 which is very dark which I use for very bright days or shooting Towards the direction of the sun.
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I have 3 lenses, 18-55, 28-250, 28-300

are there any places that do good deals on the Cokins? Are the Cokin P's the square ones I have seen in some magazines?

Jez
 
Magic3rds said:
I have 3 lenses, 18-55, 28-250, 28-300

are there any places that do good deals on the Cokins? Are the Cokin P's the square ones I have seen in some magazines?

Jez
Click to expand...

Yes they are. There arnt any particular deals that I know of, on line seem be be pretty much the same as the high st. Larger jessops stores stock them, as do amazon.
 
Just a 4 to start with, and maybe an 8 if you feel the need.

I found the 2 was too subtle for my tastes.
 
I have had no problem using mine at 17mm with a 77mm filter adapter on a crop body, it is an issue with full frame though
I do have problems with colour cast on occations very strange

Keebsuk said:
What are your lens diameters?

The P series is no good on lenses of around 72mm and above. For these you will need the Z pro.

Andy
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Keebsuk said:
What are your lens diameters?

The P series is no good on lenses of around 72mm and above. For these you will need the Z pro.

Andy
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I use one on a lens with a diameter of 77mm no probs?
 
Yes I see what you mean, above 13mm the Vignetting disappears so it's not too bad as long as you use lengths over that.
 
footman said:
Are you talking about FF or crop, or doesn't it matter?
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The canon 10-22 on a crop.
 
footman said:
So a 17-40 on a 5D2 would need the Z Pro?
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Yeah probably... Though Vignetting should disappear by 21mm on FF with the P series.
 
markmullen said:
I get vignetting on P series even with a wide angle holder at the wide end of a 24-105 on full frame.
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Don't you have to use 100mm filters rather than the ?80mm P series ones in the wide angle holders?
 
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Cokin's 3slot holder definitely vignettes on the 10-22 on a 1.6 crap camera. Also cokin's P nd filters have a terrible magenta cast, especially on the nd8 strengths. I have 6 grads and nd filters and they are all the same. They just sit on a shelf at home, I won't even sell them on and afflict someone else with the rubbish.
 
Byker28i said:
Cokin's 3slot holder definitely vignettes on the 10-22 on a 1.6 crap camera. Also cokin's nd filters have a terrible magenta cast, especially on the nd8 strengths. I have 6 grads and nd filters and they are all the same. They just sit on a shelf at home, I won't even sell them on and afflict someone else with the rubbish.
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1.6 crap camera?

No cast on either my ND4 or ND8!
 
someone said that to me before so I went straight outside and took a picture of the sky with the ND8
IMG_3057.jpg


Also - two identical shots taken with the filter on and off the camera whilst the camera was mounted on a tripod

113823525.jpg

113823528.jpg


I also spent some time speaking to Warehouse express customer services and Cokins UK importers about the issue. Initially I was fobbed off with 'these aren't meant for digital cameras!, they don't work the same', but in the end they agreed to replace them. I asked if they'd hold the ND8 and ND4 together and look at the sky and if the sky wasn't purple I'd take the swap. "AH I see a problem" was the response, these must be an old batch.

But I still have the rubbish. Incidently I still have all the emails from WE and the importer. It's why I won't buy anything else from WE.

Now - if you google Cokin ND and Magenta, you'll find a surprising large number of hits.

I've nothing else against cokin filters - I have a rather large collection from film days - it's just the ND and ND grad kits in P size are rubbish and worthless. It's impossible to rid the cast completely in post and to be honest I don't see why I should have to.

So - forgive me if I put my point across, but it's something people should be wary about.
 
Keebsuk said:
What are your lens diameters?

The P series is no good on lenses of around 72mm and above. For these you will need the Z pro.

Andy
Click to expand...

Cokin P works fine up to around 80mm, it's the focal length at such large sizes that's the problem. I have P series on a 77mm thread at 19mm focal length, which JUST works with a hacked up holder.

Cokin colour casts aren'talways magenta, mine was green!
 
You can get around the size issue using good old fashioned rubber bands to hold the smaller filters on. It's the holder that vignettes. Just a couple of rubber bands (the kind the postman leaves on your drive) around the body work well.
 
Byker28i said:
someone said that to me before so I went straight outside and took a picture of the sky with the ND8

Also - two identical shots taken with the filter on and off the camera whilst the camera was mounted on a tripod

I also spent some time speaking to Warehouse express customer services and Cokins UK importers about the issue. Initially I was fobbed off with 'these aren't meant for digital cameras!, they don't work the same', but in the end they agreed to replace them. I asked if they'd hold the ND8 and ND4 together and look at the sky and if the sky wasn't purple I'd take the swap. "AH I see a problem" was the response, these must be an old batch.

But I still have the rubbish. Incidently I still have all the emails from WE and the importer. It's why I won't buy anything else from WE.

Now - if you google Cokin ND and Magenta, you'll find a surprising large number of hits.

I've nothing else against cokin filters - I have a rather large collection from film days - it's just the ND and ND grad kits in P size are rubbish and worthless. It's impossible to rid the cast completely in post and to be honest I don't see why I should have to.

So - forgive me if I put my point across, but it's something people should be wary about.
Click to expand...

That cast is pretty extreme, I certainly don't get that on my images!

I can see why you wernt happy with those, but my P series grads are spot on. I'd post some examples but I don't have access to my PC at present (but if you look at my recent landscape shots on here most were shot with an nd8.

Maybe there were a few dodgy batches?
 
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