Neutral Density Filters

[Narginia]

Hey DPS! Happy Friday! I am looking at buying a rectangular neutral density filter that clips in front of my lens. Im just curious what your preference is in what stop you prefer and if you have a favorite place u shop for them? We have a local store which I love to support but just want to do a little research first! Thanks!

[Elmo]

ND or GRAD?
ND darkens all over
GRADS darken only selected (by filter placement) areas

I am not fond of conkin they can introduce color shifts.

[Krusty79]

If your talkin' ND grads, then I paid $90 for a Lee two stop (.6) filter because I read that was the one that was recommended. If I had to do it over again, I would have bought the 3 stop or something even stronger if they have it, because I still get blown out skies with my 2 stop. So now I want to buy a 3 stop and stack them. Another expense. I hold mine by hand and that seems to work ok.

I bought mine online at Calumet. The pros on this site do not recommend buying cheap filters, as that can degrade your image quality. I have also read that Cokin is grey, not neutral.

[LeeR]

How much research do you have to do on a filter whose sole purpose is to make things darker? Generally, you should start with a 4 stop filter and then, if its in your budget, get a 10 stop. Personally, I like the kind that screws on the front of my lens but I have used the cokin filters before and know them to be of good quality.

[milosh]

Originally Posted by LeeR

How much research do you have to do on a filter whose sole purpose is to make things darker?

If it's about GND filters and if you want to combine A brand filters with B brand holders, figuring out what size to buy, whether they fit the holder or not, and whether they will vignette on your lens, it can very complicated.

I bought myself 4 GND filters maybe a month ago. I went for the Hitech brand (Hitech filters are made by Formatt UK, the same company that makes Lee filters). Originally I wanted to buy Cokin filters, but many people on the forums say that Hitechs have higher optical quality (they don't introduce colour casts like early Cokins did). They are made from the same resin, and Hitech naming scheme (and exact description of each filter) is easier to understand. Oddly, I found Hitechs to be cheaper than Cokins. Also, Cokins are hard to find these days, it seems that the company is some serious financial trouble. From what I've read, I think Hitechs are the way to go, if you're not willing to spend much more on Lee, B+W or Singh-Ray.

Now, the holders. I wanted to use a filter holder, instead of hand holding them. I bought the Cokin P series standard filter holder (the standard one has three filter slots, but there is also a wide angle P holder with only one slot, which helps eliminate vignetting on wide angle lenses). The Cokin P size filters are 84mm wide, and Hitechs are 85mm wide. They fit into the Cokin P holder just perfectly, not too tight at all. I was considering buying Cokin Z pro or Lee holder and larger filters, but it was too expensive for me. After a lot of searching I found out that you can use Cokin P size and Hitech 85mm filters in a Cokin P size wide angle holder on a Sigma 10-20 (77mm filter thread, I'm planing on buying the Sigma) without significant vignetting.

I ordered 3 GND and 1 ND filter from Formatt website. I got 2 stop soft grad, 3 stop soft grad, 3 stop hard grad and a 3 stop ND. Everything went really smooth, I had the filters two weeks later. I haven't had much chance to use them, so I can't really comment on the quality.

Also, information on sizes of these filters is very tricky to find. Cokin P filters are 84mm wide and I think 100mm long. Hitech filters are 85mm wide and 110mm long. Hitech filters come in plastic sleeves with paper inside. They are not very practical to use, so I searched for a filter case to store them. After some searching I found out that Hitech filters can fit into the Cokin P306 filter case.

Formatt website: Camera Filters available to buy online : Formatt Filters : Hitech Filter system