Grad ND Filters

[veros222]

O.K. Yet another grad ND filter question. I've been doing some research on the topic today and the conclusion pretty much is that most people use "cheap" Colkin holders in combination with Lee or Singh-Ray filters.

I still consider myself a newbie to photography but getting into it more and more. Right now I only have a Canon Rebel with a 10-20mm wide angle Sigma lens. But I will definitely upgrade to a full frame (started saving already) with a better lens(es) as well, of course.

So, I'd like to get the whole kit once and for all and I'd like to avoid finding out later on that I need to upgrade the filters and holders again. Here comes the question...finally... Should I get the Colkin P or Z series holder. And as for the filters...4x4 or 4x6. I'm thinking 4x6 since when shooting landscapes, you will need to adjust the filter since the horizon is rarely in the center of the shot. Am I right?

[Lankey]

Hey i have never used neither Colkin holders but i use the lee wide angle adapter ring and holder with lee soft grads (don't shoot many sea scape flat horizon locations). I have been very impressed with them and they have done more to improve my photography than upgrading from a d300 to a 5d mark 2. At least in terms of enjoyment because i no longer need to spend so long in PS if I'm dealing with a scene with a lot of dynamic range

If your planning on using the 10-20mm you should make sure you get a wider angle adapter ring because i think otherwise you'll get some heavy vignetting.

From memory i think the WA is 3mm thinner because of the way it screws in. At 16mm on crop (about 24 on FF) i think you get vignetting with the standard adapter ring.

Another thing to think about is if your going to use it at the same time as a polarizer.

You have afew choices.

1: you can mount the adapter ring and holder onto the CPL... problem with this is that if you don't have a slim cpl you will get vignetting. The other thing is that you can't rotate your Cpl without effecting the entire holder so it becomes very fiddly and tricky. If you choose this expect to add at least extra half a minute to your set up time.

2. When using a cpl you can hand hold your filters (this is what i do at the moment). Once you learn how to do this it is very effective you just have to be careful not to move the camera (so try avoid holding for anything over 1 sec to start with).

3. Buy a 105mm cpl and P holder ring. The P holder ring attaches to the front of the lee holder system and so can rotate on its own. I don't know if colkin holders have a similar system but its something to think about. I am thinking of adding this to my collection but a Lee one is not cheap as you can see below.
Lee 105mm CPL
http://www.studiokitdirect.co.uk/Cat...riser/105C.htm
Lee P ring
Lee Filters 105mm Ring (P ring) : Studio Kit Direct - Professional Photographic Equipment Suppliers.

If there is any questions I can help with in regard to what i own (lee) let me know but keep in mind i have not tried the other systems for any decent amount of time.

[Elmo]

Most folks I know, me included, generally use the conkin holder as they are cheaper, You can have a holder for each ring size cheaper than changing rings on a lee holder.

The 10-22 offers a bit of a problem as you often see the filter holder in the image. The solution is to cut off the outside two filter slots of the conkin holder.

[Nicole]

I'm using the Sigma 10-20mm lens with the Cokin filters. I have a wide angle P-size holder, and I'm using a 121M ND Grad filter (and occasionally a regular ND filter too, but that's another story because the wide-angle holder only holds one filter, so stacking them requires creativity... or tape). I toyed with whether or not I needed the Z-size set, but in the end decided that the P-size was more budget friendly. Also, I don't really wind up with much (if any) vignetting, and if I do, by moving from 10 to 11mm it usually solves it. And the ND Grad filter is longer than the regular ND filter for just the the reason you mention.

[AgBeard]

I use Cokin P series with WA holder on a Sigma 10-20 with no problems - BUT I remove my std filter that protects the lens first.

[CaptainNH]

I use the Cokin Z holder with Lee 150mm filters.

Even with the Z, I still get a touch of vignette with my 17-40L @ 17mm on my 5D2. I think is as a result of my holder being able to stack 3 filters - which makes it about 10mm thick.

Cokin themselves recommend the Z-Pro for lenses from 20mm up (35mm/FF) COKIN Creative System - The Holder System - Standard Holder & Pro Holder - A/P/Z/X Series.