Which Graduated Neutral Density Filter?

[JMarro]

Hey everyone,

Landscape and nature photography has been my hobby since I got my first DSLR a year ago. I frequently shoot sunsets/sunrises and find myself reverting to HDR photography a lot. I don't mind this as there are ways to make HDR natural looking, but I would much rather get the photo right out of the camera. I purchased a Hoya circular polarizer a few months back and have loved it but still find myself bracketting photos.

Now im taking a look at graduated neutral density filters. If you are familiar with GND filters there are many options out there. For one there is the choice between how many stops of light you are loosing. Then there is whether you want a soft or hard graduation and many different brands.

So, I have done a lot of research on the matter. I find that many people say 0.6 or a 2-stop soft GND filter is good to start with. However I have run into many occasions were people recommend the 0.9 or 3-stop hard filter. I'm kind of on a tight budget, so I am looking at around a $70 purchase, but that is no strict number. I look at the cokin system and see a cheap set of the 0.3, 0.6, and 0.9 on B and H for around $60. Thats not bad, but I hear the Cokin filters pail in comparison to the Lee or Hitech yet they are more expensive. I am not looking for a holder, at least not at the moment.

So I have a few questions:
Which GND filter do you use the most for sunset/sunrises ? (hard/soft, how many f-stops?)

Do you recommend going with the cheaper, less quality Cokin or the better, more expensive Lee/Hitech filters?

Sorry the post is so long, but I value your opinions a lot!

Thanks,
JMarro

[Elmo]

Well i prefer soft for mountain type shots and hard for seashore, in another words the subject is determining factor. However I find it easier to use a soft when a hard might be better than using a hard when a soft is needed. I find the 2 and 3 stops more useful than a single stop one. (if you are good and very careful you can use a 3-stop sandwiched with a 2-stop inverted to get a 1 stop )

As for Cokin they are not as good as some others but they are usable. So what I did I started with Cokin and replaced with better ones when the Cokin's needed replacing.

One other piece of advice is start with large sizek a big one can be used on a small lens but a small one cannot be streched to fit a bigger lens.

[JMarro]

Thanks Elmo for your comment. You make some very good points.

I have heard the cokins give a bad magenta tint to the pictures, so i think im going to get a hitech 0.9 soft GND, but am still questioning the whether to get the 0.9 or the 0.6 because I already have a circular polarizer that takes away 1 stop of light before I would even add the neutral density filter.

I am going to get a rectangular filter because I like the ability to choose where i want the filter to affect the picture.

[Solarian]

Are you not fond of the filter that's in Lightroom? I wanted to buy one of these too, but after I got a C-PL and started using lightroom, I find it completely unnecessary. You just drag it and align it however you want, and even specify how strong it is.

[JMarro]

Yes i know about the filter, but nothing can fix what cant be done in the camera. If you blow out the hightlights (most likely the sky) there is no way to bring that back in lightroom, no matter what filter you use. I have used that filter, but that is when I did not blow out the highlights in the picture. Right now I tend to do more HDR photography then not, but a lot of work goes into fixing the CA and other abnormalities when combining images.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

[Elmo]

My suggestion about which value to start with is shoot some capture in your area. shifting the exposue to test which will give the change in the sky (generally) you desire. this value can vary depending on the area where you are.