landscape filter set questions.

<p>Hello guys i wish buy a kit of filters for landscape, but never i used, i like the modularity of lee filters, my question are:<br>

1- Really worth lee filters for the price?<br>

2- Is there any alternative good too like lee?<br>

3- What will be the ideal set of filter for landscape , polarizer, nd like bigstopper , what more...?</p>

<p>Thansk you very much.</p>

<p>3: grad ND for everybody, orange green red (yellowish green?) for BW shooters, maybe a 720 IR too?</p>

<p>Why do you want/need filters? There's no way to answer your question without knowing what you're trying to accomplish.</p>

<p>For landscape, i will travel in a few time to a differents places , so i want to carry a set of filters.</p>

 

<p>mostly sea beach landscapes and green mpuntains.</p>

Polarizer for color. Red and yellow for B&w.

Both can be screw in. Any brand. Grad but

has to be square with holder so u can position

it. Cokin makes these in addition to lee.

<p>The only filter I use with regularity is a polarizer, even then not so much any more. That's one effect you can't emulate well in software. In addition to darkening the sky, a polarizer reduces specular reflections from water, foliage, even rocks, and cuts through haze. The effect on sky is easily overdone, and killing reflections in water can make it dull and uninteresting. Water often looks better "sparkly" than muddy. Inexpensive polarizers often have a color cast which is difficult to remove in processing. Uncoated filters reduce contrast, particularly with bright lights or sky.</p>

<p>A 3x neutral filter allows the use of a longer shutter time, for example, with moving water, or a wider aperture for depth of field control. A minimum ISO of 50 or 100 is often not enough to accomplish this effect. Not all "neutral" filters are really neutral. Resin filters are notorious in this respect. Look to B+W or other high-end filters for best results.</p>

<p>Graduated neutral filters are used to selectively darken the sky (or foreground) for balance and dramatic effect. Like polarizers, the effect is often obvious and overdone. Digital image makes this technique largely obsolete. Modern sensors have an enormous dynamic range, much greater than a few years ago. Secondly, stacking bracketed exposures in software gives you much more selectivity in controlling contrast than a graduated ND filter (which can look like a pall cast over an irregular skyline).</p>

<p>If you shoot B&W film, or use a dedicated B&W digital camera ($$$), you need colored filters for contrast, typically red, yellow and green in various densities. If you have a normal digital camera, or scan color film, it's easier to accomplish these effects in software.</p>

 

 

<blockquote>

<p>i will travel in a few time to a differents places , so i want to carry a set of filters.</p>

</blockquote>

 

 

 

 

 

That doesn't explain why you want them. What are you trying to change, specifically, with a filter?

<p>Agree with the above on a polariser ( though I use mine rather rarely). Don't agree with Edward at all about ND grads. Personally I don't leave home without them if my intent is to photograph the landscape, and they are by far my most used filters, and its is grads rather than a polariser, that I reach for if I want to darken skies. Interestingly I spent time this part winter with a group of fairly serious photographers in Northern Norway, and every one of those guys used grads extensively. If I find on-screen that I've overdone the grad, I can easily reduce it via Lightroom's grad feature. </p>

<p>Which brand? Lee are no doubt expensive, especially in the context that you need more than one filter and a holder system. They are in the context of the market about mid-priced I'm afraid. Cokin are the cheapest major brand. Like many people I started off that way but saw too many signs of clumsy transitions, and soon migrated to HiTech (Formatt Filters) which is where I still am. In many ways Hitech are similar to Lee though they are a little cheaper and a little thinner, so they don't fit the same holders terrible well. I also think that Hitech are a little less likely to be absolutely neutral that Lee which I get round by ordering direct from the factory and sending stuff back till I'm happy with it. There are more expensive solutions, some resin ( eg Singh Ray) and some glass, but I won't spend much time on these since from your post it seems more likely that you'd like to spend less than Lee, not more. So yes you can buy Cokin - they're a lot cheaper and IMO a lot less good) or you can get Hitech - probably not quite as easy to buy as Lee and maybe a bit of downstream angst over neutrality and getting stuff exchanged.</p>

<p>I do also carry ND filters of 3 &10 stops which get a moderate amount of use especially when I'm trying to manipulate the look of water. I would absolutely ( as with polarisers) use screw-in filters here -my preference is B+W. I don't want to have to attach a holder system if I can simply screw in a filter.</p>

<p>Thanks you guys for the answers, David i wrote lee filters becouse reading people talk very well of it, except for big stopper has a blue cast, i read good things of hitech but quality issues too, like some people has problems and need return it, i live on chile and returning it is a long way, i am software engenier and i worked on design for many years, so photography is my hobby i really dont like anymore spend more time retouching pictures, i know i can take bracketing and use blending modes but is not what i am looking for, i prefer spend more time in nature than pc, David Howe many grads nd you have? worth a set like 1,2,3 stops of hard edge and 1,2,3 stops of soft? have you tried firecrest series of hitech? .<br /> This days i shoot a nikon d800 and on film a fuji gx680iii mf, i am about of buy a hasselblad 500cm with maybe a 80mm lens, this glasses works on fullframe and medium format changing the adapter? or need to buy bigger glasses?.<br /> Thanks you for your contributions and sorry my english is not perfect.</p>

<p>ivan. Well I have 6 grads , but in reality rhe 3 stop hard. 3 stop soft and 2 stop hard get well over 90% of my use. Also, Hitech tend towards a softer graduation than most brands, and if I had Lee its more likely I'd be using 3 stop hard, 3 stop soft and 2 stop soft. Given the capabilities of the sensors the 1 stop grads are not used a lot. </p>

<p>You are likely to find that most 10 stop grads have a colour cast. But I do think other filters come out better in tests than the "big stopper" for a number of reasons.</p>

<p>i readed in some place hitech irnd 16 is good too, it have 16 stops.</p>

<p>Given what I get with 10 and 3 stops, I can't see a need for a stronger ND for me. </p>

<p>ditto Edward in all regards</p>