Graduated ND, 1,2,3 or 4 stops???

[old school]

Hi All

 

I finally found a source of circular 72mm and 77mm graduated ND

filters in the UK. The supplier offers them in graduated 0.3ND (1

stop), 0.6ND (2 stops), 0.9ND (3 stops) or 1.2ND (4 stops).

 

I need this filter for landscape photography where the sky is often

significantly brighter than the scene below the horizon. The thing I

can't work out is which of the above would (in most/average

situations) be the most useful? I can only afford to buy one filter,

and am guessing that either the 2 stop or 3 stop is most likely to

fit most scenes where needed. I'm also guessing that going darker

(i.e. 3 stops) is going to preserve more detail in the sky that can

be lightened if necessary during printing (where the lighter ND

filter might just loose that detail)?

 

What are peoples experiences and which would you recommend?

 

Many Thanks

 

Stuart

[marshall]

Circular? Screw-in grads? Screw-in grads are next-to-useless unless you always want the dividing line between light and dark in the middle of the frame. I'd suggest looking for rectangular filters and a holder, which in turn would have something to screw in to the correct lens mount.

 

That said, I use the 2 and 3 stop ND grads more than the others. Good luck.

[michael_moon2]

Mr Goff, that's a crock. I use nothing but screw-ins and have no problem cropping the print and no problem selling the result.

 

If money is no object, I would recommend a 2 stop and a 4 stop - the latter to be used very judiciously, the former a lot more frequently. I pair up 2 2-stops so I can rotate them independently to get varied ND. With the Maxxum 7's rear-screed exposure map it's a cinch.

[david_henderson]

I use a screw in too with my Mamiya 7 and it's a 2 stop. Because

of the very gentle graduation I'd say it was too light rather than too

dark and a 3 stop would probably be just as good. The really

important thing with screw-in grads is a really soft graduation as

you can't alter where the grad point falls.

[richard_milner2]

I'm not a grad filter user but if I was and I had the money I would go for the Lee slot filter system because of its flexibility and extendability. Apart from expense, the main problem is the bulk of stuff that would be hanging off the front of your camera but that's not usually a problem if you are shooting from a tripod.

 

www.leefilters.com

[marshall]

Well, "a crock" might be strong, but so might have been "next to useless". How about, I find screw-in grads more limited, and feel that it is easier to compose and adjust with the flat grads and the Lee holder system. They slow you down in use a bit, but for a gain in flexibility. Better, perhaps?

[david_henderson]

Well I use both but I have to say that with a SLR where I stand a

chance of positioning it right, I prefer the flexibility of the

rectangular systems- in my case Hi-Tech. But with a

rangefinder, which I also use , things are different. I haven't

found any practical way of positioning a sliding grad properly and

acceptably quickly with a rf. In this case having a filter with a

known point where the graduation starts and a very soft

graduation is the only way I can get a photograph. And because

the graduation is so soft it doesn't mean that you have to

compose with the horizon in the centre either since there's no

obvious "line" where the graduation starts. They last better than

the resin filters too since they're glass and don't scratch so

easily. But they are absolutely not as useful as a rectangular

system for use with a SLR, particularly when you have very bright

light close to the horizon.

 

Of course we don't know here what kind of camera Stuart's going

to use the grads with, so we don't know whether its his choice or

necessity that we're commenting on.