Which grad ND filter.... soft/hard?

[asimrazakhan]

i've never used grad ND filters but i think i could really benefit

from them for my travel photography (landscape/monuments/buildings

etc).

 

i use 35mm format and almost always use velvia slide film. i often

take photos with small apertures (f/8 - f/16) and use hyperfocal

focusing methods quite a bit.

 

i'll be ordering a 20-35mm zoom lens and wanted one grad ND filter

(just one) that would compliment this lens as well as my 50mm and

85mm? now i've researched and understood that i should use a soft

edge for wide angle lenses and a hard edge for longer lenses.

 

because of price vs quality issues, i'm quite set on getting a hi-

tech grad ND filter. but the dillemma i have is that i've heard

people say that a hard edge hi-tech filter is much like a singh ray

soft edge grad ND filter.

 

i only want one filter and i've learned that a 2-stop is the most

versatile. but i'm not convinced if i should go with the hi-tech

hard or soft edge for the lenses i have (20-35, 50, 85mm). please

help. would soft edge be too soft? or would hard edge be too hard?

 

which is more versatile with my lenses and my style of photography?

hard or soft?

 

thanks in advance

[jpursley]

I have the Hi-Tech in hard and soft versions, and the hard edge gets used about ten times more often than the soft edge. This is true even in mountains, when you'd expect a soft edge to be more useful.

[stephen_schoof1]

<<now i've researched and understood that i should use a soft edge for wide angle lenses and a hard edge for longer lenses.

 

This really isn't true, it depends more on the situation than the lens. A telephoto will make the gradation 'softer', but so will using a wider aperture. Personally I have Singh-ray and find the hard-edged more useful (even and especially with wide-angles) for creating the balanced juxtapositions of highlight/shadow that graduated NDs are famous for (like this week's POW). But the soft-edged are also useful, especially across areas of fog or sky.

 

Bottom line is regardless of your lenses or style of photography, you'll probably find a need for both, but if you want to start with just one a hard-edged will open up the most new shooting situations for you.

[joseph_smith3]

Which one or ones to get depends on what you photograph the most and what the f stop range of light is in your images.I know many photographers who use the 3 stop the most. Personally, I think an initial system of two GNDs makes the most sense, a 2 stop and 3 stop. Which one is hard and which one is soft depends on what you shoot the most.Check out Darwin Wiwiggett's web site at: http://www.darwinwiggett.com/main.html and his articles like this one: http://www.naturephotographers.net/dw0502-1.html Others are accessed thru his web site. He did the cover shot on the Nov 2005 issue of Outdoor Photography. If you have this issue, he explains the GNDs used to take the image. Joe Smith

[ranong]

i use a 2 stop soft line ND. sometimes i wish i had a 3 stop. mine is the cokin P. it is the bigger size. i got the bigger size so i could use it on my lens with a 77mm from element. i hand hold it infront of my lenses. i have never used a hardline one. i paid very little for this gem from keh, second hand.

enjoy

 

eddie

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/2897915