Advice for split ND filter on a SLR?

[fanta]

I am considering a graduated split ND filter for landscape photography, to

bring down the exposure of the sky. Can you please advise what I might use, to

be mounted on a SLR? E.g. what you are using. I am interested in both round-

threaded filters and filter that allow you to place the graduation where you

need it.

 

Thanks

[tonybynum]

I'm not trying to be a snot, but search split nd and you will find LOTS of discussion including answers to your question. . .

[kerry_grim]

GOOGLE: Galen Rowell Graduated Neutral Density Filters...lots will show up including articles by Galen.

[lauren_macintosh]

The other two people gave you good advice, me I'll say cokin p system

or the lee system or hi tech filter, just look around and type in the search foto net box:

[hjoseph7]

Warning: I recently bought a very expensive split 2X (ND) B&W 77mm filter. Does it work ? Sometimes I like to fantasize that it does to make me feel better.

[david_henderson]

Whilst screw in filters are more durable (glass vs resin for the rectangular systems) and faster to use, precision in placement is very important here and thats why just about everyone who can use one of the rectangular systems does so. If I didn't have a rangefinder there's no way I'd own screw-in grads which i use exclusively on that system.

 

If you're going to go rectangular there are four major suppliers of filters , in ascending order of price. Cokin. HiTech, Lee, and Singh Ray. They all use CR39 optical resin to make their filters- the same material as used for spectacles these days. Each of these brands have their adherents. Cokin are not highly regarded by a lot of people because they tend not to be totally neutral and (my view) scratch more easily. I wish I could tell you that all the other brands are always absolutely neutral but that wouldn't be true. All I can say is that Hitech at least has immediately replaced filters that I considered not to be neutral on receipt. You need to do some reading here on the various filter brands or do what I suspect most people do and just plump for one that fits the budget.

 

The situation is complicated by the fact that these manufacturers make their own hardware to hold the filter and attach the holder to lenses. Except Singh Ray that is who make filters to fit other people's holders only. Hitech and Lee make filters to fit their own hardware and Cokin hardware since the Cokin holder is cheap. So you have to decide, after you've chosen the filter brand, what sort of holder system you're going to use and therefore what size of filters to buy.

 

Then you have the fact that filters come in different strengths ( normally 1,2,3 stop at least) which relates to the amount of light they hold back at maximum density -so near the top of the filter. A further complication is that filters are available in hard edge (very rapid transition from clear to ND) and soft edge (more gradual transition from clear to ND). Which of these you buy, how many you buy, depends on what sort of photography you do and what sort of lenses you will use them on. You can learn more about this from a search here and spending a bit of time reading ND grad threads.

 

All these layers of decision explain why no-one can come on here, write a couple of paragraphs which offer definitive advice. You'll get definitive advice to narrower questions once you've done your research on manufacturer websites, looked at potential suppliers to understand the sort of pricing that will apply, and looked through threads here. At that point you can ask questions that can be anwered in less than a novel- eg will I see a difference between Cokin and Singh Ray in my pictures? I take seascapes, do i need hard or soft edge grads? What's the advantage of the more expensive hardware from Lee and HiTech?

 

Best of luck. A brief comment on Mr Joseph's warning. Grads work. They all work. His works. The chances of B+W making a screw-in grad filter that isn't darker at the top to about the right degree is zero. I suspect that he's saying that what he's bought doesn't do what he wants it to every time.

[delros]

hello,i have found the coken x-pro w960 kit with its x121 range of 3 filter,giving 1,2and 3 stop,a real help when using my sigma 10-20 lens,i also use some lint free glove at same time,as it saves getting finger print on the filters.<div></div>

[tonybynum]

Very well dont post Dave! I agree 100 percent with your advise!

 

thanks. . .

[fanta]

Thank you all for your help. Especially to David for the detailed post. I did some research and believe I will settle for the Cokin P-System, with filters from Tiffen and Singh Ray. Tiffen makes them in glass, and I have some brand loyalty because of positive experience with other filters they make. Of Singh Ray I find the reverse split ND particularly interesting.

[m_tt_donuts]

The aperature you use will either harden, or soften the edge of the grad you use. Using a 50mm lens at F2.8 you may need a "Hard" edge because very little of the filter will be in the picture at F2.8 and a quick hard transition is the ticket. However, you set that same lens to F22 and a lot of that filter is now included in the picture so you may need a "soft" edge else the transition will be too abrupt. What I'm saying is, the same lens set to F2.8 you may need a hard edge and set at F22 you may need the soft. To add to the confusion is focal lengths. Your zoom set to 20mm is going to "see" more of the filter than when set to 35mm so, set at 20mm you may run into situations you should use a soft edge, but your zoom set to 35mm may need a hard. Generally wide angles "shrink" the transition because they take in so much of the filter combined with the frequent small apertures used with wide angles compound the "shrinking" effect making ND Grad soft edges almost always the grads of choice for wide angles. Telephoto's in general perform best with "hard" edged filters as they see less of the filter than wide angles so they "stretch" the hard transition, compounded by the often fast apertures used with telephoto's "stretch" the edge even more making hard edged grads choice for telephotos.

 

If you use wide-angles for landscapes focus on soft edges and if using telephoto focus on hard. Adjust how fast the transition occurs by adjusting the aperture of the lens by setting the lens to F22 and click the DOF preview and position the filter. Then, notice the transition, is it too abrupt? Then set the aperture to F16, click the preview and see if the faster aperture softened the transition enough, rinse and repeat. I have Hi-Tech and Singh-Ray Grads. Hi-Tech "Hards" are very soft, I have a Hi-Tech 1 grad hard which for all intents and purposes is a 1 Grad soft edge. Avoid Hi-Tech softs, their hard edge is really soft I can't see any softer being useful. The Singh-Rays are spot on, their soft edge is perfect transition their hard edge likewise. I have their 2 Grad soft and 3 Grad Hard. I use my Singh-Ray 2 Grad soft about 80% of the time, my 1 Grad Hi-Tech about 15%, and my Singh-Ray 3 Grad Hard about 5% (I hardly use a telephoto or wide-angle at fast aperture).

 

As for filter holders, I wouldn't think about getting a split 50/50 round get the Cokin P holder. The round forces you to always have the sky/ground dead center which really limits its use. The Cokin P lets you slide the filters up/down so the horizon can be positioned anywhere in the frame. Also, they let you use more than 1 Grad. Having the Cokin P and its ability to take 3 filters it's possible at a lake with mountains in the background to use a 3 grad for the sky, combined with a 2 grad upside down to darken the water, which would bring out the detail of the mountains in the background. There's been times I set up at a lake with mountain background at sunset only to have it be a very boring sunset indeed. I added an orange filter to make the scene look like a good sunset, combined it with a 2 Grad soft to darken it some more, and then added a 1 ND grad upside down to darken the reflection which brought out detail in the middle and made for an excellent photo. Cokin "P" is the way to go.

[abrepsom1]

Francesco, don't waste your money on a flimsy Cokin P holder. Get the right one immediately, and you won't have to start all over again in a few months or years. I can really recommend the LEE filter system with its rectangular ND filters and I wish I had bought it already at the time when I started with the Cokin system. It is a real pleasure to use and worth every penny.