Hitech or Singh Ray GND filter system ?

[oleg_lempert2]

Hello,

I own Hitech GND filter system but I am thninking about upgrading to Singh Ray GND filters. Please help me

determine if benefit will outweigh the cost.

Many say Singh Ray filters are of "higher quality". In what way is the quality higher?

1. Are images produced by Singh Ray SHARPER than with Hitech?

2. Do they provide better color rendition?

3. Do Singh Ray are of better build quality (e.g. scratch less than Hitech) ?

 

It would be very help to hear from those who has had experience with both.

Essentially, this forum will make my decision: to stay with Hitech or switch to SR ?

[david_dorcich1]

Is there a noticeable problem with your images that you attribute to the hitech filters?

[david_henderson]

I use Hitech , and haven't tried Singh Ray. I have however talked with them because I have been through the same issue. Singh Ray use the same materials as Hitech, Lee etc namely CR39 optical resin. Its not going to be likely that their product is going to be significantly more scratch resistant or optically superior. But then in ten years with HiTech I haven't noticed any lack of sharpness or other quality issue from using Hitech, so unless there's a view somewhere that Singh Ray actually improve the optical quality of your pictures I don't think there's going to be a lot in that direction.

 

One area in which Singh Ray have a clear advantage is in the range of grad solutions they make. Unless HiTech have changed a lot recently their range is pretty basic- hard and soft. No reverse grads for example. This might be important to you, might be irrelevent in the context that Singh ay are pretty expensive so its not easy to go out and buy some minority stuff just in case you use it.

 

An area where they might well have an advantage is consistent neutrality. Most HiTechs I've had have been OK, but from time to time they send stuff out that has a clear and obvious colour cast sufficiently strong to provide off colours in light clouds for example. Now they've always changed these over when I complain, but since I live in the UK thats easier for me to do than it might be for others. The real question is why it happens, and whilst they have talked to me about their controls during and after manufacture the fact remains that they send out strange stuff occasionally, despite all this. OTOH I have not, in ten years on Photo.net, seen anyone whingeing about colour casts from Singh Rays. The price maybe, but not the colours.

 

Now my choice from several thousand miles away from the nearest source of Singh Rays, and as a photographer that carries 6 grad filters that I replace every 2/3 years, is to go with Hitech , check for neutrality, and get exchanges where I need to. This route saves me a lot of money at the cost of an occasional phone call and trip to the post office. If I have to wait a month to start using a new set it won't kill me. It isn't the Rolls Royce solution but I don't imagine for a moment that you'd see it in my pictures