To 'P' or not to 'P'

[nicholas_bellamy]

I have read that vignetting can be caused if I use Cokin 'A' on some wide

angle lenses on my EOS 1000f.

 

I have a 35-80 and will soon have a wider lens (say 19-35).

 

So should I buy Cokin 'A' or Cokin 'P' ?

 

Also, when buying ND grad's, I understand that Cokin grad gray's cause

colour shift. So I shall opt for Tiffen ND grad's instead, so..... what size Tiffen

filters slot into Cokin 'A' and what size into Cokin 'P' holders ?

 

Thank you - I know I'm dumb.

[jimh]

P is almost too small for a 19-35 so A is definitely out of the question. I had to cut off my holder to use it with a 19-35.

[jimh]

(the holder I had to cut was a P holder)

[eric friedemann]

Nic-

 

If you are interested in grad filters, do not buy circular. The key with grad filters is to be able to adjust the filter to the horizon line- this means a rectangular filter that can be moved up and down in the holder.

 

Cokin A grad filters are worthless. Even with the smallest lenses, there is very little play before you get the top or bottom edge of the filter in the frame.

 

There are certainly better rectangular ND filters than the Cokin Ps. Singh Ray makes a sweeeeet ND filter that fits in the Cokin P holder- but it costs $120. If you shoot the filter a lot, the Singh Ray may be worth the price. If not, you might want to start with the Cokin P NDs for $17.95 each and buy more expensive filters later, if you really get into NDs.

 

Regards,

[eric friedemann]

Oh, and per the other posters, if you are going to shoot ultrawide, you might consider the Cokin X-Pro system- primarily designed for big-assed cine lenses.

 

The filter holder and rings are a bit more rugged than Cokin P and the filters are mostly in the $60+ range. At 13x17cm., these filters are so big they can be seen from outer space:

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh3.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=ProductActivator__Aproductlist_html___169219___COFHXP___REG___CatID=0___SID=F7535819150

[klix]

When you use "A" you will not have a problem as long as the filter holder is rotated 90 deg, i.e., inserting the filter sideways.

 

Unfortunately, however, this won't work with ND grads or grads of any kind, unless you're after special effects. With the holder oriented in the "normal" fashion (filetrs inserted from the top), you'll start to see vignetting at 24mm, UNLESS you cut off the holder's front slots. IMO, you're better off buying the P or obviously the X-pro.

[mark_litherland]

I did away with my 'A' holder some time ago and use blu-tack. Just need to be a little careful with obscuring a portion of the image with the blob.

[matthew_stewart2]

Before I knew any better I bought an 'A' holder and a grey grad. I tried it out on my 24mm lens (with 52mm filter size) and saw no vignetting (I was using print film so maybe it was a little harder to spot). I may just saw off the last two slots on the holder to be on the safe side. I think I'll stick with the 'A' for now.

 

I don't think there is a huge price difference between the 'A' and 'P'. so you might as well play safe and get a 'P'.

 

For what it's worth my grey grad doesn't exhibit awful colour shift. Maybe it would be more obvious on a dull, lifeless sky but I have only ever used it when photographing lanscapes with vibrant sky colour.

[nicholas_bellamy]

Thank you all, your help is very much appreciated - it looks like I�m gonna

need to take a �P�.

 

I�m skulking around the 2nd hand ads for my filters as I did�nt win the lottery at

the weekend (again !). This is a nightmare because although (pointed out

above quite rightly), �P� does�nt cost much more than �A�, most people seem to

buy �A� and hence 2nd hand �P� filter sets are a bit rare.

 

Used Tiffen square ND grad�s are even rarer, and used Singh-Ray filters are

rarer than rocking horse doo-dah.

 

One last thing - if I do find some square Tiffen ND grad stuff, does anyone

know what size I need to aim for ? i.e. what width is Cokin 'P' ?

 

Thanks again

Nick.