Thread: ND Grad Filters - who uses them?

I've used Cokin's for a few years now and I've found them to be great for their price. I've got the 2 & 4 stop hard grads an ND and a red grad.

The bigger the size the better as you can always adapt to smaller lenses, so buy for the biggest lens you'll be using.

As for their quality. People complain they get purple colour casts across them, but I've never had an issue with it. Compared to Lees... There is none, if you have the cash and want to spend it, the Lee system would be the way to go. But, in saying that. The Cokin's are a great bang for your buck!

Originally Posted by s7000

I've used Cokin's for a few years now and I've found them to be great for their price. I've got the 2 & 4 stop hard grads an ND and a red grad.

The bigger the size the better as you can always adapt to smaller lenses, so buy for the biggest lens you'll be using.

As for their quality. People complain they get purple colour casts across them, but I've never had an issue with it. Compared to Lees... There is none, if you have the cash and want to spend it, the Lee system would be the way to go. But, in saying that. The Cokin's are a great bang for your buck!

Thanks for above. I suspect Cokin will do me fine, I'm not a pro!

As an idiots guide and to make sure I have my terminology right, 2 & 4 stop hard are 50% clear and 50% dark with a hard / straight line between clear and dark section; whereas the ND's have a soft transition between dark and clear? Is that right? I think the NDs are also available in 2 and 4 stop?

Sorry if above sounds simplistic!

Thx
J

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Bigs the way to go. Soft edge 4 stops and that way you can introduce the effect slowly to the point that suits you. Cokin is fine.
Thought..... why spend money on a holder when you have a hand. It is a still after all.
ND just meand Neutral Density ie not colored

I use a Lee 4x6 soft 0.9 GND in a Schneider Lee 4x4 Holder and love it. Makes a huge diff when it comes to editing. I recently got a 4x4 Lee 1.2 ND to go with it.

Both got from 2filter.com. Crap web site but good service.

Originally Posted by Yorkshire_Jon

Thanks for above. I suspect Cokin will do me fine, I'm not a pro!

As an idiots guide and to make sure I have my terminology right, 2 & 4 stop hard are 50% clear and 50% dark with a hard / straight line between clear and dark section; whereas the ND's have a soft transition between dark and clear? Is that right? I think the NDs are also available in 2 and 4 stop?

Sorry if above sounds simplistic!

Thx
J

Sent using Forum Runner

Kind of... Think of it as a colour gradient. The soft grad bleeds into the clear glass a lot more, the hard grad only bleeds a little. It's not just a straight edge.

Not sure about the stops. I bought them a while ago.

I think that the HDR photo post processing has done away with the need for the use of a filter to reduce the over exposure of the sky etc.

I have a cokin holder with a couple of different filters which have stayed with my now unused film camera in the big camera bag. I now use a lot more post processing and shoot multiple exposures of the same seen to get the exposure for various areas correct. I have yet to become proficient at post processing but as I am not a pro it does not worry me and I stumble along with the help of online tutorials.

the cokin H250 is one I've been using also , the kit omes with gradual ND , L , M and soft , and all you need is the ring adaptor for your Lens , The p-series only goes up to 82 mm anything above that you have move up to z-series . Grad ND adds a lot of depth to the sky .

Originally Posted by slug_burner

I think that the HDR photo post processing has done away with the need for the use of a filter to reduce the over exposure of the sky etc.

I have a cokin holder with a couple of different filters which have stayed with my now unused film camera in the big camera bag. I now use a lot more post processing and shoot multiple exposures of the same seen to get the exposure for various areas correct. I have yet to become proficient at post processing but as I am not a pro it does not worry me and I stumble along with the help of online tutorials.

Not quite, you cannot use HDR on a windy day with the follage moving or in a sunrise/sunset in a seascape image.
The effect in the water surface will be not what perhaps the photographer would like to have.
Also you can see distortion in the sky on a cloudy day.
HDR have good applications but in a selective cases.

I do not use filters in my photography and in many cases I use a vertical pano technique to separate the image in 2 frames, one for bellow the horizon and the other for above it.
HERE is one example

In THIS site is a good reading about ND fileters