ND filter

[Anthony]

I am having a hard time deciding on a filter system:

1/ I do not often use filters but would like a 2 stop ND soft grad and 2 stop ND.
2/ I do not want to spend a fortune as they will only be used a few times a year.
3/ I have a EF-S 10-22mm ( Canon 500D ) so it needs to be wide angle compatible.

First I was thinking of a Cokin Z pro with Hitech filters as I liked the Cokin holder and the Hitech filters get better reviews than the Cokin ones.

Then I started thinking the filters are large as is the holder.

I have a 77mm CPL and a 72mm adaptor I use on my 10-22 and for my EF-S 15-85mm which I use the most. Why not get a threaded 77mm ND filter which is easy but the soft grad is a problem.

I would be gratful for any comments.

[kgosden]

Anthony,

I use threaded ND filters in a number of different stops. I recently bought a Hoya ND16 (4 stop) to complement my existing ND4 (2 stop) since it was not enough in strong light even with the CPL added. I have a Cokin P series holder for my ND grads. I have both the 2 & 3 stop Singh-Ray Galen Rowell soft grads. They were expensive, but they are also slightly longer than normal P series filters. This is important if you are aiming a wide angle low and only need the change on a small slice of the scene. I found standard P series filters would end up with the edge in the field of view when using 18-20mm equivalent lenses.

[Robert Besen]

Cokin makes a low profile P holder which helps with the edge in view issue. It only holds one filter at a time, though.

[Anthony]

Thanks for the replies - I did not think of using a threaded and slide in filter kgosden and that may be the way to go.

I will have a look into the Cokin low profile holder, I only want to hold one filter and so that would not be a problem. If required I could screw in the CPL and then add the P holder.

I have a P holder somewhere with a couple of filters from my DSLR days - must be 30+ years old! I intended to go for the Z pro as people say the P has a problem with cut off and still get it with the Z pro in some situations.

[kgosden]

I rarely have a problem with the filter holder getting into the field of view unless I rotate it to 45 degrees or so. I would not want to use a single slot as there have been a number of times when I combine both grads.

[raven15]

Sorry I missed this thread as it happened. I am also currently using a Cokin holder with Hi-Tech lenses. I found 2-stop hard and 3-stop soft cover all of my needs. I have a P series wide angle/low profile single slot holder which covers out to 18mm equivalent on my 4/3 gear, I don't suppose it would cover to 16mm on the larger format though (maybe it does I don't know). On mine screwing in a CPL and then adding the P holder does not make for black corners with a low profile CPL. I think this would definitely be pushing your luck on the 10-22 though.

Kgosden's comment about length is relevant. The Hi-Tech filters are longer than the Cokin, but even then there have been times it would have been better if they were a little longer.

I don't think a 2-stop solid ND would be much benefit, your polarizer basically already does this. I'd get at least 4 or 6 stop. Screw in is fine for these.

[Anthony]

Thanks for the info raven15.

I had decided to go for a 77mm screw in and see how much I use it; I have a reduction ring for my second lens.

I orderd a 3 stop low profile filter about 20min ago as after reading the posts and thinking about it a 2 stop was not going to be enough; I wonder if I can get it changed to a 4 stop?

I had missed the point about the filter length but can see the problem now. If you only have a sliver of sky you need to push the filter up and the bottom edge of the glass would be in the photo. I would think the Z pro filters would be OK for that as they are 100mm x 125. Although on my 10-22 lens it would only just go past the center.

[kgosden]

Just wait now that you are going down the ND filter road you will find a reason to want the rarely used reverse ND grad. It is on my list, but only has one real use; sunrises and sunsets. It lets you cut 2-3 stops out of the middle of the image leaving the top and bottom clear. A Singh-Ray version will run close to $200.

[TheWengler]

A 3 stop reverse grad from Singh Ray is 3 stops in the middle and 1 stop on the top. Had to ask them for this information a few months back. The others follow similar proportions. Not sure what the break down for the Hitech reverse is. They are pricey, but also nice to have. I can't live without my filters though. Even when I'm bracketing I use filters to reduce the number of shots I need to bracket.

[raven15]

I have become skeptical about the reverse ND and just put mine on ebay today. On a 4/3 sensor at least, it is pretty difficult to slide the filter far enough down to use the lighter ND part at the top. As far as I could tell I was only getting the 3-stop hard ND effect, and none of the reverse unless I covered the foreground with the dark part too. 3-stop hard is too much for me, I don't like the solid black line through objects sticking over the horizon.