 Sobia Chishti |
Filters for Shooting Landscapes Hi everyone, I am expanding my filter collection to shoot landscapes. I am looking to get some neutral density and graduated nuetral density filters. But am confused what number should I buy. ND .3, .6 or .9 ? I know they cut down amount of light by every increase in number. My question is if I have to buy only one of them, would I better be off with .9?
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R K Stephenson |
If money is no object the Singh-Ray VariND is awesome. There are a lot of more reasonably priced alternatives. For example, Lee Filters offers a set of individual .3, .6, .9 filters and a filter holder that allows you to stack them. I believe Cokin does, too. Cheers, RK P.S.: For completeness I should mention that each of the filters I listed, except the VariND, are available as both regular and graduated filters.
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- Carlton Ward Contact Carlton Ward Carlton Ward's Gallery |
I only have a .3 GND filter and it works fine for the rare times I actually use it. The .3 does a good job in very bright sun. Makes images a little less contrasty and allows for slower shutter speeds. I have never tried a .9 but am a little intrigued to maybe try one :) I tend to use my circular polarizer more as I shoot a lot of waterfalls and landscapes with water, and the CP works great for cutting down on reflections, making the sky a little bluer and allowing more detail in darker areas. I like looking through the viewfinder as I rotate the filter to see what effect it is having. I have the B&W Kaeseman 77mm CP and though it's not cheap (about $175), neither is the L glass I am putting it on :) And the tripod... best bring a good tripod when using GND and CP filters as you will lose some stops requiring longer shutter speeds. I recently shot some waterfalls in the bright 1 o'clock sun using the CP filter and several exposures to make an HDR image. I wonder how a .9 GND would have looked for this image?
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Sobia Chishti |
R.K.S and Carlton, Thanks for your response. Singh Ray is really expensive! Actually I have a EF 17-40mm L and I am looking to buy 70-200mm. Do I really need ND and Grad. ND for both of them? Can Circular Polrizer and ND be screwed on to each other for a better effect?
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- Carlton Ward Contact Carlton Ward Carlton Ward's Gallery |
Hi Sobia, If you are getting the 70-200 f/2.8, it has the same 77mm filter size as the 17-40mm (the 70-200 f/4 models are a smaller lens). I use my filters more for landscape with my 17-40mm but I have also used my CP on my 100-400mm lens when shooting on the open water on whale watching trips. The CP filter really helps with reflections and clarity. I have 5 L lenses and they are all 77mm so my CP will work on any of them:) Singh Rays are expensive but do you want to place an inferior filter over your expensive L glass ? That's why I use B+W, as they are very high quality as well. This is also the reason I don't use UV or other filters, I prefer not to have anything between my L glass and my subject with the exception of a quality ND or CP filter because these are the only ones that cant be duplicated in Photoshop. Warming and cooling filters are no longer necessary as PS can imitate them. About stacking filters, I would think you would start getting some degradation in image quality with filters stacked on each other, but I don't know this from experience since I've never tried it. I would start with either a quality circular polarizer or .6 ND filter. I hope this helps.
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- Ken Smith Contact Ken Smith Ken Smith's Gallery |
Sobia, I enjoy shooting landscapes and I really love the Singh-Ray 3-stop "soft" graduated ND filter ... you mention they're expensive, but if you already have the 17-40mm L lens and will get the 70-200mm L, then you shouldn't skimp on the filters. I use the Graduated ND filter to hold back the brigher sky, as your camera's auto exposure will be fooled and either expose the skies, leaving more silhouettes in the foreground, or expose the foreground and wash out the sky. Although you can use the Cokin mounts for these rectangular filters, I usually just hand-hold them in front of the lens and move them up/down to get the desired effects. I also have a circular polarizer, a must for landscapes. And I have the .3 and .9ND filters. But the only times I've used them are to really cut the light so I can get a slow exposure of moving water in bright sunlight. To summarize: get the circular polarizer (screw-on) and the Singh-ray 3-stop ND filter. You won't regret it!
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R K Stephenson |
Here's something that is apparently new from Singh-Ray: a variable neutral density filter with polarizing built-in. Hmmmm...less glass in front of the lens? http://www.singh-ray.com/varinduo.html
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Sobia Chishti |
Okay every one, you made a point. I will buy Singh ray GND, may be .6 or .9 soft edge. But I searched for their ND and didn't find any other than the VariND?? I was looking at the cokin p series holder system to go with it but a couple of reviews were not good. What would you say about it? Can I just hand hold the filter infront of the lens? And the circular polarizer...has to be Singh-Ray too? Thank you so much for your help.
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- Ken Smith Contact Ken Smith Ken Smith's Gallery |
Here's the link for the Singh-Ray Graduated ND filters: http://www.singh-ray.com/grndgrads.html They have different options; e.g., 2-stop hard, 2-stop soft, 3-stop hard, 3-stop soft, reverse, etc...it can be confusing. It's the Galen Rowell ND Graduated Filters for the Cokin P holder. Click the down arrow where it says to indicate the graduation. I use this one: 3 F-stop, soft step grad. You can purchase your CP from any vendor. I always hand-hold mine, but others like the cokin adapter cause it frees up their other hand..
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Allen M. Aisenstein |
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