[Reinier]

Hi all,


Has someone experience with a filter system? There are not many tests around and most stores only sell Cokin. Is that any good or should I look for something else?


I want to use a ND-filter and a filter system with holder seems the best option incomparing to a screw on ND filter.


Kind regards,


Reinier

[Brightcolours]

Lee filters are considered a better option, but I believe that Lee ND filters have very strong discolouration (very blue or purple). I use a screw on Marumi ND8 filter (3 stops) with is pretty neutral, and a Hoya ND400 (9 stops) filter which is very neutral.

[JJ_SO]

So far, I use filters rarely. Therefore I passed this Xume-idea: http://www.xumeadapters.com/77mm-adapters-kits-1/ which basically is a magnetic ring on the lens and it's counterpart on the filter. It saves the screwing in case of lens change and makes the whole thing quicker.

 

Disadvantages are similar like filter holder systems:

• you need to leave the holder or the adapter for the holder on the lens (otherwise you can use screw-in types). 
  
• holders go to a certain diameter and usually don't fit on big wide-angles without filterthread
  
• big holders waste space on small diameter lenses because of stepping rings
  
• additional costs and not much use (in my case)
  
• if one uses UV- or "protection"-filters always on the lens, a stack of filters doesn't improve IQ
  

I have one holder for the 14-24 and bought formattech 150 × 150 gradient and ND. The color-drift is horrible and not easy to get rid of in post. So it mostly rests in it's drawer because it's bulky. The reason for gradient filters are not killing the highlights in a high contrast picture and get structures of the sky. I have to say, since Capture One can create a gradient layer, I'm much better off with getting my highlights back in post.

 



 

After a little bit of work:

 



 

I would say, in some pictures putting in a post process gradient doesn't take much longer to do than setting the gradient filter up at shooting. And I bought the gradient filter for that kind of pictures...

 

So the only reason to filter is either a "polarizer needed" situation or a huge ND to get loooooooong waterfalls or seashores. And this I do with the second biggest filter size I have and use stepping ring down from M 77 to smaller ø.

[toni-a]

My experience with graduated filters up till now has been a catastrophy: 

I already have a problem with tilted horizon in many pictures, you imagine how hard it is to correct a picture with tilted horizon and tilted graduated filter line... so unless you have the experience and dexterity to work with such gear, you might have very unpleasant surprises.

No problem with ND filters, a polarizer however, I feel it's a must, I am very happy with my Hoya Pro1

[stoppingdown]

For years I've felt guilty of not using filters, in particular the graduated one. And I've put at the top of the todo list "buy some decent ones, practice them", but I didn't. Today I'm pretty much with JoJu and toni-a. I think that everything boils down to the signal/noise ratio performance of the sensor in the shadows. Ten years ago it was a problem and probably I was really guilty. Today, if I look at the performance of my Sony a6000, just to make a reference, in most cases I don't see problems. And we already have a number of cameras whose sensors are better, especially in the FF. A couple of days ago I did an HDR because of the classic problem, church façade in backlight, with a bright sky with clouds. In the end, it turned out the single image exposed for the highlights had shadows that were perfectly recoverable. The HDR version, on the other hand, while it has less noise in the shadows, shows massive purple fringing around the branches which stand in the sky, due to the photo exposed for the shadows, and it was impossible to fix with LR. 

 

 

Sure, people advocating graduated filters say that it's better to have the best possible exposure in the camera, and they have a point. But now that noise in shadows is no more necessarily the biggest problem, it's a matter of weighting pros and cons. BTW, there are exposure problems - such as those with a backlight façade - that can't be dealt with a single (or even a double) gradient, and require dodging and burning with a paintbrush. So, it makes even more sense to do everything in post-processing.

 

 

I'm still favourable about uniform, neutral filters for long exposures, such as the Big Stopper (and something like a ND6, that I still don't have). Given that even the quality ones have colour cast problems, I'm starting to wonder whether it would make sense to have multiple, shorter time exposures and merging them (if you don't have problems of continuity, such as trails).

 

[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND] 

[davidmanze]

Two penn'eth,

                       Bought a cheap slide in frame filter system with a couple of decent "KOOD"  filters, their coated round 9 stop ND filter was around £65 inc. postage and has a round plastic ring to insert in the frame. I got fed up with the frame and all it's rigmoral, dropping filters, finger prints... what.a palava!

 I bought the cheapest  77mm UV filter and threw away the glass and glued in the 9 stop having removed the plastic exterior, now I use adapter rings to mount it on my lens range. 

 The graduated filters I just hold in front of the lens!

[JJ_SO]

I like this picture, stoppingdown   It's exactly what I have in mind when I'm grateful for higher dynamics of sensors these days.

 

As for long time exposure simulation: Here is a tutorial of Affinity Photo to this subject

 

https://vimeo.com/147727263

 

Yesterday I stumbled over it. I think, if you're already using a longer shutter speed when taking the single shots, it could become more convincing. It's just not exactly the same as a big stopper picture, but as James put it: If you somewhere with a nice waterfall, but no tripod and ND with you, you still can benefit from in camera stabilisation and take some 1/15 shots home to stack it together.

 

Sidenote: They also have an excellent panorama function, I just could not try it with 8 raws because my 6 year old SSD has now only 16 GB free space left which is apparently not enough to save the temp files and swap at the same time. 

[Studor13]

Dave, I think you should go with the easy English version. I speak pretty good English (well, I should) but I didn't understand half what you wrote.

 

WTH(ell) is “what.a palava?

[toni-a]

If you need French-English translation, I am here 😊

[JJ_SO]

I'm not sure if it?s more Frenglish or Englench, but it's fluent Dave.  ^_^