Toronto Photography Meetup Group

I am pondering about getting some of the LEE filter sets, namely the sunrise/sunset kit and possibly the landscape/autumn tint sets. Has anyone had any experience with these, be that positive or negative. Would I be better off sticking to photoshop?

Thanks in advance for the wisdom and thoughts on this folks.

I've been researching Lee kits for a long while from the perspective of NDs and grad NDs. While I do not yet have direct experience my research says Lee is the way to go for those. I've fiddled with the Cokin Z system and the filter holder does not have the quality feel of the Lee for not that much less money. I've also read, extensively, that people that did go with Cokin/Hitech get more unwanted colour casts (with NDs). Plus they frequently end up selling and going Lee eventually. Finding Lee in stock is another matter of course. Very high demand and limited supply. Especially for the Big Stopper.

That doesn't really answer your question though does it? I played with a few enhancing filters in my film days and was kind of turned off by the process. They were cheap filters and I didn't really know what I was doing at that point so that could have been a problem. My goal is to use NDs to nail down the exposure to the point of getting maximum detail/data with which to change in post should I desire to make those changes. The conflict for me with tint sets like that is that I think a lot of it can be done very well in post. So, the question to ask would be do you process images enough this way that getting it right in camera would be worth the cost versus the occasional Ps session?

P.S. Glad you found your way back.

Your words ring true. I picked up the LEE holder along with a few NDs and the big stopper. They are a lot of fun and usually represent tools that i use the most frequently when I'm out and about. The tint sets to your point are indeed an idea to save me from work in post processing but following your remarks maybe I just need to be less lazy

I am using a Cokin P holder with a grad ND from Singh Ray, I would go for it if I were you, Photoshop can help, but nothing beats balanced exposure and Photoshop on top

By the way, you don't have to stick to the most expensive system (Lee), now there are other alternatives: Hi-Tech, Cokin etc

I wish all these systems were not so limited with large diameter lenses. My initial research was disappointing when I looked for ND's for my 77mm thread size lenses.

77mm extremely standard, not sure about Hi-Tech, but Lee and Cokin both support 77mm. I use Cokin's system on my 77mm.

Lee and HiTech offer extension rings for their ND's & Tint from the 49mm all the way to 105mm. Lee designed actually a fantastic filter system that fits the 14-24mm Nikon lens. That is off course for the Holder Filter Systems, which I recommend.
edit: last sentence

Sorry, you're right. I should have said 82mm. Last I looked I had hoped to maybe get something that I'd be able to use on my Sigma 24-70 as well which, unfortunately, is an 82mm size.

I think Lee and Cokin Z work with 82

Doesn't the ND grad negate the need for the landscape blue sky filter? I mean if you haven't blown out the sky because you have an ND balancing the exposure you can simply play with the blue vibrance/saturation. We're going back to doing it in post again rather than getting it right in camera. Being in the field shooting is certainly better than being in a chair pushing sliders around. I'm curious how much post would still be necessary for some of the sets if, for example, they're a bit too much and it looks cartoonish. I'm thinking specifically of the sunset filter. Or, if you use the chocolate/tobacco/choral autumn set at the wrong time (maybe still too much green?) how cartoonish it could look and how much trouble it may be to fix that. Of course with the latest Lr there is selective are WB available now too...

I imagine that combing the landscape blue sky and the ND grad would have far too much of a cooling effect on the shot. With regards to using the tints well I imagine it would be largely situational. Mostly I see their use for the more overcast days and for sunsets where the sun is still there but the sky has lost that tableau of colour. I agree that using them at the wrong time would make shot look more like a disaster at a paint factory though. I think I'll pick up one of the sets and do a report back on how I got on with them.