Toronto Photography Meetup Group

What brands and densities do you guys use? I am looking to purchase one for travel to do landscapes (buildings and scenery). Was thinking between 0.6-0.9.

Any recommendations on brand?

If you want true neutral gray then I'd say get the Singh Ray but you pay a premium. The Lee filters are pretty good too and the larger 100mm x 150mm size is great for super wide angle lenses or if you have lenses with a filter diameter of 82mm or larger. Cokin is bit cheaper but does the job well. If you go Cokin, then don't get anything smaller than the P series.

.6 to .9 are the most common for landscape. You can get both and stack them if needed.

All of the above are made of optical resin. The pros are that they cheaper compared to glass, more durable ie if you drop them they won't break and lightweight. Glass on the other hand are more scratch resistant but if you drop them, they can shatter. I believe Lee offers them in a deluxe glass version but are expensive.

I'd recommend getting the soft grads for landscape.

browsing through b&h they don't seem to have any of the above listed in 77mm sizes (actually i don't quite understand the convention). Do i need to purchase a separate filter holder to insert these filters into? (seems to be that way with the Cokin P series) I'd rather get something that I can screw on so that I can keep my hood attached.

I got myself a Cokin P series holder with Singh Ray grad ND, very happy with quality, but haven't thoroughly tested the thing, and I found it's hard to see the transition point, especially with the 1.6x crop since I don't use the whole lens diameter

the Cokin P comes with adapter rings, you can ask for 77mm ring from some suppliers, they will replace it for you (e-bay), I think I got the P with 77mm from B&H without a problem

but you can't use the hood

are the filters themselves square shaped? i am curious to know because I would like to be able to rotate them around.

all P series are rectangular, not square, a little longer. What rotates is the holder, so you position the filter the way you want both rotation and position

so couldn't you technically use the rectangular shape as guideline to line up the gradation? and just to confirm, the entire holder can rotate?

the holder rotates 360 sitting on a fixed adapter ring which is screwed onto the filter threads on the lens. I can't really see the edges of gradation on a soft edged graduated one. The hard edged would be easier to see. If you decide on Singh Ray filters make sure you get the right size (if for Cokin P series then look for P series filters)

I'm using Hi-tech filters in a Lee holder. Works great. Ordered through 2filters.com. The Lee filter holder can stack, rotate, and be disassembled. It was one of my choices because I was concerned about vignetting on an the 16-35L f/2.8L MkII with its 82mm thread on full frame.

thanks! im actually looking for filter solution for my 16-35mk2 soon!

I wanted to follow up on this thread:

I have an old set of Tiffen filters, including a 25 red, 825 warmer, circular polarizer and Grad ND .06
Now these are not my ideal filters because they are 62mm; I think ideally I would like to get drop-in filters, Maybe the ND grad set from Lee's would be nice but they're kind of pricey @ Can$380 or B&H U$243.
So my question here is, shooting landscape, handheld filter is better a soft or hard transition filter? I have seen some videos where actually the hard ones can be "feathered" by actually moving them while exposing the shot, but I have no direct experience with this method.

soft are tailored to be used in mountainous regions while hard are more for where you are now. If you're into sunsets you can get reverse grad

If you are shooting still landscapes on a tripod, you can hand hold your filters and move them around as needed. Or as mentioned previously, the Cokin P series will do that for you (and comes with different size filters to match your lenses). Their gradient's aren't the greatest quality, but you can upgrade to better ones as Dmitri has done.

Ultimately I didn't buy anything because bnh has been sold out and I found that I shoot raw most of the time and can apply gradient filters in post anyway. Too much stuff to mess around with while out shooting.

It still helps you save the details in extreme lighting conditions, like sunsets etc. I would recommend staying away from the P series if you have a wide lens, like 16-35L. Instead you can get either Lee or Cokin Z series

You can also use a half curtain method. Figure out the exposure time for the darker part (say the land), and then the exposure time for the other part of the scene (say the sky). ISO and Aperture being equal, if the difference is approximately 4s the cover the part of the scene, in this example the sky, for about 4s and then remove it for the remainder of the exposure.

I can't remember the photographer I read that uses this technique for his landscape photograph, but I read that he uses a sock over his hand and moves it side to side so that it doesn't show up in the image.

after experimenting with the .06 for sunsets, I see how the detail in the highlight area is recovered; sometimes not enough. I do not justify the .03, I can recover as much on RAW, so I may want to get the lee .06 & .09 ND hard edge.

Regarding the "Curtain Method" you describe, it reminds me of the old school photogs back on the day standing at the park taking pictures of couples with shaped hearts and stuff..lol