[wenz]

I am interesting in buying one or two graduated density filters. I am leaning towards getting the Hitech brand that fit in the Cokin P series holder (I already have the holder and Hitech seems to get good reviews for the money), though I am open to other suggestions. My question is, if you could only have one or two of these graduated density filters, what would you suggest? I want to get at least one graduated neutral density filter, probably the 2-stop (0.6) soft edge. The second one I was considering was a 3-stop (0.9), hard edge neutral density. Would this be a good combination? I would be using the filters for general landscape and travel photography. Thank you.

[Kerrowdown]

Get some heavy (large) stop ones, it's amazing how much light you need slow down to get blurred water shots, with longish shutter speeds.

[Wombat]

In case you aren't already aware of it, be extra alert if you use these filters with a zoom lens where the barrel turns. It's easy to forget and take a shot with the filter at an angle. Focus first and lock it, then adjust your filter so that it's where you want it.

[Lowell Goudge]

regardless of manufacturer, there are really a few additional things to look at.

graduated ND filters that thread onto the lens will force your composition to have the horizon (usually the line of contrast) in the middle of the frame. That may not suite your style of shooting, causing you to crop significantly.

square filters that fit in a frame may be better in this respect.

I have 2 graduated ND filters, bot of which have a soft transition at the centerline. A hard transition may be too harsh, and if the horizon line has other subjects, trees, hills etc, they will possibly not get the correct exposure.

One last comment, and this may really beed it's own thread, but has the HDR technology of combining multiple images negated the need for graduated ND filters?

[raider]

I have the Cokin Z-Pro series filter kit U960 which comes with ND2, ND4 and ND8 graduated neutral density filters. U might want to consider using the Z series filter if you are using an ultrawide lens.

I have only started to use these filters in the last 2 weeks or so and my general observation is that these filters are not strong enuf for my intending purpose. I am now looking to get a hoya ND400 or cokin NDX filter.

Hope this help u in any way.

[ozzi-paul]

I heard a while ago that the Cokin ND filters would leave a blue cast on some images. Has anyone had this problem. I had a Cokin ND4 grad filter that I used on my old Fuji 5600 and never seen a cast and I would like to get that and an ND8 grad as well for my k20d but not
if there is a lot of people that think they do this.

[navcom]

I heard a while ago that the Cokin ND filters would leave a blue cast on some images. Has anyone had this problem. I had a Cokin ND4 grad filter that I used on my old Fuji 5600 and never seen a cast and I would like to get that and an ND8 grad as well for my k20d but not
if there is a lot of people that think they do this.

Yes, I have seen this. It's not drastic, but it has reared it's ugly head on occasion. There are other image quality issues I've seen with Cokin's ND filters. They are not so bad as to be unuseable, but annoyed me enough that I sought an alternative. I decided to invest in the Singh Ray series versus the Cokin filters. The SR's still use the Cokin "P"-style holder but are a much higher quality filter.

They are no doubt expensive, but I use them on a regular basis and it is true that you get what you pay for. They produce awesome quality images. I have several ND grads and also reverse ND grads, which instead of just feathering to dark, they feather to dark and then feather back to light. These are perfect for sunrises/sets when the sun is near the horizon. It pushes back the sun but still allows the ground as well as the sky above it to come through.

Here's a photo where I used a Singh Ray reverse density filter, Cokin style (sorry for the lower quality jpeg here)...

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