Originally posted by stoge If I was going to buy ND grad filters to shoot sunsets, what stops would be most useful? I know alot of people combine hard edge with soft edge when doing this. So what would be the beast combination? -----Stoge
I am really glad you asked this question, I'm kind of a newbie to the whole filter thing also so I will be following this thread.
I will be buying some filters in the next couple of weeks for a workshop that I am going to in September, so I will share what I have learned to date.
I don't believe there are any hard fast rules to nd filters, it's more about the effect that you are trying to achieve, from what I have read a two stop soft is probably a good starting point but that will depend on the length of lens you plan on using, if you were going say above a 100mm lens you may want to look at the hard edge.
I will let Marc take the lead on this, for he is the teacher and I am just a student.
I think for me, I will start off by buying a 1 and 2 stop soft and a 2 stop hard. This will allow me a fair range to start with and allow me to get to 4 stops with just a single stack.
I believe I will be buying the 4" X 5.25" Hitech filters with the Cokin Z filter holder.
I hope this was of some help.
John