Suggested filters for landscape photography

33L · 3 Jan 2008 at 21:32

Messiah Khan said:
Certainly is. My 12ish stop one is even worse!

Where do you get yours from - i know some recently droped theres and it was custom made.

Messiah Khan · 3 Jan 2008 at 21:42

33L said:
Where do you get yours from - i know some recently droped theres and it was custom made.

Are you thinking of King4aDay who droppd his B&W 10 stop? My 0.5, 3, 6 and 12 stop ND filters are all custom made. I can't really use them properly though without geting a lens hood for my Lee filter kit as I get some serious flare.

JBuk · 3 Jan 2008 at 21:43

i would get a hi-tech/formatt 100x150mm ND grad set, 100x100mm plain ND set and any decent brand circular polariser, wouldnt get a holder for the grads as you can hand hold them or use blu tack

dont bother with any Cokin P sets, they are too small for ultra wide angle and cause a slight cast

33L · 3 Jan 2008 at 21:57

JBuk said:
dont bother with any Cokin P sets, they are too small for ultra wide angle and cause a slight cast

what kind of casts do they throw. im using a 17mm lens atthem moment but want to get my hands on a 10mm do other filter kits would work with a polariser and filter as i may want to use grads with it as well.

Messiah Khan said:
Are you thinking of King4aDay who droppd his B&W 10 stop? My 0.5, 3, 6 and 12 stop ND filters are all custom made. I can't really use them properly though without geting a lens hood for my Lee filter kit as I get some serious flare.

yeah that was the guy. are they custom by lee filters? or commisioned by some one in the trade.

King4aDay · 3 Jan 2008 at 22:01

Grrrrrrrrr!

I dropped the replacement in a rockpool yesterday :rolleyes:

All fine though

JBuk · 3 Jan 2008 at 22:06

the casts are something to do with them not being totally neutral, search on the net, it will have better info than i can explain

but i found the size more limiting overall so ive bought the 100x150 hitech/formatt kit which is supposed to be very good, havent had a proper chance to try it out yet though

33L · 3 Jan 2008 at 22:10

King4aDay said:
Grrrrrrrrr!

I dropped the replacement in a rockpool yesterday

All fine though

at this rate mate you will be setting up your own production line

Messiah Khan · 3 Jan 2008 at 23:17

33L said:
yeah that was the guy. are they custom by lee filters? or commisioned by some one in the trade.

Commisioned by some one in the trade. Id rather not say who im afraid, as he made them as a one off and I doubt he wants to start taking orders.

King4aDay said:
Grrrrrrrrr!

I dropped the replacement in a rockpool yesterday

All fine though

Lol. You need them attached to a piece of string, threaded trough your jacket, like kids mittens are.

King4aDay · 3 Jan 2008 at 23:29

Messiah Khan said:
Lol. You need them attached to a piece of string, threaded trough your jacket, like kids mittens are.

I've been thinking about buying another 10-20 which just has one permanently attached so I never have to handle it

iGiDK · 3 Jan 2008 at 23:30

If you're comtemplating filters you are potentially buying into a system that could end up costing you a lot of money. My gut feeling is that if you're going to go for top end filters you may want to think about upgrading your lens as well

(sorry I don't know how well the 17-70 performs at the wide end)

Neutral Density filters are listed according to how many stops of light they prevent from passing through the lens. e.g. a filter listed with a density of 0.3 will equate to 1 f-stop, 0.6 is 2 f-stops, 0.9 is 3 stops, 3.0 is 10 stops etc. etc.

If you're down at the beach shooting a sunrise or sunset with a bright sky I'd recommend a 0.6 or 0.9 hard ND grad combined with a decent CPL

For general landscapes if you're looking to control the exposure of the sky a good starting point would be a 0.6 hard ND grad or a 0.6 soft ND grad, again combined with a CPL

If you're looking to smooth water movement or capture cloud movement it's really up to you, but you could go for a ND filter wich is rated at anything from 6-10 stops, and combine this with a CPL

And, surprisingly no-one seems to have mentioned an IR filter

This can add an extra dimension to landscape photography, go for the Hoya R72

JBuk · 3 Jan 2008 at 23:38

iGiDK said:
And, surprisingly no-one seems to have mentioned an IR filter

This can add an extra dimension to landscape photography, go for the Hoya R72

I`ve never really liked IR filter shots , not sure why though . maybe i dont see what benefit they give to a photo, unlike CPL`s and Grads which can aid in getting perfect exposure and colours

33L · 4 Jan 2008 at 07:31

im still waiting for my free 350d to arrive. that i will be converting to a fast infrared camera.

ScarySquirrel · 4 Jan 2008 at 08:25

iGiDK said:
If you're comtemplating filters you are potentially buying into a system that could end up costing you a lot of money. My gut feeling is that if you're going to go for top end filters you may want to think about upgrading your lens as well (sorry I don't know how well the 17-70 performs at the wide end)

Neutral Density filters are listed according to how many stops of light they prevent from passing through the lens. e.g. a filter listed with a density of 0.3 will equate to 1 f-stop, 0.6 is 2 f-stops, 0.9 is 3 stops, 3.0 is 10 stops etc. etc.

If you're down at the beach shooting a sunrise or sunset with a bright sky I'd recommend a 0.6 or 0.9 hard ND grad combined with a decent CPL

For general landscapes if you're looking to control the exposure of the sky a good starting point would be a 0.6 hard ND grad or a 0.6 soft ND grad, again combined with a CPL

If you're looking to smooth water movement or capture cloud movement it's really up to you, but you could go for a ND filter wich is rated at anything from 6-10 stops, and combine this with a CPL

And, surprisingly no-one seems to have mentioned an IR filter

This can add an extra dimension to landscape photography, go for the Hoya R72

Thanks dude. The 17-70 is alright wide open, a little distortion. I only can compare it to the kit lens I had (now sold for £25 or something, lol) and it is much better than that. I can't afford a wide angle lens at this time.

Am I right in thinking a CPL will just screw on the front of the ND filter? If so, do I screw on the ND filter or the CPL first?

One more final question. Does anyone know of any filter packs, that might include all of the above in one? Or do I have to buy all of them seperately?

Thanks

platypus · 4 Jan 2008 at 11:11

Messiah Khan said:

Wow, that is absolutely incredible. Could you email me a high res version that would be happily blown up to A3?

Messiah Khan · 4 Jan 2008 at 11:16

platypus said:
Wow, that is absolutely incredible. Could you email me a high res version that would be happily blown up to A3?

Cheers. For £40 you can buy an A3 version. Or for £125 you can buy a Framed, mounted, glassed and signed print.

platypus · 5 Jan 2008 at 17:40

Messiah Khan said:
Cheers. For £40 you can buy an A3 version. Or for £125 you can buy a Framed, mounted, glassed and signed print.

Ah

. Still, I might do.

ScarySquirrel · 7 Jan 2008 at 16:20

I can't for the life of me find a 10 stop ND filter that is for 72mm thread.

It is driving me crazy. Do they even exist?

Messiah Khan · 7 Jan 2008 at 16:25

ScarySquirrel said:
I can't for the life of me find a 10 stop ND filter that is for 72mm thread.

It is driving me crazy. Do they even exist?

Get a 77mm one and a step down ring?

ScarySquirrel · 7 Jan 2008 at 16:37

Messiah Khan said:
Get a 77mm one and a step down ring?

Ah cool. Didn't know these existed. Found one for £5.

ScarySquirrel · 5 Feb 2008 at 10:37

Well. I got a Sigma 10-20 in the end, and I have a 77mm CPL and a 10 stop ND filter now which just arrived. I can't believe how black it is, I can't even see through it.

Looking forward to seeing what kind of effects I get though. During an overcast day, say midday, how long can I expect exposures to be? I don't want to be waiting around for 10 mins at a time really. I am wondering whether maybe I should have got a different ND now.