Hi All
I am wanting a set of Grad ND filters and have been looking at Hitech.
What does the quality rate compared to Lee filters.
Any thoughts would be helpfull.
The Hitechs are thinner and don't come with a nice pouch. I also had more color cast with them than I've had with my Lee filters. I believe the larger ones are 4x5 instead of 4x6, but I could be wrong about that.
They are resin filters, which can scratch, but then they are less prone to breaking than are glass filters. I have not had a problem with scratches, but I have not used them extensively.
TheWengler wrote:
The Hitechs are thinner and don't come with a nice pouch. I also had more color cast with them than I've had with my Lee filters. I believe the larger ones are 4x5 instead of 4x6, but I could be wrong about that.
I agree with all of these statements, as I have had quite a few of the P sizes and a few of the Cokin Z sizes (4" wide like Lee). The magenta cast is not too noticeable at 2 and perhaps 3 stops, but by 4 stops the color cast is prominent and becomes more so if you stack them.
The P sized Hitechs are a good $ deal and a good deal less than the Lees, which are only the 4" size. The 4" size Hitechs GNDs are 4X5" while the Lees are 4x6".
Dramatically overpriced for what it is, but then everything Lee is ($70 for a threaded aluminum ring, anyone?)
I also had more color cast with them than I've had with my Lee filters.
Probably true, just by looking at the filters with naked eye you can see some brownish overtones in the Hitechs. Having said this, ALL ND filters produce a cast, but that is correctable in PP so unless it is dramatic I would not worry about it. Perhaps the only exception is srong (8-10x) NDs, where IR leakage can be a real killer.
I believe the larger ones are 4x5 instead of 4x6, but I could be wrong about that.
Correct.
Overall, I think the Hitech filters provide a decent value for those of us that use them casually.
I`ve used Hitech ND grads in both `P` and 100mm sizes and have had no problems with colour casts even when combining 3 and 2 stop grads together. I understand that the Hitech 100s may be available in both 5" and 6" versions. They are thinner than the Lees although all resin filters will scratch if abused and so should be considered expendable.
I agree that the pouches aren't that practical and to be honest I don't use them either. However, it would have been nice to have when I was first starting out with filters. Since I had nothing to put my Hitechs in when I first got them, I just put them back in the plastic sleeve they came in and they ended up scratched pretty quickly.
Thanks for the replies. It seems the color cast is the only negative which does not seem to be a big problem.I was probally more concerned with optical quality.
I think they worth a try for the price and availability.
They are made in 4x6 buy the way.
I use them and they are a lot cheaper to replace if you scratch them, they have a very slight color cast, but they are easier to get than the lee filters. Optically they are good, I like them.
Oh, that one's easy - 3 stops are mostly what I have, plus an occasional 4 stop. I've rarely found a call for a 2 stop. The only purpose I would ever find for a 1 stop would be in combination with another filter for added density.
I probably use 3 more than 2 and hard more than soft, but it just depends on the scene. A common recommendation is to get 3 hard and 2 soft if you're only getting two.
