I have a question about ND Grads. I have 2 holders of the Cokin P System, and i'd like to use Hitech 85mm ND Grads. I've once tried Grads and i was pretty much amazed! :-)
I have the Opportunity to buy a Set of Hard Edge Grads (1,2,3 stop) and a Set of Soft Edge Grads (1,2,3 stop), and to buy them indivually.
I won't need 6 Filters to begin with.... My question is which of them i will use most of the time.... hard or soft? I Will buy a set, and a 2 Stop filter of the other kind... but which set?? any ideas?
or do i just need 1x 2stop soft and 1x 3 stop hard and thats that?
Hard to say, as it depends on what you like to shoot. I think your idea of a 2 stop soft and a 3-hard is probably the most common combination. I definitely wouldn't get the one-stop filters, but I might be the only one with that opinion!
I almost exclusively use a 2-stop hard. I will always go in and fix up the tones in PS anyways, and with a hard edge it's easier to fix it IMO. The soft makes the sky at the top too dark and right at the horizon to bright, and I usually don't need any ND in the foreground.. Basically I just use the gnd to hold back the sky, and usually 2-stops is spot on. I have a 3-stop reverse for more intense sunsets/sunrises. But it all depends on your shooting and processing style and subjects..
I'm doing more and more like you say, Floris, but I generally use the soft gnd's up at Rainier and similar so i don't darken the mountain too much.
I think the one stop is easy enough to do in post, that's why I wouldn't bother with them. Also, it's almost never enough of a difference-usually need two or three to hold the sky back.
KPieper wrote:
I'm doing more and more like you say, Floris, but I generally use the soft gnd's up at Rainier and similar so i don't darken the mountain too much.
Good point. I usually bracket, shoot one with the 2-stop hard and take another without the filter, but the soft ones would probably work well for something like Rainier.
I have a 2 stop soft, and a 3 stop hard, and another one..... can you guess which one I dont use very much I think it is a 3 stop soft. Personally I prefer the soft, but I dont do very much oceanscape. most of my photos have uneven horizons, and the soft is just more subtle. I use the Lee 4x6 and like them. If I could afford the singh-rays I would buy those.
There is just something gratifying about being able to tell people that your post processing takes only a few min. Getting it right in the viewfinder is where it is at.
imaginarydave wrote:
There is just something gratifying about being able to tell people that your post processing takes only a few min. Getting it right in the viewfinder is where it is at.
I think the Picture also looks a bit different... maybe more "real"
I do love Seascapes! Due to my current geographical Situation (mountains etc.) i think Softgrads will be better than Hard ones for me.....
another serious question comes into my mind: do the 85mm Hitech filters fit into the cokin p holders? I've measured the Gap, and my cokin P holder is 84mm wide.... are the HiTech ones exactly 85mm or will they fit?
GreenMage wrote:
another serious question comes into my mind: do the 85mm Hitech filters fit into the cokin p holders? I've measured the Gap, and my cokin P holder is 84mm wide.... are the HiTech ones exactly 85mm or will they fit?
2 stop hard and 3 stop soft work well for me... I also have a 3 stop hard edge but it is difficult to make that strong drastic transition look natural. But I never leave the house without my 2-stop hard and 3-stop soft grad ND... BTW, I use "Cokin Z" size filters, and handhold them instead of using the holders. Not only is this quicker and easier, but it allows you to move them during a long exposure to get a more custom grad. Ditch the holder, go freehand!
I'd recommend picking up hard grads and at some point if you feel like splurging for more expensive filters, you may also want to consider the Singh-Ray reverse ND grads, i find them real useful when you have alpen glow on mountain peaks.
I'd also recommend getting a one stop hard grad (1,2,3 stops are all useful). The 1 stop is very useful for mountain reflections. I used to use mainly the 2 and 3 stop ND grads until I started getting feedback on the FM Forum that quite often my reflection shots have the foreground reflection lighter then the mountain peaks and sky. QUite often when you have a colorful sky or alpen glow, there is only about 1 1/2 stop difference between the peaks/sky and the reflection in a lake. By using a 2 stop filter you often end up with the reflection lighter then the peaks/sky.
I'm actually thinking of picking up a 1 stop reverse ND grad, bcoz, I end up using my 2 stop reverse ND grad to hold back the glow in the horizon, when a 1 stop would be better for the reflection.
I ended up using the 2 stop reverse ND grad for some of my photos, which did a better job of holding back the glow in the horizon, but ended up having the reflection lighter then necessary.
I don't like doing a lot of post processing and despite getting LR books a couple of months back, I'm still using DPP for processing. I prefer to try and get things right in the camera then spending a lot of time tweaking in post-processing (which is somewhat limited in DPP anyways).
Another consideration is how wide you tend to shoot. Generally the hard is better for wide angle. The soft transition tends to span too much of the sky.
mhayes5254 wrote:
Another consideration is how wide you tend to shoot. Generally the hard is better for wide angle. The soft transition tends to span too much of the sky.
+1
I went for the 2 stop Hard-edge, and a Set of 1,2,3 Stop-soft-edge .... i use the hard-edge the most ;-)
They fit in the Cokin P holder, but i had some issues of vignetting (without the filter, and a tilted holder on my 17-40) despite that, it works really well :-)
