I'm thinking about buying a Glass Grad-ND for a wide angle lens I don't want to go though the cokin, lee, Singh-Ray or others that you can buy that are square and take a machine to make them work.
Question is how many of you use the older fashioned ND;s for landscapes and whatever you use ND's for. I'm just trying to get by with as little of spending as I can, this is a expensive hobby that I enjoy with all my sole, but not my money unfortunately it is money that makes it what it is a hobby.
Any help or comments would be great.
You can flog me later.
Lynn

I guess you are asking about screw-in GND filters. The short answer is they don't work because the transition line is in the center of the filter and can not be adjusted. So, unless you always position the horizon dead center in your images, you will need to use rectangular resin GND's, either with a holder (Lee or Cokin) or hand-held.

Lynn,

Let me elaborate a little on what gearhead5 said: An ND grad filter is a piece of glass in which the top half is darker than the bottom half. To use it, you put the filter on the front of the lens, and move it around a little so that the dark part of the filter covers whatever part of the scene that looks too bright. You might slide it up or down, or angle it to one side or the other, depending on the scene. So if you use a screw on type filter, it is not possible to move it aroung. This is why you need to use a square, or rectangular filter, not screwed into the lense, so that you can have the ability to move it around.

There are two ways to hold these filters to the front of the lens. The first, is by using a filter holder, that you screw onto the lense. The second way, is to just hold the filter in front of the lens with your hand. I started out by using a filter holder. But once I learned how to hand hold the filter, I rarely use the holder. Hand holding is much faster, more convenient, and offers the additional benefil of allowing you to slowly move the filter during the actual exposure, in order to blur the transition line that exists between the light and dark part of the filter.

Most guys that are heavy into filters, will eventually want 4 ND grads, a 2 stop hard, a 3 stop hard, a 2 stop soft, and a 3 stop soft. To start, just get one. My recommendation would be a 2 stop hard. Hi Tech makes a "P" size 2 stop hard for forty bucks. It's cheaper than the Lee or Singh, but very good. Stay away from the Cokin filters, as many say they have a color cast, and they're not much cheaper than the excellent Hi Tech.

Hope this helps to get you started,

Harvey

Addendum:

1. I just checked out your site. You have some beautiful shots.

2. Spend forty bucks and get yourself a Hi tech 2 stop hard.

3. Quick


Harvey

Thanks gearhead, and Harvey for your comments on the question that I asked, I have the cokin ones and they got chipped and the holder got broken in the motorcycle accident that I was in, along with a whole lot more stuff that was in my backpack. I read in one of the nikon threads that there is still some folks that use the older grad-nd's ... I'm in a pinch and want to try it out, don't have the cash flow right now. So I know about the things that you two are saying just wanted to know if there were still old school photographers out there that use them.
Lynn