I have a 77mm B+W CPL filter on my 24-70 and really like it for landscapes. I'm wanting to get an ND and perhaps GND in the near future. Those with some experience, what is your philosophy for adding this gear to my setup? Here are my main questions/concerns:
Do I stick with the same brand (B+W)?
What ND or GND gets the most use in your experience? (I can't afford to load up on all different stops, combos, etc.)
Stacking screw-in filters can be a problem with vignetting, etc. Should I keep my screw-in CPL and hand-hold ND filters (i.e. Lee, Singh-Ray, etc.)?
Like all my gear decision-making, I want to plan for the future but also need to be realistic about budget. I want to create a setup that's good for general landscape and travel. So things like creative water effects with long exposures, waterfalls, blurring clouds, blurring crowds at public places, etc. etc.
B+W is a good brand to stick with for threaded circular filters. Whether you use an ND or GND more depends on the kind of shooting you do. IMHO don't get a circular GND - the transition will be in the same place every shot, forcing you to frame every shot the same way. That gets old quickly. The character of the available transition will also be limited.
I'd get a Lee holder and 4x6 GND filters. I got a Lee holder used for a song about 6 years ago when everyone was dumping their film accessories to 'go digital'. I also got a new one about two years ago. They both still work great. Lee and Formatt make good GND filters. Singh Ray make good expensive filters, but they make GNDs you can't get anywhere else (like reverse grad and strip ND). The kind of transition you use will depend on what you're shooting....flattish horizons and seascapes, use a hard transition. More uneven horizon, use soft transition.
Stop-wise, maybe go out to a scene you want to shoot, spot meter the sky, spot meter the foreground, and the f/stop difference, less one stop, will be the one you want. You want about 1 stop difference from a theoretically even result, since skies are generally brighter than the foreground in real life and will look weird if you darken it too much, especially in shot after shot. OTOH, you might need 4 or 5 stops of attenuation if you're into shooting sunrises/sunsets over water. If you do that kind of shooting, look into getting reverse ND grads and/or strips to handle the bright horizon area.
For ND you might need a couple. One won't do it all, since each day hasn't got the same weather conditions (and therefore hasn't got the same light). Part of the trick with flowing water/waterfall shots is getting a look YOU like. The blur amount YOU like will be driven by the shutter speed, and that will, in turn, drive the choice of ND filter. Probably good to start with a 3 or 4 stop, and you can stop the lens down some to get more attenuation. If you stop the lens down too much, though, the image can suffer diffraction unsharpness. Better to control it with the filter. I carry a 3 stop, a 10 stop, and also stack the 3 stop with my CP to get about 4.5-5 stops (or 11.5-12 stops stacking with the 10-stop). If you get a really dark ND you better be on a tripod since the AF won't work with a really dark filter. Frame and focus first, then install the filter and shoot. Since you won't be able to see much through the VF with a really dark ND on, close the VF light gate/shutter (if equipped) so stray light doesn't botch the long exposure.
So with the Lee filter, are you able to move the transition a good bit? Would there be any reason not to save money and just hand-hold the GND filters?
Hand=-holding for 1min is an interesting exercise. So is handholding in a strong wind or with iffy footing. One of two times I have scratched (the rather easily scratchable) resin filters is hand-holding. It can be done, but I personally never do it any more. You can save a bit (but not much) $$$ buying Hitech instead of Lee, and Lee instead of Singh-Ray.
GroovyGeek wrote:
Hand=-holding for 1min is an interesting exercise. So is handholding in a strong wind or with iffy footing. One of two times I have scratched (the rather easily scratchable) resin filters is hand-holding. It can be done, but I personally never do it any more. You can save a bit (but not much) $$$ buying Hitech instead of Lee, and Lee instead of Singh-Ray.
Good info. So then, you would recommend getting a holder and buying all filters (polarizer, ND, GND) for the filter holder....getting rid of circular filters altogether?
