Hi guys, As the title says, I just need a good set of ND filters, not at an earth shattering price either. I'm fairly sceptical of some of the Ebay stuff as any other lens additions or other stuff that I've had has been crap. But if you have bought a good Ebay set- link please! So, what do you recommend? Thanks a lot.
Look for a Cokin P series filter holder, adapter ring for your lens and ND Grads of your choice. Your local camera shop should have all the bits if you're in town. A P121 filter for sunsets and a P121 L for bringing out the sky would be a good place to start. You will probably notice a colour cast on the Cokin filters (slightly purple) but it can either be corrected in Photoshop (because you're taking photos in RAW like a boss,) or left alone if it's aesthetically pleasing. Lee filters would be better, but be prepared to pay out the butt for them. I wouldn't trust no-name Ebay special filters. Mostly because I don't trust them, and partly because you don't know what the colour cast will be like or whether they make the light all squiggly.
Polaroid filters are ok, especially for the price. They do a fader ND for ~£30 which I'll get at some point, mucho handy for video work. I have a few other Polaroid filters atm (CPL, UV etc) and I haven't had any issues yet, haven't used them much yet though.
are you looking for 10 stop ND ?? LEE filters are best but they are extremely expensive. B+W are very good, price depends on filter size
I never liked the colour cast I got with cokin filters, but the cast does vary with batch that was produced, some are very neutral but mine was quite purple and went back. I actually quite like the kood nd filter kit, available here , or if you have more cash Hitech filters (the 85mm are the same size as coking P) and can be found here In truth I now only carry a 9 stop and a polariser regularly, I bracket and merge shots later instead of using grad filters, though I am getting more tempted to buy a variable nd filter at some point
Just had a look around on Ebay, aside from the Chinese stuff, would this be ok to start off with in terms of quality? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3pcs-Neut...Filters_JN&hash=item27c654e8c3#ht_2030wt_1396 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251029560...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_2569wt_1396
The holder looks okay, but as for the filters, I suppose the question needs to be answered with a question. What are you planning to do with them? Long exposures? I'd go with an ND screw-in filter to prevent light leakage around the edges of the filter holder. For that I bought a Tiffen ND filter from my local camera shop. Also, I found that stacking a Cokin filters (such as a P154 ND and 121L ND Grad) didn't work so well because the colour cast was omgwtfpwnt. A Tiffen 0.9 ND screw-in and Cokin 121L ND Grad worked much better. http://www.flickr.com/photos/silverfish51/6202779347/ Sunsets? I'd go with a filter holder and a set of ND Grads because you only want to filter the sky to make sure the ground doesn't become a silhouette. The light is in front of you and is less likely to cause problems with reflections. Or, y'know, tripod up and multi exposure like a boss.
