Hello All, I have recently gotten into photography and am learning how to shoot landscapes. I'd like to invest in a set of graduated neutral density filters using a Cokin-style filter holder like these: http://www.cokin.com/ico15/ico15-haut.html My understanding is that the p series is the de facto industry standard filter size, which I'd prefer since I don't want to be tied to one manufacturer for filters. For equipment, I have a Canon 500D paired with an EF-S 10-22mm lens. Will the P-series holder and filters cause noticeable vignetting with my wide angle lens? For those of you who shoot with ultra wide lenses, what size filter holder would you recommend? Also, here's a link to my Flickr page. I'm completely new to the art, so any comments and criticism would be greatly appreciated! http://www.flickr.com/photos/42003206@N05/ Cheers, Dan
Hmm... I have a P series, but not a wide angle that low. I'd say go to a camera store and ask if you can throw one on there to see if it would. The holder itself sits somewhat wide and should not really interfere with that lens, but like I said. You may want to test it out before you spend a bunch. I do have that holder on my 77mm (filter ring) lens and it does not affect anything, and the adapter has little space left. And great shots too!
I use the P type filters on my sigma 10-20 with the Cokin wide angle filter holder. Its a slimmed down holder with only 1 filter slot and a slot for the polarizer. I know it doesn't vignette at 12mm and pretty sure its clear at 10mm but that is with the filter only I've never used the polarizer at that wide an angle as it tends to make the sky a bit bandy. Oh and I don't use a UV filter on my lenses, I believe that using one will generally cause the wide angle filter holder to vignette. Of course you could always handhold the filters in front of the lens.
I'd argue that 100mm filters are more predominant in the industry, but they're generally quite a bit more expensive (several times). I've gone from a HiTech filter holder to a Lee one because it was modular, which prevented vignetting at 17mm on my 5D Mk2. I've kept all my old HiTech 100mm filters, as they arguably fit better in the Lee system than they do in HiTech's own.
Somewhat irrelevant, but at 18mm I manage just fine with my A series filters. I also have a friend who uses P series filters on his Tokina 11-16mm with no issues what so ever, so I think you will get away just dandy. One thing I may suggest is not to skimp out on buying the filters. I bought an unbranded set from China to find that all of the GND's had a horrible magenta cast which made post processing that extra little bit difficult. So stick with original Cokin's or Lee's if you can stretch your budget to fit it.
Thanks guys for all the helpful replies. Outlaw - I took your advice and tried a slot-in filter holder on my camera today. At 10mm the filter holder is definitely visible on the left and right sides of the frame. Above 12mm however, there was no holder showing and no vignetting. So I think I'm going to purchase 2 and 3 stop ND grad filters in the p-series size. In a perfect world, it would be nice to go with the 100mm filters so I can use the full range of my wide angle lens, but it's amazing how much the price of filters goes up for that slight size increase. Thanks again for the advice. Now to get outside and get to work!
Thats why I went with the P series in the first place. At the time I was using much smaller lenses, but even on a larger lens it still is sufficient enough. Hope to see more of your work. Its really good!
