Newbie Guide to Filters


woah thanks for the photo, makes things so much clearer. so i believe that the lee foundation set has its polarizer mounted on the outside?

btw, do your think that its a waste to use a 100mm instead of 85mm filter on a widest 17mm focal length?

Yes. The Lee polarizer requires you get an additional attachement and screw into the filter holder. The whole setup is quite expensive and not for those with weak hearts (and wallets).
 

how about the second part of my question? do your think that its a waste to use a 100mm instead of 85mm filter on a widest 17mm focal length on a DX body? thanks!
 

cheesy said:
how about the second part of my question? do your think that its a waste to use a 100mm instead of 85mm filter on a widest 17mm focal length on a DX body? thanks!

Usually, u dun buy square filter for a single lens (or focal length) per say. It's an investment for ur entire lens library. If u really must isolate to the 17mm on DX alone, yes, it's a waste. But are u not getting any other lenses in the future or moving to FX? 100mm is almost a one time investment (short of 14-24mm or medium format, large format camera) for filter holder. U can adapter it to other lenses using adapter or step down ring (not recommended).

Then again, it's just my opinion. I took the 100mm route FYI. And I'm happy with it. :)
 

how about the second part of my question? do your think that its a waste to use a 100mm instead of 85mm filter on a widest 17mm focal length on a DX body? thanks!

Waste? nope. Coz one day you might decide to get a UWA like 10-20 or 11-16. Then you will find that the 85mm holders will vignette. And you need to buy the 100mm ones anyway, and need to sell your 85mm ones, and realized that any tianya stuff is hard to sell.
 

Usually, u dun buy square filter for a single lens (or focal length) per say. It's an investment for ur entire lens library. If u really must isolate to the 17mm on DX alone, yes, it's a waste. But are u not getting any other lenses in the future or moving to FX? 100mm is almost a one time investment (short of 14-24mm or medium format, large format camera) for filter holder. U can adapter it to other lenses using adapter or step down ring (not recommended).

Then again, it's just my opinion. I took the 100mm route FYI. And I'm happy with it. :)

Waste? nope. Coz one day you might decide to get a UWA like 10-20 or 11-16. Then you will find that the 85mm holders will vignette. And you need to buy the 100mm ones anyway, and need to sell your 85mm ones, and realized that any tianya stuff is hard to sell.

thanks guys. i will reconsider then! ;)
 

found this, Lee Foundation Kit vs Cokin Z-Pro.

[video=youtube;GXGQYY84PwI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GXGQYY84PwI#![/video]
 

found this, Lee Foundation Kit vs Cokin Z-Pro.

Several points the review left out.

1. Lee lens adapter comes in a couple more flavors, one of which is the wide angle adapter ring. With this ring it actually sets the holder slightly further in to the lens. So if you use a UWA on a FF body, there will be no vignetting. On the Cokin Z-pro, there is only one kind of adapter ring, this effectively sets the holder slightly further out compared to the Lee holder. On some UWA lenses on FF camera. you might run into vignetting even with only two slots set up.

2. The polarizer is not supposed to be used on the Lee holder that way. There is a polarizer attachment that can be attached to the front of the lee holder. The attachment comes with screw threads (105mm). So you can still use a 105mm CPL or the one from Lee. With the Cokin, you are stuck with the Cokin Z-pro CPL. And knowing the situation Cokin is in now, stocks are very very limited (if even available at all) and the filter is very hard to locate.

Price wise, there is a China made copy of the Lee holder (and adapter rings) now available in Singapore. It is significantly cheaper than both the Lee or Cokin Z-pro holders.

HTH
 

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thanks for the insights! seems that Lee Foundation Kit is a better choice after all haha ;)
 

daredevil123 said:
Several points the review left out.

1. Lee lens adapter comes in a couple more flavors, one of which is the wide angle adapter ring. With this ring it actually sets the holder slightly further in to the lens. So if you use a UWA on a FF body, there will be no vignetting. On the Cokin Z-pro, there is only one kind of adapter ring, this effectively sets the holder slightly further out compared to the Lee holder. On some UWA lenses on FF camera. you might run into vignetting even with only two slots set up.

2. The polarizer is not supposed to be used on the Lee holder that way. There is a polarizer attachment that can be attached to the front of the lee holder. The attachment comes with screw threads (105mm). So you can still use a 105mm CPL or the one from Lee. With the Cokin, you are stuck with the Cokin Z-pro CPL. And knowing the situation Cokin is in now, stocks are very very limited (if even available at all) and the filter is very hard to locate.

Price wise, there is a China made copy of the Lee holder (and adapter rings) now available in Singapore. It is significantly cheaper than both the Lee or Cokin Z-pro holders.

HTH

I'd previously made a comparison of the china adapter ring with the original lee's 77mm wide angle adapter. I dun feel a difference, can dd confirm this?
 

I'd previously made a comparison of the china adapter ring with the original lee's 77mm wide angle adapter. I dun feel a difference, can dd confirm this?

No difference. In fact I also own a china ver of the wide angle adapter ring and it works perfectly. Just as well as my original Lee adapter ring.
 

what do your think of the following setup for a newbie like myself? widest angle of lens would be 17mm, using a DX body.

Lee Foundation Kit - $120
Lee Adapter Ring 77MM - $40 (not wide angle)
Hitech GND Soft Kit (0.3, 0.6, 0.9) (100x150) - $200

should not have any vignetting right? how about if i were to move into UWA?
 

what do your think of the following setup for a newbie like myself? widest angle of lens would be 17mm, using a DX body.

Lee Foundation Kit - $120
Lee Adapter Ring 77MM - $40 (not wide angle)
Hitech GND Soft Kit (0.3, 0.6, 0.9) (100x150) - $200

should not have any vignetting right? how about if i were to move into UWA?

Even with UWA, no problems.
 

woah thanks. this wide angle adapter is like meant for FX body?

any other shops that carry lee and hitech products? i know TK have both and CP have lee but not sure about hitech.
 

woah thanks. this wide angle adapter is like meant for FX body?

any other shops that carry lee and hitech products? i know TK have both and CP have lee but not sure about hitech.

Actually it is just better to get the wide angle adapter.

Yes, it is more for FX cams and very wide lenses.
 

thanks. the build of Lee foundation kit and its adapter ring looks great!
 

hey wanna check something with you guys here. when shooting landscape in the day, am i right to say that your will stack a ND (to bring down the shutter speed) and a GND (to balance up the exposure of the scene)?

i went play around with the GND and it seems that my shutter speed is still too fast. if i expose for 1 second, the whole photo would be over exposed. so i suppose having a ND would be able to bring down the shutter speed slow enough so that i could have the dramatic effect of the clouds without over exposing the scene?
 

cheesy said:
hey wanna check something with you guys here. when shooting landscape in the day, am i right to say that your will stack a ND (to bring down the shutter speed) and a GND (to balance up the exposure of the scene)?

i went play around with the GND and it seems that my shutter speed is still too fast. if i expose for 1 second, the whole photo would be over exposed. so i suppose having a ND would be able to bring down the shutter speed slow enough so that i could have the dramatic effect of the clouds without over exposing the scene?

Gnd only balances the exposure between bright aky and darker foreground. Nd is the one you need to bring the shutter speed down.

You can also push the Gnd down to just use the dark portion of the filter.

A lot also depends on what time of the day you are shooting and how bright the conditions are.
 

Say for instant normal daylight? Is the lee big stopper really capable of bringing down the shutter to minutes?

It's a pity that the pro stop series from hitech has glitches. And because of that, TK actually returned the shipment.
 

cheesy said:
Say for instant normal daylight? Is the lee big stopper really capable of bringing down the shutter to minutes?

It's a pity that the pro stop series from hitech has glitches. And because of that, TK actually returned the shipment.

Under bright daylight, minutes of exposure may be not be achieved. 30s should not be a problem. I am saying this based on my experience using f22
 

Say for instant normal daylight? Is the lee big stopper really capable of bringing down the shutter to minutes?

It's a pity that the pro stop series from hitech has glitches. And because of that, TK actually returned the shipment.

Sorry mind if I ask what glitches you are referring to?
 

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