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Author Topic: Lee ND Grad Filters  (Read 12366 times)

amoergosum

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« on: January 21, 2008, 10:56:33 am »

I'm thinking about purchasing the Lee Filter system for my Canon 16-35L II lens
(on a Canon 5D).
I would like to ask if any of you use Lee ND Grad filters and if so, which ones do you use most often? >>> 0.3, 0.6, 0.9? >>> Hard or soft?
Would you recommend to buy a whole set or only specific ones?
I'd appreciate your help a lot.
cheers,
Benjamin
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smthopr

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2008, 11:37:30 am »

Quote
I'm thinking about purchasing the Lee Filter system for my Canon 16-35L II lens
(on a Canon 5D).
I would like to ask if any of you use Lee ND Grad filters and if so, which ones do you use most often? >>> 0.3, 0.6, 0.9? >>> Hard or soft?
Would you recommend to buy a whole set or only specific ones?
I'd appreciate your help a lot.
cheers,
Benjamin
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=168570\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

On my last project, I carried a soft ND.6 and a hard ND.6 and used them both at the same time once. It would be a good start I would think.

Ideally, it would be good to have a whole set of each, but it gets expensive (I seem to remember my filters costing over $300 each for Tiffen). However, with digital post production (photoshop) you can do quite a bit of grad work, and from starting with the RAW file, you may just need to get in the ball park.

-bruce
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Bartie

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2008, 12:23:28 pm »

Hi, I use the Lee ND soft Grads. I bought them as a set of three 0.3,0.6 and0.9.I have no problems using them on a 1DS Mk2.

Regards  Andy
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amoergosum

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2008, 04:52:06 am »

Thanks for your replies.
I read that hard ND grad filters work better with wide lenses.
Is that true?
« Last Edit: January 22, 2008, 04:52:46 am by amoergosum »
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timhurst

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2008, 05:31:40 am »

Quote
Thanks for your replies.
I read that hard ND grad filters work better with wide lenses.
Is that true?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=168746\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Depends on your subject more than anything and your distance to/from it. A hard grad is good for straight distant horizons and a soft is better for when things like buildings are sticking up into the sky.

Shooting digi I wouldn't bother with the .3 but I find having 0.6 soft and hards in my bag really handy.

The front filter thread on the 16-35 II is big and will push the price up a bit for the holder.
« Last Edit: June 11, 2008, 05:50:01 pm by timhurst »
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Josh-H

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2008, 07:51:57 am »

Using a .3, .6 and .9 hard on the 5D and 1DS MKIII with a 16-35mm F2.8L.

No dramas at all. I havent found th need for the soft filters since the hard filters are quite graduated anyway.
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amoergosum

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2008, 08:28:38 am »

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Using a .3, .6 and .9 hard on the 5D and 1DS MKIII with a 16-35mm F2.8L.

No dramas at all. I havent found th need for the soft filters since the hard filters are quite graduated anyway.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=168761\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Hi Josh,
do you use the .3 often?
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smthopr

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2008, 12:00:15 pm »

Quote
Thanks for your replies.
I read that hard ND grad filters work better with wide lenses.
Is that true?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=168746\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I usually use the hard ND grads with long lenses and the soft with wide lenses.  With the hard grad and a wide lens there needs to be a good part of the image to hide the grad line as it's quite defined.

Note that I have tiffen filters and I'm not familiar with the hardness or softness of other brands.

-bruce
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Josh-H

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2008, 05:45:29 pm »

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Hi Josh,
do you use the .3 often?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=168765\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

No.. not really..

Mostly I find myself reaching for the .6 or .9.
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amoergosum

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2008, 06:20:55 am »

Is it actually possible to use a screw-on ND full nd grad filter + a Lee ND grad filter?
« Last Edit: January 23, 2008, 08:29:52 am by amoergosum »
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Graham Welland

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2008, 03:16:29 pm »

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Is it actually possible to use a screw-on ND full nd grad filter + a Lee ND grad filter?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=168960\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Well you can just mount the Lee adapter to the screw on full ND but you should be careful that the ND matches between them. (Not all ND's are neutral). The best approach would be to use a Lee full ND filter and layer that in the holder with the grad ND's. You can stack several filters in the holder.
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amoergosum

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #11 on: January 24, 2008, 04:02:30 am »

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Well you can just mount the Lee adapter to the screw on full ND but you should be careful that the ND matches between them. (Not all ND's are neutral). The best approach would be to use a Lee full ND filter and layer that in the holder with the grad ND's. You can stack several filters in the holder.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=169051\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


With the 16-35L II lens....would I get vignetting at 16mm if I stack two filters in the holder?
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Josh-H

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #12 on: January 24, 2008, 06:08:42 am »

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With the 16-35L II lens....would I get vignetting at 16mm if I stack two filters in the holder?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=169168\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Yes. I have stacked filters with the 16-35mm and did get soem vignetting.
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timhurst

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #13 on: January 24, 2008, 07:10:20 am »

It will vignette to an extent up to about 20mm even with the wide angle adapter ring and not stacking filters so you're out of luck on that one. You'll need to experiment to see what is acceptable to you. Stopping the lens down to f11-f16 will help minimise vignetting.
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D White

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Lee ND Grad Filters
« Reply #14 on: January 25, 2008, 01:51:49 am »

The Lee hard edge are not as hard as Singh-Ray.
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