Scratch on Lee ND Grad filter

[curiousgeorge]

After my camera and tripod blew over in the wind, I escaped with only a scratch on my filter, but it's quite bad and shows in the image.

Is there an easy way of buffing it out?

[Saint728]

How the heck did the wind blow your gear over? What is your tripod made out of, wood? Anyway, back to the question, if it is in the ND part then no you can't get the scratch out because it is a coating. If it is on the clear part then you can probably buff it put with the right equipment.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

[tgara]

The Lee filters are resin, correct? Depending on how deep the scratch is, you might have a hard time polishing it out. You may want to try some plastic polish anyway. I use Meguiar's Plast-X on the headlights and taillights on my Lincoln. It contains a small amount of abrasive to clear the plastic, but it may not work with a really deep scratch. You can get this stuff online at Amazon.com, or at Walmart or a good auto parts store. It works great on clear plastics, but I don't know how it will affect your ND filter overall -- I've never tried it on a filter before. Good luck.

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.asp?T1=MEG+G12310

[MARK1992]

How the heck did the wind blow your gear over? What is your tripod made out of, wood? Anyway, back to the question, if it is in the ND part then no you can't get the scratch out because it is a coating. If it is on the clear part then you can probably buff it put with the right equipment.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

Hmmm wouldn't a wooden tripod be heavier and therefore more resistant to wind?

[curiousgeorge]

The Lee filters are resin, correct? Depending on how deep the scratch is, you might have a hard time polishing it out. You may want to try some plastic polish anyway. I use Meguiar's Plast-X on the headlights and taillights on my Lincoln. It contains a small amount of abrasive to clear the plastic, but it may not work with a really deep scratch. You can get this stuff online at Amazon.com, or at Walmart or a good auto parts store. It works great on clear plastics, but I don't know how it will affect your ND filter overall -- I've never tried it on a filter before. Good luck.

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.asp?T1=MEG+G12310
Thanks, I'll check it out. It's on the clear part so even if I improve it just a bit it should make a difference.

[curiousgeorge]

How the heck did the wind blow your gear over? What is your tripod made out of, wood?
No it's a Manfrotto 190, but if you're in 50mph winds it doesn't matter what tripod you have.

[argyle]

No it's a Manfrotto 190, but if you're in 50mph winds it doesn't matter what tripod you have.

In very windy conditions, I make it a point to keep my camera strap around my neck while the camera is on the tripod.

[curiousgeorge]

I wasn't standing by the tripod, I turned around for a second to get something from my bag. In hindsight I should have released the camera from the head. I've also heard that hanging something heavy from the centre column can help, although that too may induce movement as it's blown in the wind.