Graduated Neutral Density filters?

Just Got a Sony 70-200 F4. I want a set of Graduated filters for it as well as my nikon gear.
I know Lee's are the best but want other options and have no clue were to start.
I also do no undersand the value system of the ND as far as the darkness scale goes.
Any help would go a long way.

ThomasDidymus wrote in post #18119550
Just Got a Sony 70-200 F4. I want a set of Graduated filters for it as well as my nikon gear.
I know Lee's are the best but want other options and have no clue were to start.
I also do no undersand the value system of the ND as far as the darkness scale goes.
Any help would go a long way.

The best ND filters right now (grad or solid) are the Formatt-Hitech firecrest series. That have no color shift. Formatt is also releasing a new firecrest filter holder that looks to be very well designed. The video about it can be found here:

http://www.formatt-hitech.com/learn-holder-systems/

I'd stay away from cokin or any of formatt's resin filters. The color cast on cheaper filters can be quite severe and sometimes uncorrectable.

I can't help you with the math for the ND value system. I just learn how many stops the value is assigned (e.g. 3.0 is my 10 stop filter). Maybe Wilt will show up and explain the math of it

The "strength" of an ND filter can be expressed at least 3 ways that I know of:

1) Stops: This is pretty self explanatory and the one I wished they all used

2) Fractional: 2 = 1/2 = half the light = 1 stop. 8 would be 1/8 or 3 stops

3) Decimal: 0.3 = 1 stop, 0.6 = 2 stops, 0.9 = 3 stops. The one makes no sense to me but I haven't investigated the underlying math

Okay so now.. Should I go with a hard or soft kit to start out with?? I am looking at the Lee Kits... I mean what is money any way...

Personally, I use Singh Ray filters. For me the 3 stop reverse grad ND was my most used. I haven't had a chance to use my filters in a while though. . . .

ThomasDidymus wrote in post #18119550
Just Got a Sony 70-200 F4. I want a set of Graduated filters for it as well as my nikon gear.
I know Lee's are the best but want other options and have no clue were to start.
I also do no undersand the value system of the ND as far as the darkness scale goes.
Any help would go a long way.

What's your goal with these grad ND filters in the fist place? What kind of horizons are you going to be shooting? Will anything be in the horizon? I ask because if you're shooting water with a relatively straight horizon and nothing coming up from it (trees, mountains, structures, etc), grad NDs can be effective; but if you're doing landscapes without a straight horizon you will have issues darkening things that raise above the graduating line. Also, the kind of grad ND you get depends again on what you're trying to stop down. A soft edge graduated ND will have a slow transition of non-ND to full strength ND from the line to the top of the filter, to stop down bright portions of the sky relative to foreground, and the soft edge is good if you need some blending at the horizon due to there not being a distinct line horizon (such as distant foliage, etc). A hard edge is good for when there's a distinct line edge, like water to sky. A reverse grad ND is good for when there is a bright source of light at the horizon, such as sunsets/sunrises with the sun at the horizon and not high in the sky.

As someone else already explained, the stop system is the easiest to deal with. You will find them labeled in several ways. Stops is the easiest though (1 through up to 15). But lots are listed in fractions (ie, ND8 being 1/8th or 3 stops).

Very best,

Okay so like I said. I have no clue were to start. I want to be able to get great shots at the beach, and also get that fog look on moving water. But And I do mean BUT I have not clue other than they two video I watched last night were to start. I know now that a ND is what you use for the most part to fog water and make it stand still. That it give you the ability to use a slow shutter during the day. I have seen that photos of the ocean work well with a graduated ND so that is all I know... I don't get brands, types, or materials.

ThomasDidymus wrote in post #18120462
Okay so like I said. I have no clue were to start. I want to be able to get great shots at the beach, and also get that fog look on moving water. But And I do mean BUT I have not clue other than they two video I watched last night were to start. I know now that a ND is what you use for the most part to fog water and make it stand still. That it give you the ability to use a slow shutter during the day. I have seen that photos of the ocean work well with a graduated ND so that is all I know... I don't get brands, types, or materials.

If you're looking for shots with the sun at or near the horizon (sunset/sunrise) then a reverse graduated neutral density filter is what you want. This will be a plate filter. Don't go with the smaller "P" size. This is what I use: Singh Ray "Daryl Benson" Reverse Grad ND. For long exposures you can use a screw on filter or a plate filter. I have an 4-8 stop Vari-N-Trio that I carry with me as well as a 10 stop plate. The screw on filters are great if you think you might want some long exposures but don't want to break out the entire plate kit. Here is a link to Singh Rays website, they are located in Fl and are always happy to talk filters with you if you have any questions or concerns: Singh-Ray.com. I use Singh Ray for all my plate filters, as well as their Vari-N-Trio (warming/color intensifying/polarizin​g variable ND filter), LB Color Combo (warming/color intensifying polarizer) and their "Gold and Blue" polarizer. I use B&W for my other screw on filters (a screw on 10 stop, and a neutral CPL).

Have you considered HDR instead of ND grads? Lightroom can create nice looking HDRs with as little as two exposures. A tripod is highly recommended by not absolutely necessary. Once you have an HDR image, you can then apply affects like a virtual ND grad to lower the sky's exposure relative to the foreground. I'm not sure if you could simulate a reverse ND grad but you might want to Google it. Regular ND's are still necessary for effects that require a long exposure. You can get screw-in NDs for your largest lens and use step-up rings for smaller lenses.

You can also simulate long exposures using multiple short ones. So shooting say 100 1/10s shots, stacking them in PS using the average blend mode will give you the same effect as shooting a 10 second exposure. There are lots of benefits to this method, as you can play games with moving objects by using layer masks. So you could have the smoothed smoke effect water, but fixed sharp clouds. Or choose to show a moving object that would otherwise blur in to nothingness. Of course there is a big difference between using solid ND filters for extending exposure, were given a minimum of ISO 100 you may now need upwards of 10 stops to achieve the desired results, and the various types of graduated ND filters used to balance exposures, were often three stops will be plenty. The multiple exposure technique can remove the need to the really deep ND filters, but you may still need to balance the exposure with the grad.

Alan