gnds, gnd holders etc

to those that use gnd's, what holder do you use and and which types of filters?

looking for a holder for my sigma 10-20 and 24-105. both are 77mm.

any recommendations.

i'm also looking to upgrade my cokin GND's, any suggestions?

I use Singh-Ray 84 mm grads in a Cokin Wide P holder. That may cause vignetting with your 10-20 though.

Hitech 4x5 GND filters with a Lee holder and 77mm adapter ring.

I also use Singh-Ray 84mm GNDs with the Cokin P holder.

Jon wrote in post #5642678
I use Singh-Ray 84 mm grads in a Cokin Wide P holder. That may cause vignetting with your 10-20 though.

i'm assuming the wide p is whole different holder than the P?

azpix wrote in post #5657670
i'm assuming the wide p is whole different holder than the P?

Its different, and it only has a single slot...

Looking at b and h for the Lee GND's, do the lee’s come with some sort of case? it doesn't indicate on b and h.

argyle wrote in post #5643824
Hitech 4x5 GND filters with a Lee holder and 77mm adapter ring.

call me stupid, but i cant find a lee 4x 5 holder (mainly looking on b and H) or a picture. anyone have a link>

does hitech make filters for the cokin P?

Jon wrote in post #5642678
I use Singh-Ray 84 mm grads in a Cokin Wide P holder. That may cause vignetting with your 10-20 though.

I have a regular cokin P holder in which I sawed off one of the filter slots (basically a wide holder); no vingetting w/ my 10-22 unless Im using a polarizer (normal b+w) in which case I can go down to about 13mm before I get any vingetting. If I go wider with the polarizer I hand hold and get no vingetting; however, its tough to hand hold the P filter at 10mm w/o getting a finger in the corner of your shot though. All in all I'm happy with what I have considering I spent about $100 for my Lee filter, cokin P holder, and Cokin adapters. The full size Lee sytem is better, but it costs many times more than a P sized system and full size filters are about twice the price of P sized filters.

It all comes down to money on this one; if you have the cash to buy the Lee holder and full size filters then do it, otherewise go P and experiment with Lee, Sing Ray, and Hitech filters. All above mentioned filters are good quality.

azpix wrote in post #5669802
call me stupid, but i cant find a lee 4x 5 holder (mainly looking on b and H) or a picture. anyone have a link>

does hitech make filters for the cokin P?

The 4x4 holder will hold a 4x5 filter, the grads are a bit longer than the filter holder so you can slide them up or down to get the gradation in the correct spot.

azpix wrote in post #5669802
call me stupid, but i cant find a lee 4x 5 holder (mainly looking on b and H) or a picture. anyone have a link>

You can do a google for Lee filters (I don't recall the exact URL for them) to see pictures of the Lee products. I bought my Lee holder (also called the 'Lee Foundation Kit') from 2filter.com. Got my Hitech GND's from 2filter as well. But if your trip to Havasu is on the 15th of June, you need to get crackin'.

argyle wrote in post #5673402
you need to get crackin'.

ya i know.

I have a cokin set if worse comes to worse. I talked to some people at 2filter.com today and if i order Monday I'll be fine. . I have 2 concerns with the cokin holder. The minor concern is the vigeneting on my 10-20 @ 10mm. The major one is I find it to be a royal pain to get on. I was hoping the Lee was easier to put on but the folks at 2filter said they were about the same......? i did figure out it easier to put the adapter ring on then snap the holder. not sure if thats the proper way to do it or not. will the lee vigenette @ 10mm ?anyone know?

also looking at upgrading to the hitech. I was thinking of getting :
Hitech 85/P Gradual ND 0.6 Soft Edge
Hitech 85/P Gradual ND 0.9 Hard Edge
Hitech 85/P Gradual ND 1.2 Soft Edge
If my understanding is correct, that's 2,3 and 4 stops. any thoughts or input on those combos of hard and soft edges?

last question, do the hitechs gnd's come with some thing to store them in? what do you all store your GND's in?

azpix wrote in post #5676780
ya i know.

I have a cokin set if worse comes to worse. I talked to some people at 2filter.com today and if i order Monday I'll be fine. . I have 2 concerns with the cokin holder. The minor concern is the vigeneting on my 10-20 @ 10mm. The major one is I find it to be a royal pain to get on. I was hoping the Lee was easier to put on but the folks at 2filter said they were about the same......? i did figure out it easier to put the adapter ring on then snap the holder. not sure if thats the proper way to do it or not. will the lee vigenette @ 10mm ?anyone know?

also looking at upgrading to the hitech. I was thinking of getting :
Hitech 85/P Gradual ND 0.6 Soft Edge
Hitech 85/P Gradual ND 0.9 Hard Edge
Hitech 85/P Gradual ND 1.2 Soft Edge
If my understanding is correct, that's 2,3 and 4 stops. any thoughts or input on those combos of hard and soft edges?

last question, do the hitechs gnd's come with some thing to store them in? what do you all store your GND's in?

As far as the ease of putting on the filter holder, they may have been comparing the Lee to the Cokin P. The Lee simply snaps on and is retained with a spring-loaded clip. The Cokin Z-Pro, which would be more comparable to the Lee than the P holder, requires you to deal with three tiny plastic pins to attach the holder. The Lee and the Z-Pro are both fully customizable...that is, you can reduce the number of filter slots by removing the mounting screws. I don't believe the Cokin P has this feature...which means that you would be more susceptible to vignetting with a wide lens since you have all these slots sticking out in front of the lens. Also, the P holder is recommended for focal lengths of 28mm or greater (about 17mm and up in 1.6 format). As far as installing goes, just screw the adapter ring onto the lens, then clip on your holder, no matter which brand. My advice would be to get a holder that has removable slots...mount it to your widest lens, go out in the yard and take test shots at various apertures to check for vignetting. You may not be able to tell from the viewfinder since the image isn't 100%...you'd have to download them into DPP or other software to check. If there is vignetting, remove a slot and try it again. I looked for my test shots with the 10-22 and holder, but can't find them (I probably deleted them since I sold off the 10-22...sorry). Also, with a Lee or Cokin Z-Pro, you'd only need the one holder...with a P, you'd need the wide angle holder and the regular holder to carry around with you.

As far as filter storage goes, the Hitechs come in individual vinyl sleeves. That's all that I use for storage and also carrying about. Never had any problems. Lee makes and sells a filter booklet that will store up to 10 filters (I think), but its the size of a small daytimer (expensive, takes up a lot of valuable space in the backpack). I picked up a little wallet-style pouch at Cabela's that clips to my belt...I carry the filters in that along with the holder. Otherwise, they're in my shirt pocket.

Filter strengths...personal decision. I only have 2 and 3 stop filters, in both hard and soft variety. A 4-stop would be nice to add eventually, but I haven't had much need for it yet. Don't forget, you can also stack GND's when the need arises.