Simple solution????

Hello all,

I have a sig 10-20 and was looking for ND Filter. I popped into my local dealer and he says the cokin system wouln't fit.

I have also seen threads where people have sawn off parts of the fittings to get it to work

I am confused, as i understand the "vignetting" part of the prob, but surely there is a filter i can buy for this lens as its my only landscape lens.

Would it be Lee,Kood,Cokin?,Kenko etc.

Its not the price i am worried about, i just want the best solution to solve my "light sky,dark foregrond" prob.

Thanks for any tips.

Ian

ps i have done a thread search, and yes i am a novice so easy tigers

Well, Cokin actually has several system sizes; the Cokin "P" system, probably the most widely used one, would definitely vignette on the 10-20 if you use the standard holder. The modification people have made is to saw off the front 2 (of 3) filter slots, leaving you with one which is the same as the Cokin Wide Angle holder for P-series filters. I don't know if either of those would vignette with the Sigma. But the next option would be to move to 4"/100 mm filters; HiTech are the "low price" option there; Cokin's filters are accurately named "Graduated Gray"; they're not neutral but impart a slight brownish cast to the image. IIRC, HiTech has kits available with a holder and one or two ND grads.

You can also get a "wide-angle" filter holder for the cokin p series which has only 1 slot for 1 filter, as opposed to the usual 3. I just ordered one today from ebay for my 10-20 sigma lens.

Tagging along on this thread.

I want to see how a P series filter + holder with 1 slot will work on a 10m lens (I have the canon 10-22)
I want to determine this _before_ I start buying ND grad filters.

This page has both std and WIDE filter holders:
http://www.2filter.com​/cokin/cokinpaccessori​es.html
This is the grad nd filter + holder 'kit'
http://www.2filter.com​/prices/htpackages.htm​l

Well, my filters and holders etc should be here by next week so I'll try and post some shots before I go on holiday at the end of next week.

My filters etc arrived today. No shots to post yet but the slimline 1 slot filter holder on the sigma 10-20mm looks as though it doesn't vignette, after a (very) brief test. I'll try and use it a bit tomorrow to find out more.

Take a shot at your smallest aperture; that's where vignetting will be worst. Just shoot a blank wall or other evenly-lit surface as if you were checking for dust.

Right, here's a quick test of the filter holders on my Sigma 10-20mm lens:

Here's the test subjects - standard P filter holder on the left, wide-angle P filter holder on the right and 20D with Sigma 10-20mm lens attached:

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michaelgreen78 wrote in post #5682368
Right, here's a quick test of the filter holders on my Sigma 10-20mm lens:

Here's the test subjects - standard P filter holder on the left, wide-angle P filter holder on the right and 20D with Sigma 10-20mm lens attached:

....

Of course, this is a pretty simple and quick test. A more telling test will be how it performs in the field. I'm confident that the results will be fine - I'm not likely to shoot wide-angle landscapes at f4 - more likely they will be between f8-f16 or so. In that case the vignette will be slight and fairly simple to sort out in Lightroom.

Another quick note is that the Sigma 10-20mm lens has a filter size of 77mm - I don't know what the Canon's is but if different the test may have different results.

Nice test, I guess this would apply to the 12-24 too?

Anke wrote in post #5682408
Nice test, I guess this would apply to the 12-24 too?

You mean Sigma's 12-24, or Tokina's? Sigma's is a FF lens that's self-hooding; you'd be more likely to see vignetting with that, since the filter holder would have to be in front of the hood.

I am very interested in this topic, but know almost nothing about graduated filters. Why do you need the holder system? When I look at online info for these filters I just see pictures of the filter case. Are they square or something, requiring a holder? Some are advertised as 77mm, for example, and I was assuming they were just like a CPL or UV filter and I could just screw it on to my lens. Is that not the case?

Looking at some filters at B&H, the specifications indicate that they don't rotate (like a CPL would). Is that why you need the holder? Or do people just like to throw a couple filters on at the same time and the holder gets around the problem of threads on the filters?

I have a 40D and would like to use a graduated density filter for landscapes with a sigma 10-20. I'm not so familiar with the range of what people would consider "normal" or "acceptable" amounts of vignetting using this lens with filters, but the f/4 shot above looks like quite a bit to me. Is that about the best I can expect?

If I want just the graduated density filter on (no cpl or uv), can I just go with a regular screw-on filter and avoid the mounting bracket? Is there less vignetting in this case?

any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.
thanks!

MCB wrote in post #5835596
Why do you need the holder system? When I look at online info for these filters I just see pictures of the filter case. Are they square or something, requiring a holder? Some are advertised as 77mm, for example, and I was assuming they were just like a CPL or UV filter and I could just screw it on to my lens. Is that not the case?

The filters are either square or rectangular. The ND filters are square; the Graduated ND filters are rectangular allowing the line to be positioned where it needs to be in the picture.

MCB wrote in post #5835596
Looking at some filters at B&H, the specifications indicate that they don't rotate (like a CPL would). Is that why you need the holder? Or do people just like to throw a couple filters on at the same time and the holder gets around the problem of threads on the filters?

The filter holder has threads on one side and 'slots' on the other for the filters to slide into. rotation is done on the filter holder to spin the graduated ND line to match the setting. With multiple lense diameters; you have 1 filter holder and whatever size cokin holder to lens filter ring adapters you use.

There are a few different filter sizes; I THINK they're A P and X. It used to be A = Amateur and P = Professional; but with the ultra wide lenses and large Aperture lenses out there; the Z series was made to accommodate these large diameter lenses

The 'normal' holder can accommodate 2-3 filters. The 'Wide Angle' holder only has 1 slot to reduce vignetting as much as possible. Like a 'thin' circular polarizer

MCB wrote in post #5835596
I have a 40D and would like to use a graduated density filter for landscapes with a sigma 10-20. I'm not so familiar with the range of what people would consider "normal" or "acceptable" amounts of vignetting using this lens with filters, but the f/4 shot above looks like quite a bit to me. Is that about the best I can expect?

I'm trying to figure out if the canon 10-22 will have decent results with the 'thin' cokin holder; so I can't answer this yet..

MCB wrote in post #5835596
If I want just the graduated density filter on (no cpl or uv), can I just go with a regular screw-on filter and avoid the mounting bracket? Is there less vignetting in this case?

Yes; you can; but if you're going to get the Graduated ND filters in the future; you should consider the Cokin type so you'll have less parts and pieces in the long run that will be more flexible for you.
Hope it helps.

There are circular, screw-in graduated ND filters, but they're a bad idea. The rectangular grads in their slotted holders can be rotated and slid up and down to adjust where the transition occurs; you get to match the transition to your image composition. A circular grad will rotate, but obviously can't be slid up and down, so you need to adjust your composition to suit the filter. Obviously, this is less useful.

Wow, thanks for the info. It all makes a lot of sense now. This gave me enough good key words to do some Googling and I found this site that seems informative (to me, knowing next to nothing): http://www.cs.mtu.edu …filter/Cokin-Systems.html
At least it makes it a little clearer what it is I need (and maybe what stuff in some kits isn't critical). Now how well it will work with my gear...

it looks like the P-series is the right size for a sigma 10-20, but there is an x-series that's even bigger (if vignetting is a problem).

What about those resin filters? They seem cheap. Is that because the resin is just not a good optical material? Do you get soft focus with them? Is it worth getting one to play with before making the plunge into a set of filters at $100 each?

Thanks again for the info. it is very helpful.