ND filter ?????

I am looking into purchasing a ND Filter for my Canon 30D. I am a college student so I dont have a ton of money to throw at it, but what would be a good bargin without sacrificing much on the quality? The lens I use the most is 28-135.

Thanks
David

Haha broke your POTN cherry

On a budget the Cokin filter system is good value. What do you want it for, and are you sure you mean ND filter, or ND grad? Both come in a whole host of varieties. If you can give a little more information, we can help with more specific advice.

Well I might have meant ND grad. I was more wanting it for night shots and softing the 'street light' type lights in them, and for waterfall pictures to get the softer feeling.
If that makes any sense at all to you, thanks for your help so far though!

DLitton wrote in post #7728003
Well I might have meant ND grad. I was more wanting it for night shots and softing the 'street light' type lights in them, and for waterfall pictures to get the softer feeling.
If that makes any sense at all to you, thanks for your help so far though!

Then you need both ND and ND Grad.
ND filters comes in steps of 0.3, 0.6, 0.9 and NDX (1,2,4 and 8 stops)
ND Grad comes in soft/hard if I don't remember wrong.

ND grad is used when you have i.e bright sky and "normal" light further down in your view. For your street light you might try these.
Waterfalls you will need the ND since you mostly have even light and just want longer exposure.

There is also cheaper version of the ND filters on Ebay, just for you to try it out.
These are made in China and sold from China, Taiwan and some shops in the US.
You will need the filter holder and the ring that fits your treads on the lens.
The Cokin holder, fits 3 filters or just one if you get the one made for wide angel lens. This holder is also made for a round polarization filter.
The holder also fits several other brands if you want better quality on the filter.
Lee is probably the best after reading the reviews.

Check out Cokin.com since they have a very good webpage.
Before you order any filter/rings/holder make sure you know what you want. Since all those numbers on the different filters can be confusing.

Thanks a bunch, I appreciate your time!!

There's a wide range of values of density in both types; plain and graduated. If you're just wanting to try the effect, and therefore want only one of each type for now, I would recommend a 2-stop grad and a 3-stop plain. My reasoning is that in most landscapes, the sky is two stops brighter than the foreground - this is particularly true over water, so a 2-stop grad is the most useful. A 1-stop would be quite subtle, and a 3-stop would look unnatural in some cases, making the sky dimmer than its own reflection. For plain filters all you are looking for is to cut down light. You can do that so far just by closing the aperture, so if you're going to reduce light you might as well do it by a fair amount. Therefore the 3-stop would be a good amount.

Thanks for your help mark. You pretty much nailed my question there.