ND filters

Hello,

I am planning a trip to Yosemite National Park in a couple of months. I have been thinking that this may be a perfect time to add a good ND filter option to my kit. I am just looking into them and wanted to know any guidance or opinions on the purchase. It seems there are different schools of thought on the options.

I currently use a lot of Hoya filters on my lenses. I have UV and Cir-Pol versions from them. I use a mix of Pro1 Digital and the newer HD series. I am happy with Hoya so far. However, I am open to options on the ND filters. Any feedback on Hoya ND filters? Are there other brands I should consider?

I see ND2, ND4 and ND8 filters at most stores. Is that all you need? I have never played around with them.

What do you want to do with the ND filters? Are you looking for long exposures to, for instance, blur water; to allow you to shoot wide open for shallow DoF; or to balance the sky and a darker foreground? The filter requirements for those will all be different. For long exposures of water in bright light, you'll need a fairly strong ND filter, starting around 5 stops maybe. For shallow DoF, you might be able to get by with a 3 stop one and fast shutter speed at low ISO. And to hold back the sky you'd want a graduated ND filter, for which I'd recommend getting a rectangular one (so you can adjust where the transition zone falls).

For round filters, recommendations would be pretty much the same as for any other screw-in filter - Hoya, Heliopan or B+W. For rectangular, consider getting the 4" grads from Lee or Singh Ray and a Lee holder. Maybe a 2 stop hard and a 3 stop soft gradation (hard grads are better where there's a clear, straight horizon between the two zones you're trying to adjust for; soft are for those cases where there's an irregular boundary).

I was thinking they would come in handy at Yosemite if it was a very bright day. I have never used them and from what you say, the graduated ones are probably my best choice here.