Lee filter availability - this is getting ridiculous

Anyone know where there's a Lee 6x4 .6 soft GND in stock, right now?

7th of February I placed an order at Adorama for (among some other items) a Lee filter kit - the holder, WA adapter ring, a .6 soft GND and a .9 hard GND.

The other items were shipped right away, along with the filter holder, but I got a message that the 2 filters and WA adapter ring were on backorder. They gave me the option to wait or cancel them. They aren't critical for me, so I've just left it to wait til they come in. The adapter and hard filter have come in to the store, but they're still waiting on the soft unless I want to pay for the extra shipping.

I'd like to point out here now that I'm not complaining about Adorama. I've dealt with them a lot over the last few years and I find their service excellent.

But how long does it take to get a soft GND filter?!

I thought about just cancelling that part of the order, get the other stuff. Tried 2filters.com and they're out of stock too.

I'd have to pay extra shipping too, which not happy about.

There are other threads here on POTN about the Lee filters and holders,
and the evident lack of manufacturing capacity or just plain frustration
with actual product availability.

It seems the availability of product is in a worldwide shortage right now.

Take the existing items and cancel the soft GND...

Buy a hi-tech or singh-ray soft.

Little by little I got every piece I needed for the time being (my "hunt" started about 2 weeks ago).

- Called some places, got the Lee Big Stopper at a local store.

- Got lucky with the Lee Foundation Kit (was in stock for a day on B&H last week)

- Found the Lee 77mm wide angle on an ebay-like site from a HongKong seller, should be here tomorrow.

- Last thing I want for now is a Lee 0.9 Soft GND and that's what I'm having trouble finding available without buying the whole soft kit at my local shop (I don't need the 0.3 soft)

Hardly anyone realizes that Lee makes a 2 and a 1/2 stop GND (.75). Since most folks just buy them in full stops (1, 2 or 3), I was available to pick up a .75 without any problem. It actually is working very well for me.

I would settle for a 0.75, I can't find one of those either.

I just want a 0.9 soft and 0.6 hard to start. No luck on either.

Maybe you were destined to buy the Singh-Ray GNDs instead

Thanks to TaDa, I just bought the Lee SOFT kit (0.3, 0.6, 0.9) for $179 on B&H used (10/10 condition).

Will be here Tuesday

Have you tried approaching Lee direct to see what they say.

They are close to me. I'll go bash on their door if you want! I admit I went to Cokin because of Lee's "don't care" attitude.

I was at Unique Photo Saturday and saw they had 2 double slot Lee holders for sale.
as well as a ton of Lee accessories and filters...

DisrupTer911 wrote in post #11118089
I was at Unique Photo Saturday and saw they had 2 double slot Lee holders for sale.
as well as a ton of Lee accessories and filters...

Nice! I used to visit that place a lot.

Lowner wrote in post #11117862
Have you tried approaching Lee direct to see what they say.

They are close to me. I'll go bash on their door if you want! I admit I went to Cokin because of Lee's "don't care" attitude.

I doubt it's as much "don't care" as it is "not primary focus". Panavision's main income comes from the higher end equipment, and in this economy, could just be them not giving the adequate funds to Lee for their manufacturing needs.

Just go with Singh-Ray!

Singh Ray rocks!!

TaDa wrote in post #11118163
I doubt it's as much "don't care" as it is "not primary focus". Panavision's main income comes from the higher end equipment, and in this economy, could just be them not giving the adequate funds to Lee for their manufacturing needs.

Entirely possible, but it would seem kind of curious to me. They must know how many back orders are waiting on them to deliver the product. These are guaranteed sales!