Choose ONE ND grad - which one?

Joe76

Joe76

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Joe
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Hi all

So I think I've finally made up my mind and I'm going to buy a filter system (again, I had a cheapo one previously and got rid). Formatt Hitech have a 20% off offer on at the moment so you can get their new Firecrest 100mm system with the built-in polariser for just under £130 including delivery and VAT, that is MUCH cheaper than the equivalent Lee system and I believe the holder and polariser are better quality, although I've used neither. Anyway the price saving will justify Hitech over Lee for me at this time.

Anyway, on to my question: as I'm on a budget I am thinking of initially getting one ND grad to go with the holder and polariser. I already have a cheap screw-in 10 stop SRB filter which I'm perfectly happy with so that's fine for long exposures, so I need a 'do-it-all' ND grad for holding back the sky. I mostly go up to the Lakes every few weeks but I also do some coastal stuff, lighthouses etc, the usual.

The reason I want a filter is that I'm sick of bracketing and taking triple the number of photos which fills up my hard disk and slows down editing. (Also my Nikon D610 can only bracket three frames so it's a bit limited anyway). I've gone right off HDR and I know how to blend but it would be better not to have to bother really. In addition I like the idea of being able to see the results immediately on the back of the camera rather than having to imagine what the bracketed result will be like.

So to get me started, if you had to choose just ONE 100mm ND grad which would it be and why? 2-stop, 3-stop? Hard/soft/medium grad? Lee / Hitech / Firecrest / other make? I believe the 100mm systems can all hold each other's filters but would I have big problems with a Lee filter in the Firecrest holder?

Cheers in advance.
 
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I'd go for a Lee 2 stop medium grad which should fit in the Hitech holder fine and get the job done in most situations.

Obviously one filter isn't really ideal and a 2 or 3 stop hard grad to go with it would be better. I have sets of Lee soft/medium/hard/extra hard grads and 2 and 3 stop medium and hard are the ones I turn to the most.
 
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justinminns said:
I'd go for a Lee 2 stop medium grad which should fit in the Hitech holder fine and get the job done in most situations.

Obviously one filter isn't real ideal and a 2 or 3 stop hard grad to go with it would be better. I have a sets of Lee soft/medium/hard/extra hard grads and 2 and 3 stop medium and hard are the ones I turn to the most.
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:agree:
 
I bought the Hitech Firecrest holder and ended up sending it back. The biggest issues for me were:
- I found it difficult to properly fit an ND filter behind a grad, and impossible to remove after. It's generally accepted you position a grad then fit an ND.
- I found the Firecrest holder fiddly to work with - which I guess is the trade off you get with protection against light leaks.
- After I bought it they announced they were releasing adapter rings to purchase separately to resolve vignetting on super wide angle lenses. This would have meant unscrewing the polariser from the ring and screwing it into another. I cant imagine doing that out in the cold.

I think it's good value for money and the polariser is very good quality. However it just didn't work for me and I bought the Lee system instead.

I agree with above. You can pull back 1 stop from your camera's dynamic range by underexposing a stop and raising the shadows, making a 1 stop grad pointless. If it had to be 2 I reckon 2 stop hard, 3 stop medium.

The place I've found that sells Lee filters at the best price, excluding the various 10% off deals on black friday, is Speed Graphic. I'm surprised how much they go for used on ebay when they could be scratched/faded etc.
 
OK thanks guys. Seems like there's a shortage of the Lee medium grads at the moment, can't find any in stock at a reasonable price unless you go for the kit of 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 which is about 200 quid. I may have to wait until after christmas, I'm expecting some Amazon vouchers from my folks which should cover some of the cost.
 
Your profile says you are using a D610? I have found since having the D610/750 that the dynamic range is so good that in 99% of occasions a 2 stop hard grad is all I need. I could basically sell my 3 stop hard and wouldn't miss it.
 
Stu Meech said:
Your profile says you are using a D610? I have found since having the D610/750 that the dynamic range is so good that in 99% of occasions a 2 stop hard grad is all I need. I could basically sell my 3 stop hard and wouldn't miss it.
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This for me, apart from I don't use a grad at all - they sod up anything that sticks up above the horizon.
 
Joe76 said:
Formatt Hitech have a 20% off offer on at the moment
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I just had a look at this "offer".
Prices shown on the website mysteriously have "Tax" added on at the checkout. Then you get 20% off. Be careful, prices quoted against the items in the catalogue appear to be more or less what you pay. The figure shown in your basket doesn't appear to be the cost of the items. The discount is from a total that you do not see until the very end. Unless I've got it very wrong this seems to be verging on sharp practice.
I'm happy to be proved wrong!
 
Right, update - slight change of plan. I have just ordered from Hitech their 'Revised Landscape Photography Colby Brown Signature kit', which after the 20% discount and another 20% discount for this week, but plus VAT at 20% and delivery at £5, has cost me a grand total of £300.38.

For that I am getting the following:
  • Firecrest ND 1.8,
  • ND Soft Edge Grad 0.6
  • ND Reverse Grad 0.6
  • Firecrest 82mm UltrSlim Polariser
  • Firecrest 100mm Holder Kit
    • 82mm Roating Adaptor Ring
    • 67-82mm Step Ring
    • 72-82mm Step Ring
    • 77-82mm Step Ring
  • Filter pouches
  • Exclusive Colby Brown booklet
So a 6 stop, 2 stop soft grad, 2 stop reverse grad for sunsets, filter holder with built-in polariser. All for £300. I reckon the equivalent Lee system would cost around £600 as I would need the adapter rings for my two main lenses plus the polariser which is about £170 on its own.

After the advice here and other research, I would have preferred a medium grad rather than a soft I think, but as I tend to be up in the Lakes taking pictures of mountains and stuff quite regularly I think that the soft grad will be fine, and Hitech don't have a medium grad anyway.

So I'm happy with what I'm getting for the money, I'll see how it works in the field. Thanks for all the advice!
 
A 2 stop hard grad is probably the one I use most.
 
Just an update to this in case it's of help to others.

So as mentioned above I purchased the 'Revised Landscape Photography Colby Brown Signature kit' which arrived a week or so after Christmas. Unfortunately it was a few weeks before I got chance to use it properly but eventually I got chance to get out for a day on the coast at Heysham. What I found was that out of the box I immediately got severe vignetting on my main lens which is a Nikon 24-120mm F/4 VR. I was gutted as I use this for 90% of my shots and I love it. Further investigation showed that the cause of the vignetting was the step-up ring. The Firecrest holder comes with an 82mm adapter ring to hold the 82mm polariser. As my lens has a 77mm thread you have to use a step-up ring (included in the kit) to get up to 82mm and it's this that is responsible for the vignetting. The vignetting pretty severe and was present all the way up to 35mm which is obviously unacceptable for landscape use. When I got home I called Formatt-Hitech who were very helpful and asked me to send in some sample shots which I did. They said they were aware of some customers getting vignetting but mainly on Canon lenses, and recommended I purchased the 77mm adapter ring which I did although I had to wait a couple of weeks as they were out of stock. Finally when it arrived I tested it and the vignetting is gone.

The 77mm adapter ring cost £40 direct from their website including delivery and tax. I have told them that they should include it in the kit as most lenses will have this size filter thread instead of 82mm, hopefully they will take this on board.

So I'm now very happy with the kit and even though I had to spend the extra 40 quid, the whole system still cost me a hell of a lot less than the equivalent Lee system. I love the way it works - if you only need the polariser just leave that on in the adapter all the time and just clip the square filter holder on and off as necessary. It's great for composing and focussing with the holder off and then just clipping the holder on at the end, really easy if you are using a 6 or 10-stop filter for example. Because the polariser is on the lens rather you can get the effect right before clipping the rest of your filters on, it makes perfect sense to do it that way.

The Firecrest 6 stop filter and 2 stop soft grad included in the kit are basically completely neutral with barely any discernable colour cast at all. I have since purchased the 10-stop Firecrest ND and that is the same. I would recommend anyone in the market for a Lee Big Stopper to check out the Firecrest instead.

Ironically having gone down this route I doubt I'll be using grads much. Having tested with and without, with the dynamic range in the Nikon sensor I don't think they will often be necessary but it's useful to have the option anyway.

So in conclusion I consider the system to be great and an absolute bargain, notwithstanding the vignetting issue - although I did purchase at the right time as they had a good discount. Definitely recommended.
 
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