ND Grad Filters

Chris Jameson · Post by **Chris Jameson** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:06 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

I was talking to someone on the Teamwork stand at Focus Sunday gone with a view to buying a set of Hitech grads.
Having read comments made here on the forum they sound like a good middle ground between Cokins technicolour ND system and the Lee stuff so I thought it sounded like the kit for me.
However, when I asked about the Hitech stuff the salesperson was quite derogatory about the Hitech filters, ND grads and ND's in particualr.
Now I accept that they won't be up to the standard of Lee products, but he made them sound like they were little better than Cokin, that colour casts were evident and the consistency of the densities on any of the ND's was lacking.

What are the experiences of people on here, has anyone found the above to be the case or are Hitech users happy with their kit?

Thanks,

Chris.

IanG · Post by **IanG** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:22 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Well I've been using Cokin filters since they were first released, and I've never noticed a difference in print quality between no filer, Cokin filter or the couple of Hi-tec filters I've used. I also have some Lee colour correction filters.

That doesn't mean there might not be a very slight variation in quality between the various manufacturers filters but you'd have great difficulty spotting any difference in finished prints or transparencies.

Ian

Post by **Joanna Carter** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:12 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Well, I use Hitech filters and the only thing I had a problem with was the 1.2 filters which seemed to add a lot of magenta. But, as for the 0.3 to 0.9, even when adding more than one, I have had no problems. They are certainly a lot more neutral than Cokin used to be and they are a good price when compared with Lee.

timparkin · Post by **timparkin** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:38 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

I moved from Cokin to HiTech to Lee and my experience was

1) Cokin - they don't actually do an ND filter, they have a dark magenta grad you can use (or at least it looks like it)

2) Hi Tech - Colour is a LOT better than Cokin but still a slight cast, The problem I had with HiTech was that they scratched very easily

3) Lee - You still get a slight cast if you combine two three stops or a two and a three but that's pushing things (I don't know if Singh Ray would be any better). The filters themselves are thicker, more robust and most importantly don't scratch easily.

I thought that Lee couldn't be worth the money - I was wrong.

Lynne Evans · Post by **Lynne Evans** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 2:58 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

On the subject of scratched filters, the Lee filters guy said they can redip them if the scratches aren't too deep. Haven't pursued this yet, but he said to phone the factory to get details.

Lynne

Tim Myers · Post by **Tim Myers** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:59 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

They can also re-dip them to compensate for the gradual fading of the dyes over time.

vanman · Post by **vanman** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:04 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

You should have looked at the SRB stand. Filters at very reasonable prices and they were so incredibly helpful. They got some of my cash.
Vanman.

Chris Jameson · Post by **Chris Jameson** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:09 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

With regard to the Lee filters, with the filters being 150mm long would I be able to get away with using the shaded portion as a ND filter?

Where on the filter is the actual graduation, is it slap bang in the centre of the filter or is it slightly offset?

Thanks,

Chris.

Tim Myers · Post by **Tim Myers** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:43 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Chris Jameson wrote:With regard to the Lee filters, with the filters being 150mm long would I be able to get away with using the shaded portion as a ND filter?

Where on the filter is the actual graduation, is it slap bang in the centre of the filter or is it slightly offset?

Thanks,

Chris.

Hi Chris, the graduation is fairly close to the top of the filter, leaving a large area clear. So much so that I now use the ungradded section of my .6GH + 81B as a straight 81B, as do many other people. I'd say that there wasn't enough room to use the grey section as a straight ND.

alangolding · Post by **alangolding** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:56 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

People may be interested to know that Lee Filters will make Grads to specific requirements. I sometimes have a problem with the Wista and the 90 mm lens because you cannot drop the filter far enough down because it hits the base (if you understand). I spoke to Lee about this and they said that the position of the Grad on the filter could be varied as required.