Advice Please

[kevinj]

I have a small windfall to spend,after my Battery Grip and TC80N3 remote for my 7D,I`m thinking some GND Filters,I`ll have around $250 to spend,any tips?

[dbax]

Kevin,
I'm no expert but I'd be starting with a 2 Stop Neutral Gradiant, just to stop down the whole frame if the scenes just a little too bright, then a 4NG, same reason just darker.
Then 2Graduated Soft ND for sunrise /sunsets, and a 4 Soft GND same reason. The soft give a gradual transition between the filter and the clear , were as the hard have a hard or straight difference .you can stack these and the combinations usually cover most situations.
I'd be inclined to buy the widest you can, so you don't buy a lens in the future that the filters don't work with.

You'll hear many stories about colour cast from stacking these filters from different makes but most of these are pretty easily corrected in PP.

Hope this helps a little.

[Wayne]

I would suggest buying quality filters to avoid colour casts.

[dbax]

Kevin,
recently on this forum we had a thread about colour casts on stacked Lee filters, these casts are usually attributed to Conkin filters, I believe that they may happen on any filter,
It depends on the camera, lens/ filter,Stack combination.
Ive used the Conkins and only seen the magenta cast once. Easily fixed in PP as stated.
from my reading $ doesn't stop colour casts.

[kevinj]

Thanks for the info and advice,makes my descision a lot easier,think I`ll go 2,4&8 GND to start with and add to my collection from there,thanks again.

[mackcamera]

ND filters are always fun to play with!