Building filters system to share my 35mm and soon to be 4x5

[Alexz]

Well, soon will be happily accepting your congratulations .
Just placed an order with Jeff at Badger for a brand new Shen-Hao 4x5 with few accesories to come along. This is internaitonal, overseas transaction, so may take a while (about 2 weeks) till I'll be called by our Customs to "share" my happiness with them... :-(.

Anyway, now the big question (or one of the big ones to come):
I have 35mm system (Canon) which is standartised around 77mm filter threads and so far I used Cokin system for 77mm. Obviously, now I'll have to build up a single system to serve both 77mm of Canon and apparently much smaller LF 4x5 lenses. Besides, I may be considering switching to Lee (or probably staying with Cokin mounting but going to Sign-Ray filters ?).
Right now I have my first (and the only for a first time-being) lens: Fujinon 150mm/5.6 SNW which is featured by 52mm front size (as far as I remember) which creates quite a large gap to 77mm of Canon. I'm not sure how wise it would be using 52mm-77mm step-up rings and 77mm-based holder, however cannot figure any other bearable solution which wuold allow me to standartise single filters system for both of my 77mm and LF.
I also may be concidering Lee's hood with integrated filter's slots instead of regular holder.

I'll be grateful to hear actual user's experience with all that and Lee holders/hoods in particular when sharing regular 4x5 LF and larger, 35mm lenses.

Thanks in advance, Alex

 

[Nick Zentena]

Do you need to carry both cameras at the same time? If not I'd just lean towards adding 52mm filters to your setup. 52mm can be pretty cheap used. Fairly common. Or you can add something like the Lee gel snap setup. It'll work with lenses up to I think 72mm. Is relatively cheap.

If you really want to stick to one set of filters then you should be able to just add a 52mm holder for your current filters. No?

 

[Alexz]

Thank Nick.
Well, based on my MF experience, I tend to lug both systems with me shooting 35mm aside of MF (due to several reasons - sometimes not having the luxury of extra time for mindful MF approach, being able to quality scan 35mm only).
With LF this will be even more prominent (having 35mm system aside of LF).
This is why standartising filters seems to be the only approach...

 

[Donald Miller]

You are thinking smart on this issue. I built a system for every format initially and that got costly.

When I went to 4X5, I initially built a system around 77 mm filters (my largest LF lens at the time) and used step down rings for my smaller lenses. Since then I have added a older 375 Caltar for my 8X10 and it doesn't have filter threads...so I went the compendium route for that.

Good luck with 4X5.

 

[resummerfield]

67mm and 77mm seem to be very common in my 4x5 kit, but there will always be something you’ll want that is just a little bigger. So I’ll agree with Donald, and suggest the compendium with a holder.

 

[ggriffi]

Well, soon will be happily accepting your congratulations .
Just placed an order with Jeff at Badger for a brand new Shen-Hao 4x5 with few accesories to come along. This is internaitonal, overseas transaction, so may take a while (about 2 weeks) till I'll be called by our Customs to "share" my happiness with them... :-(.

Anyway, now the big question (or one of the big ones to come):
I have 35mm system (Canon) which is standartised around 77mm filter threads and so far I used Cokin system for 77mm. Obviously, now I'll have to build up a single system to serve both 77mm of Canon and apparently much smaller LF 4x5 lenses. Besides, I may be considering switching to Lee (or probably staying with Cokin mounting but going to Sign-Ray filters ?).
Right now I have my first (and the only for a first time-being) lens: Fujinon 150mm/5.6 SNW which is featured by 52mm front size (as far as I remember) which creates quite a large gap to 77mm of Canon. I'm not sure how wise it would be using 52mm-77mm step-up rings and 77mm-based holder, however cannot figure any other bearable solution which wuold allow me to standartise single filters system for both of my 77mm and LF.
I also may be concidering Lee's hood with integrated filter's slots instead of regular holder.

I'll be grateful to hear actual user's experience with all that and Lee holders/hoods in particular when sharing regular 4x5 LF and larger, 35mm lenses.

Thanks in advance, Alex

Alex,

I am currently going thru the exact same issue that you are right down to having a Canon system and 4x5. The only difference is that the Fuji lens (150/6.3) that I have is a 40.5mm and a Schneider that is 77mm. If your budget is tight, then I would just buy a 52mm adapter for that lens and continue to use the Cokin filters. That is what I am going to do for now and upgrade filters as money permits. Although as most here will tell you, money disappears pretty quickly with LF. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have so far, even with all the mistakes I have made.



g

 

[magic823]

I use a Lee System with the snap-on filter holder. Works with any of my LF lenses. For thingls like Polarizers I use threaded filters.

 

[Ole]

I use Lee filters across formats - 35mm, MF and LF. Filter threads in all sizes from 39mm to 92mm, and some without threads at all. No problems so far!

 

[laz]

I'm not sure how wise it would be using 52mm-77mm step-up rings and 77mm-based holder,

Why is that? I use step-up rings to switch between 40.5 and 77 (40.5 to 52 and a 52 to 77) Don't have any problems that I can tell.
-Bob

 

[Alexz]

Thank you guys for your kind and prompt help.
I just thought step-up rings usually go in smaller steps (say, 62-72, 72-77) and utilizing two rings stacked together wouldn't be wise idea.
However I wish I'll be wrong and there are no problem to find rings like 52-77 by a single step.
An additional issue is that I used to always use lens hoods whenever possible, and this is why I would still consider a kind of Lee compendium hood with filter slots - sounds neat. The question how these self-supporting hoods in practice...?

 

[laz]

However I wish I'll be wrong and there are no problem to find rings like 52-77 by a single step.

I've purchased from this guy on ebay. http://stores.ebay.com/thecamerahuntercom

He also has a website where many items are cheaper than ebay. Some people have had bad experiences with this guy, my limited experience has been great but be forewarned that your mileage may vary!
-Bob

 

[Nick Zentena]

I've bought lots of rings from this guy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/STEP-UP-RING-52...itemZ7553169575QQcategoryZ67358QQcmdZViewItem

 

[marko_trebusak]

I don't quite get your question. You said that you are using Cokin filter holder and their filters. You have a 77 mm adaptor ring for that system, so why don't you simply buy another adaptor ring with 52 mm treads? This rings suppose to be dirt cheap, so that is what I would do.

Lee's system is what I use for both 35 mm and 5x4. They too have adaptor rings for almost every lens tread you can imagine, and if they don't there is probably a machinist in your neighborhood that can make you a "custom made" one. This are not very cheap, but still better than buying another filter set.

Marko