Lee Filter Question

[mark]

Yesterday was my birthday and I was given some money, not a lot but enough to get a simple set of Neutral Density grad filters. I like the Lee polyesther (sp) filters I have for BW. Seem durable enough and I haven't scratched one yet in 6 months of use. Any one have problems with polyesther neutral density grads?

 

[lee]

happy belated birthday, Mark!

lee\c

 

[mark]

Thanks. I usually get pretty depress around this time of year but This birthday was good. I got to cook for more than just the immediate family-Yes, I cooked my own birthday dinner-and things went very nice. I also got the latest edition of Barnbaums howto book.

 

[Baxter Bradford]

Mark

No problems at all, they are very good.The grad set is better value (recall about 3 for price of 2) Might want to think about whether to go for Hard or Soft transition. Had a discussion with David Ward last weekend about matching these to Film Format. Soft ones are hard to place accurately with 35mm. I find that I use the soft ones with water and when camera angled downwards to even up foreground. Placement is not an issue on my 5x4. Hard ones are good in the landscape with sky/land transitions.
Hope this is helpful. Happy B'day. You could always ask Santa for the rest of them!

Bax

 

[mark]

Thanks. I am wanting the soft transition ones for the reasons you mentioned. What do you mean placement is not an issue with your 4x5?

 

[Baxter Bradford]

Placing the transition from clear to the ND portion accurately in the frame. On a 4x5 it is relatively easy to do this precisely, although in low light it can be hard to decide exactly where the transition is, which subsequently affects metering.This is more relevant for the stronger filters.On a workshop last weekend, a 35mm user was having difficulty accurately placing the soft filters and wished that she had gone for the hard stuff!
I only have two soft ND grads, a 0.45 and a 0.9 and use these in conjuction with a set of Hard ones when the image dictates. I also use a 0.45 hard one rather more than the 0.6 because I like the sky to be about half stop brighter than a true balance in most pictures. I feel that this offers a more natural look.