Need some suggestions for a grad:

[Pylon757]

Sorry if there's been many threads posted about this before.

I need a grad ND to shoot Velvia without blowing out highlights. Most likely I'll get a square filter instead of the screw-in types. I probably won't be getting a holder either since it gets in the way of my lens hoods, and most likely I'll just handhold the filter in front of the lens (with the camera on a tripod). My friend does this with his grads and it seems to work well.

My friend uses Cokin for his stuff(mostly d*****l) and seems to be doing fine, but I heard that Cokins give color casts. He uses a 2 and 3 stop hard. Its price is attractive however.

From reading at other sites it seems that Hi-tech filters get recommended a lot, and the price is right.
This is what I'll most likely be getting:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/111012-REG/Hitech_HT140785_85mm_Graduated_ND_0_6.html

So any recommendations or thoughts for a grad?

By the way I'm on a budget (<$50 for a single filter) so Lees or Singh Rays are out of the question.

Many Thanks,
James

 

[eddie]

What is the filter size of your lens?

 

[calceman]

If you are on a budget, why not using a black card instead of a filter? You can make the edge hard of soft depending on the distance between the filter to the lens. You will have to make double exposure though, and I dont know if the camera you use will allow you that.

 

[Pylon757]

Yeah, my camera (Nikon N90) doesn't allow for a double exposure. As for my filter size, it's 52mm, but I'm not interested in a screw in grad.

 

[eddie]

What is it you don't like about screw in filters?

 

[Pylon757]

Well the center graduated line doesn't look too attractive. Also one of my lenses has a rotating filter thread that rotates with focus, which poses a big inconvenience. . It'll be much easier just handholding the filter in front of the lens.