Which nd grad filter to buy

At golden hour, I can expose for the ambient light and use a filter to keep the detail in the sky. If I want a starscape not a star trail I need to push my ISO up really high and if there is something in the foreground of the scene that is a little too bright, it will overexpose. My first shot will be an image that will expose the the scene properly. For my second shot, I will expose the sky to capture a starscape shot. Afterwards, I will blend them in Photoshop , which really works well.

In some cases, there is no substitute for an ND grad. If you want the waves in a seascape scene to become silky smooth or a river to look soft and white, then you will need to use ND grads. This effect cannot be made in Photoshop not yet anyway. The best part about using ND grads is the surprise you get when you see the image on the screen.

You will be amazed at the effect of capturing the blurred movement of different elements in your image. Essentially it is a rectangular, optically correct piece of resin or glass with a gradient from dark to light. This is not always true of cheaper filters, but the well established filter brands Lee, Singh-Ray leave very little colour cast on the final image. The reason behind using an ND filter is to hold light back so that the part of the scene that is brightest usually the sky does not overexpose.

This effect creates a pleasing image. The sky is well exposed and the foreground is correctly exposed as well. If you were to expose the scene without using an ND grad filter, very often, the foreground would be well exposed while the sky may simply be overexposed or, if you were to expose for the sky, the foreground would be very dark.

As I said earlier, you can do blending in Photoshop, but sometimes, you may not capture all the detail in the sky and using a filter to capture the scene may be useful. Also, you will be able to spend more time shooting and less time editing afterwards! Most landscape photographers will use them at sunrise or sunset, during the golden hour. You can also use them during the day to slow the shutter speed to make water smooth and silky.

Blurring moving objects such as people, cars, buses or even trees blowing in the wind is also an option. What you will get is a well exposed, daylight scene with some blurred movement. This can look really interesting and dynamic in your image. The reason you will want to use an ND grad filter is that there can be a substantial difference, light wise, between the sky and your foreground.

If you have more than a two stop difference, you will probably need an ND grad filter to correct that and get a good, well balanced exposure. This not a rule, but if you try and average the exposure and you are finding that your foreground looks too dark and your sky is too bright, maybe it is time to use the filter. An ND grad was used in this image to expose the sky and clouds correctly. ND grad filters have a few variables. The first is whether the filter has a hard or soft edge.

There is a reason for this and both types are useful. The hard edge filter has a very definite transition between the dark gradient part of the filter and the part that is clear. The soft edge filter gently blends the gradient across the filter, so the line is less obvious. Each one of these filters are used on different scenes. You'll need a darker one to take pictures facing towards the sun than you will to take pictures pointing away from the sun.

The sky is not uniformly bright during the golden hour. The directly illuminated objects you see when facing away from the sun will also reflect more light than the shaded parts of objects you see when facing towards the sun. You might think you need filter X, but actually you need Y. And you might find that you need multiple if the conditions are changing quickly! As you already have the 'big boy' 10 stop ND, then why not go for a set such as this one from Cokin BTW I did not check prices or compare so shop around!

Then you can have multiple in your bag and decide what you need according to the conditions at the time. First be sure that you will need a ND filter. Since you said "I'll mostly", that could refer to actual use, or future use. Even a graduated one would bother me as it can realy limit composition options and degrade IQ particularly fo cheap ones. Sign up to join this community.

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Viewed 6k times. I live near the shore, so I'll mostly be taking photos of seascapes in the golden hours. I already have a 10 stop ND filter. EDIT: Just adding more info. Improve this question. This is like asking what kind of vehicle should I get? No one can tell you. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes.

Soft Transition Hard vs. Number of Stops To determine what you need, even before you buy ND grads, you should do the exact same thing that owners of ND grads do when they decide which ND grad to use: meter the scene to determine different exposure levels. Assuming you are just using the camera's built-in metering: Begin by metering the foreground exposure. Then meter the sky or whatever the region is visually different that you want to cover with your ND grad. Graduated neutral density filters, or 'ND grads', are clear at one end and grey at the other.

By positioning the darker section over a bright sky, the light is restricted by several f-stops to prevent it from become overexposed. Unlike an ordinary ND filter, the clear end of the ND grad filter is positioned over the darker foreground, ensuring that there's no restriction of light over this section of the composition.

This means you can capture an even exposure without having to comp several images together. Landscapes come in all shapes and sizes, with some including dramatic mountains and others featuring minimalist seascapes. Luckily, there are a vast variety of ND grad filters that offer different densities and transitions. For example, if you're capturing a straight, defined horizon such as a seascape or flat landscape , then you can use an ND grad filter with a hard transition.

However, if you're capturing a more cluttered landscape such as a cityscape or a scene with mountains , you'll want to use a soft graduated filter instead. Lesser known is the reverse ND grad filter. This has a dark section across the middle of the filter that fades out at the top.

It's a perfect option for capturing a low sunrise or sunset where the majority of the light is emanating from the middle of your scene. When looking for the best ND filter for you, one of the most important things to consider is the physical size of the filter. The bigger it is, the more lens diameters it'll cover and the more flexibility you'll have in positioning the transition area to suit your composition.

In this round-up, we're exclusively showing xmm rectangular filters, as this size gives you maximum versatility for an affordable price. Finally, these really are the best ND grad filters — all are quality options that won't reduce image sharpness or introduce an unwanted color cast.

We're confident you'll be happy with any filter on this list. These are not the only camera filters of course. We've also got guides to the best ND neutral density filters for long exposures and blurred seascapes, and the best polarizing filters for intensifying blue skies, suppressing reflections and increasing saturation.

Benro is relatively new to the filter game, but judging by these ND grads, it means business. A waterproof multicoating is also applied to repel dirt and liquid, and it also resists scratches. It all sounds good, and thankfully our testing of 2-stop and 4-stop sample filters backs it up.

Benro Master Filters come in a few size variants, but we reckon the x option is the best balance of versatility and cost. Choose from 2, 3, 4, or 5-stop densities, in soft, hard or reverse fades.

Lee claims this makes it easier to dye the tinted portion, resulting in a more accurate density across the filter and greater precision when controlling the transition line. Resin is also said to have lower intrinsic reflectivity, negating the need to apply an anti-reflective coating. These filter set comprises three densities - 1, 2 and 3 stops - so they'll cater for a wide variety of lighting conditions — and come with a choice of transitions soft, medium, hard and extra hard. You can also buy individual Lee grads, in soft, medium, hard and extra hard variants.

Like Benro's Master Filter range, each is constructed from uncompromising Shott glass. Cokin also applies a water and oil-resistant coating, and it works brilliantly. Soft grad and reverse grad kits are available, as well as an unusual centre grad option where the tinted region goes across the centre of the filter and both top and bottom are clear.

The unique feature of Firecrest Ultra filters is that they have the tinted coating in the centre of the filter, sandwiched between two sheets of 1mm glass.