The photo I put in POTD today of the small cairn is an example of a sky straight out of camera, I boosted the saturation of the entire image ever so slightly, but it's a good example of not using a polariser and getting good results for a nice rich sky. Happens here quite regularly, all year round, when facing away from the sun or when the sun is nice and high in the sky. Must be something to do with the moisture in the air being by the beach, as when I head inland it doesn't occur as intensely...
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Filter advice
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Thank you...
Yes I made the effort to use them tonight and had one of those ta da! Moments... lesson learned: if you have them, use them, they make a difference....
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Yes, I looked at the Formatt-Hitech Firecrest holder a little more closely last night, watch some YouTube vids and I think I am going for that as well, especially since they are having a sale at the moment. So I need to decide if their Travel kit will suit me fine for now and add on later/mix-n-match or just bite the bullet and go all in with this Master kit. for $200-ish more.
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Showoff...
When I come back to Scotland in the summer, we'll need to have a Best Use of Filters contest somewhere.
What? Walk willingly into another butt kicking session where you take better pictures than me on my own territory? - totally up for it! I have some superb new locations for you this time...
My immediate reaction on the filter would be just take the hit now if you can. If you can get the bigger set, it is gonna hurt anyway. Might as well hurt 200 bucks more and you are done, ready to go... rather than kick yourself later with more to go...
But what is missing? What isnt in the travel set?
Travel kit:
- 4 stop ND
- 10 stop ND filter
- ND Soft Edge Grad 0.9
$20 credit for using Apple Pay on my Chase card = $410
Master kit:
- Firecrest ND 3.0 (10 stops)
- Firecrest ND 1.8 (6 stops)
- Firecrest ND 0.9 (3 stops)
- Firecrest Soft Edge ND Grad 0.6 (2 stops)
- Firecrest Soft Edge ND Grad 0.9 (3 stops)
$30 credit for using Apple Pay on my Chase card = $626
Both come with:
- 100mm Kit
- (NEW) Firecrest 100mm Filter Holder
- Soft Touch Outer Case
- 82-82mm Rotating Adaptor Ring
- 67-82mm Step Ring
- 72-82mm Step Ring
- 77-82mm Step Ring
- Firecrest 82mm Ultraslim polariser
- (NEW) Firecrest 100mm Filter Holder
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Master kit is more flexible but the travel kit seems to have the key elements to get you going to be honest... tough choice but I may actually suggest the travel kit and then keep the 200 beer tokens free so when you have played a bit and worked out the gaps you want to fill then you havent bought extras that you dont need...
Just make sure you’re getting the Firecrest versions of the filters and not the old leftover resin filters. There’s a huge difference in both price and quality.
Yes, the description says:
There was a Firecrest Ultra version as well but I'll start here and think about those Ultras to supplement later.
From what I just read on their site, they only have two versions of the Travel Kit, resin or Firecrest Ultra. I’d verify this with them before making your order. You’ll be disappointed and annoyed if you get resin filters.
Indeed I would. Are you looking at the UK site? The US site refers to Firecrest glass + logo on the box. But I'll send them an email in case.
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Yeah. They have the same wording on both sites.
“The kit is available with glass or resin filters. The glass kit includes Firecrest ND 10 and 4 stops with a Firecrest ND Soft Edge Grad 0.9”
From that, I gather the cheaper option is the resin price.
I just read it and yes the travel kit suggests resin not glass in which case the master kit is the option for me.
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Late to the thread here but I use filters 90% of the time and would advise you to take the hit now (if you can) and get premium filters, rather than buy cheap and “upgrade” in the future.
I use a mix of Lee 100m and Formatt Hitech Firecrest filters. I have two Lee holders, one with 3 slots and another with Polariser ring at the front and 2 slots behind. I really like the Lee holder. I looked at Nisi and F-H Firecrest holders but felt they were, well - a bit “faffy” for want of a better phrase. I don’t want to be faffing around with polariser wheels, light seals and steppingrings on location, so I stayed with the quick, reliable Lee holder.
As for the filters themselves. I think Lee have lost some QA on their grads. Given they are hand dipped resin, there may be slight variances, although they do get tested to tolerances (wide or narrow tolerance?). My older ND grad filters manufactured in 2013 are a dream, very, very neutral with the right level of gradient. The soft set from 0.3 to 0.9 are indeed soft. The 0.6 hard is hard.
What bothered me is when I added a 0.9 hard to my set last year (November 2016 manufacture date) it was verging on a very hard transition and appeared to throw a magenta/ orangey red cast onto some images. I complained and sent it back. Lee were good to be fair and tested it and said it fitted within their specs and tolerances. They offered a replacement (manufactured January 2017) and whilst the gradient was closer to the hard of my 0.6, it still has a cast. I gave up at this point. I use it sparingly and might just try and replace it - especially if F-H Firecrest come in with hard grads in the future. This might be unlikely, you’d think they’d have been able to do it by now. I might look at a Nisi 0.9 for the time being.
Onto solid ND’s. I used a 0.6 Lee ProGlass and found it to be accurate and neutral enough, but the Firecrests that replaced it are definitely better.
I loved my Big Stopper, but couldn’t use it with film. The famous blue cast caused some nice effects at times, but when you see and experience a completely neutral shot from a Firecrest, it has you wishing you sold the Big Stopper earlier and converted sooner!
Polariser, I nearly opted for a Lee landscape polariser, reasonably priced, fitted my system but it’s got a warm cast (no thanks), stopped more light and isn’t multicoated. Deal breaker.
I thought about a Heliopan Slim, multicoated. Ridiculous price and hard to find. Filter thickness may have caused vignetting.
I finally opted for the Ultraslim Firecrest CPL. 1 stop light loss, multicoated, no cast, no vignetting, fits Lee CPL ring and although expensive - I had a coupon code for 30% off from an ambassador. Deal done!
Anyway, sorry for waffling on! Hopefully someone finds this helpful!
I use a mix of Lee 100m and Formatt Hitech Firecrest filters. I have two Lee holders, one with 3 slots and another with Polariser ring at the front and 2 slots behind. I really like the Lee holder. I looked at Nisi and F-H Firecrest holders but felt they were, well - a bit “faffy” for want of a better phrase. I don’t want to be faffing around with polariser wheels, light seals and steppingrings on location, so I stayed with the quick, reliable Lee holder.
As for the filters themselves. I think Lee have lost some QA on their grads. Given they are hand dipped resin, there may be slight variances, although they do get tested to tolerances (wide or narrow tolerance?). My older ND grad filters manufactured in 2013 are a dream, very, very neutral with the right level of gradient. The soft set from 0.3 to 0.9 are indeed soft. The 0.6 hard is hard.
What bothered me is when I added a 0.9 hard to my set last year (November 2016 manufacture date) it was verging on a very hard transition and appeared to throw a magenta/ orangey red cast onto some images. I complained and sent it back. Lee were good to be fair and tested it and said it fitted within their specs and tolerances. They offered a replacement (manufactured January 2017) and whilst the gradient was closer to the hard of my 0.6, it still has a cast. I gave up at this point. I use it sparingly and might just try and replace it - especially if F-H Firecrest come in with hard grads in the future. This might be unlikely, you’d think they’d have been able to do it by now. I might look at a Nisi 0.9 for the time being.
Onto solid ND’s. I used a 0.6 Lee ProGlass and found it to be accurate and neutral enough, but the Firecrests that replaced it are definitely better.
I loved my Big Stopper, but couldn’t use it with film. The famous blue cast caused some nice effects at times, but when you see and experience a completely neutral shot from a Firecrest, it has you wishing you sold the Big Stopper earlier and converted sooner!
Polariser, I nearly opted for a Lee landscape polariser, reasonably priced, fitted my system but it’s got a warm cast (no thanks), stopped more light and isn’t multicoated. Deal breaker.
I thought about a Heliopan Slim, multicoated. Ridiculous price and hard to find. Filter thickness may have caused vignetting.
I finally opted for the Ultraslim Firecrest CPL. 1 stop light loss, multicoated, no cast, no vignetting, fits Lee CPL ring and although expensive - I had a coupon code for 30% off from an ambassador. Deal done!
Anyway, sorry for waffling on! Hopefully someone finds this helpful!
I'll file that away for reference.
Most polarizers tend toward cool, and I know a lot of slide shooters who will/would stack an 81A on top of their polarizer. In fact, if you look at B&H you will still find the Hoya "Moose" warm polarizer. It was "commissioned" by Moose Peterson and integrates an 81A with a polarizer.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/co...HQFpEAQYASABEgIoSvD_BwE&is=REG&m=Y&sku=195614
I've never had one, but I tended to do the 81A(or maybe even an 81B)/Polarizer combo when I shot Ektachrome as I found standard E100G and EPP too cool for my taste. We'll see how the new Ektachrome looks(hopefully in the next month) but I understand that E100G is their target emulsion to replicate and not my favored E100GX from that generation.
In any case, as long as the color isn't TOO far off it's fortunately east to fix a not-quite-neutral filter in digital.
I hadn't even thought of it until someone else mentioned it as "Firecrest" is all over that page. Anyway, it's Firecrest glass as I originally assumed per the email I recieved from them. It would be pretty sneaky marketing if it wasn't.
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Best to check. If it is the glass ones then go for it. Only thing now is that it is a 4 stop ND as opposed to the 3 and 6 stop which are more common offerings. Nothing wrong, just make sure your long exposure app has a four stop option
Best to check. If it is the glass ones then go for it. Only thing now is that it is a 4 stop ND as opposed to the 3 and 6 stop which are more common offerings. Nothing wrong, just make sure your long exposure app has a four stop option
It is glass. I attached their email confirmation in the previous reply.
I know... bad english... I was meaning it was best that you did check... not best you go and check now...
Glad you confirmed that, it is rather ambiguous in the wording used on the site!
Enjoy them, they'll be in your mitts within a week. Mine have only ever taken a matter of days to get here from the UK.
Looking forward to seeing you put them into action.
Yes it was! Thanks for pointing it out though. Better to confirm it all and hopefully they will take better care w/ their website copy. haha.
I'm already thinking of a couple places while I'm in Los Angeles where I'd like to test them out!
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Just make sure your long exposure app has a four stop option
Is there an app you like? I've got a couple of free ones that are ok but if anyone has an app to recommend, I'm listening.
Everyone has been so helpful on this thread, BTW. So thank you, photo gurus!
I use a free one on Android called Exposure Calculator. It gets a bit off after 4 minute exposures but I try not to do exposures that long - i get bored easily
I used the Lee Filters one. It's been pretty accurate for the time I used it.
I tend to just count the stops. I do have the app for quickness when using 10 stops, but the more you do those type of shots, the more you learn the equivalent automatically - if that makes sense?