Canon EF 16-35 - which ND grad filter would you buy?

[cgennoe]

Hi!

Very soon I will be travelling to Japan to climb Mt. Fugi.

And in the next few days I will be buying the 16-35 by Canon to bring with me to the summit to catch the sunrise.

I plan on buying an ND graduated filter because it seems to be a must have for those serious landscape artists out there.

There are some choices to consider, such as hard edge, soft edge and how many stops the graduated portion will offer.. If I were to purchase just one for this lens at 82 mm, what variables should be considered and what are the top brands to choose from?

Appreciated!

Colin

 

[Big Mike]

I don't like screw on grad filters...they force your composition.

Instead, I prefer the square filters that use a 'holder' on the lens. This lets you slide the filter so match the composition you want.

I have a few made by Cokin.

Really though, I haven't used them since I went digital. You can easily apply a similar effect to your images with software...and you are not limited to the straight transition of the filter...or by the degree of the filter etc. That being said, of the tonal range of the scene is quite varied, then a grad filter would still be an advantage.

For landscape photography, I'm usually using a tripod anyway...in which case, I will bracket my shots. Then, when I get home, I'll have all the tones captured and I can combine the best parts using Photoshop.