Which Filter should I buy ?

[Kedarnag138]

Hello all,

I want to shoot long exposures during the day, and as I was looking for how to. I ended up understanding there are filters that are out there which would do the job.

1. I have made up my mind to go for the Square/Rectangular Filter rather than the screw in type.
2. I own a Canon 10-18 Wide-angle lens, that has a diameter of 67mm.

This might sound really silly, but If I want to buy the filter system for example: Lee Filters, I saw they have 2 options:
1. Seven5 Starter kit
2. 100mm Starter kit.

My confusion is, along with those kit, should I buy 67mm Adapter ring?

 

[480sparky]

You need the adapter ring to attach the filter system to the lens.

 

[Kedarnag138]

You need the adapter ring to attach the filter system to the lens.

So, I can buy either the Seven5 or 100mm, then I need to buy the 67mm adapter ring to fit the filter to my 10-18mm right ?

 

[KmH]

Yep. The 10-18 has 67 mm filter threads.
If you haven't already - Watch the appropriate videos on the Lee web site.

 

[chris]

The Seven5 system is not compatible with your wide angle lens. See the Lee system match guide at:

LEE System Match - find the recommended System for each of your lenses.

 

[TCampbell]

The Seven5 filters are (75mm wide filters) are designed for smaller cameras. You definitely do not want that system.

For a DSLR the standard size is normally the 100mm wide filters.

However, wide angle lenses can pose a special problem because the angle of view may be so wide that the edges of the bracket show in your images. I cannot say for sure if the 100mm is wide enough, but Lee filters holders normally have 2 slots and they include a screwdriver so you can remove (or add) slots (you could 1 slot holder to reduce the possibility of the filter holder showing in your images.

They also make their SW150 filters & holder which are designed primarily for ultra-wide lenses -- specifically to avoid the vignetting problem.

One more thing... Lee's adapter rings thread onto your lens and mate with the filter holder, so you buy adapter rings for each unique lens thread size that you own and you can use the same filters with all of your lenses. HOWEVER... even these come in two flavors... the "normal" adapter ring and the "wide" adapter ring. The major difference is that the "wide" adapter ring has recessed threads so it holds the entire filter holder closer to the camera (so the edges of the filter holder aren't quite as far forward) and this is done to reduce the possibility of vignetting.

Lee claims that their filter holder should not show vignetting with lens focal lengths down to 10mm IF you use an APS-C crop frame camera (and you are) and IF you buy the "wide" version of the adapter ring (the recessed threads.)

That means you want (a) the 100mm foundation kit, (b) the 67mm "wide" adapter ring (recessed threads), and whatever filters you choose to use. Buy extra adapter rings in the appropriate thread size for any other lenses you might have in your collection (adapter rings aren't very expensive). You can buy normal adapter rings for your other (longer focal length) lenses. The "wide" rings cost more... for example the standard 67mm adapter ring is about $35, but the 67mm adapter ring designed for "wide angle" lenses is $65. So it's an extra $30.

 

[Kedarnag138]

@480sparky Thank you.
@chris This helped me a lot, Thank you.
@TCampbell Thank you for a detailed Information.

I have another Question. Can I buy a Holder from 1 branch and then the wide angle adapter ring from another brand ? Will it have any problems ?

 

[480sparky]

Typically, the parts (other than the filters) are not interchangeable.

 

[TCampbell]

The 100mm width filter is fairly popular and I think any of the filter holders designed to hold them can hold filters regardless of brand. But most other sizes are not standard so you'll need to get everything from the same company.

The Lee Filter holders are much better than Cokin holders. Cokin's holders are solid molded plastic -- nothing comes apart. It's much easier to swap adapter rings on the Lee filters. Also the Lee Filters have threaded screws to hold the filter slots in place and it's easy to add or remove slots. The Cokin, being solid plastic, can't be changed. Lee makes an adapter that lets you stack filter holders (so you can change the rotation of them if you are using grads but don't want them all to be at the same angle), they also make holders that have a lens hood, etc.

The filters tend to be resin... the exception is the polarizer is "glass" (glass can break and my CPL has some chips along the edges already). So I generally do prefer the resin for durability.