Wich to buy first?

tom beard · Jul 4, 2011

Same old story, money is tight. The two top things on my wish list are, (1) a Cokin P series graduated neutral density filter kit consisting of an adapter ring, filter holder and three graduated ND filters. And (2) an Expo disc white balance filter that fits on the end of a lens. Both are about the same price, but I can only get one for now. My two main projects this summer are using a light tent for shooting small objects. I can use my 18% grey card for that. And landscapes; the ND filters would help for blown out skies. I'm told that auto white balance (I'm shooting Nikon D-90) works pretty well in most outdoor situations. However, say I'm shooting in a dense Forrest with a lot of light and shadow and ten feet away there is a small patch of flowers in bright sunlight, but you can't get to it with a grey card. Could you use the WB filter, zoom in, take a reading and set a custom WB, then pull out , recompose and shoot? Would you more experienced photographers tend to want a custom WB often? Or do you think the graduated ND filters would be the first thing you wold get? Thanks for the help, Tom Beard Sorry for miss-spelling Which