# can anyone advice if this GND filter will produce good image quality?



## junqi (Jan 21, 2015)

Dear all,

recently i purchase this GND filter. i will to verify if this can produce good image quality.

anyone can advise me?

thank your kindness help.

Amazon.com : Complete 24 Square Full & Graduated Color Filter Set for Canon EOS Rebel SL1, T5i, T4i, T3, T3i, T1i, T2i, XSI, XS, XTI, XT, 1D C, 70D, 60D, 60Da, 50D, 40D, 30D, 20D, 10D, 5D, Mark II, III, 1D X, 1D C, 1D Mark IV, 1D(s)Mark III, 1D(s)Mark II(N), 5D Mark 2, 5D Mark 3, 7D, 6D Digital SLR Cameras Which Has Any Of These (18-55mm, 55-250mm, 75-300mm III, 70-300mm IS USM, 24mm f2.8, 28mm f1.8, 50mm f1.4, 65mm f2.8, 85mm f1.8, 90mm f2.8, 100mm f2 & 100mm f2.8 lens) Canon Lenses + More!! : Camera & Photo


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## weepete (Jan 21, 2015)

Unbranded and at that price point its likely to be poor quality.

Try these guys if you want quality filters:
LEE Filters - Masters of light

Or these if you are on a budget:
Kood International - Photographic Accessories


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## junqi (Jan 21, 2015)

weepete said:


> Unbranded and at that price point its likely to be poor quality.
> 
> Try these guys if you want quality filters:
> LEE Filters - Masters of light
> ...



noted. but with the link i provided what kind of image will i be able to take? any example ?


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## Braineack (Jan 21, 2015)

plastic.

so no.


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## weepete (Jan 21, 2015)

This is one shot with those type of cheap GND filters, note the strong magenta colour cast:



Magenta Colour Cast - Cheap GND by wee_pete, on Flickr

Here is another of mine where the cheap GNDs were used, but here the colour cast doesn't matter as much:



Seaweed on Maltburn Sands, Eday by wee_pete, on Flickr


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## pgriz (Jan 21, 2015)

The colour cast can be managed somewhat in post, but in terms of the reduction in sharpness, that is something that you will have to find out for yourself.  I suggest you take two identical shots, focused at a specific point (manual focus, manual exposure, etc., so that everything is the same, except for the shutter speed), with and without the filters (adjusting the exposure so that they produce the same scene luminance), and then pixel-peep to see if there is any difference in sharpness between the two images.  If the images with the GND are noticeably softer, then you know.  If not, well, then enjoy!


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## junqi (Jan 21, 2015)

weepete said:


> This is one shot with those type of cheap GND filters, note the strong magenta colour cast:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks. will i be able to that the photo below by using the filter from the link i provided?


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## weepete (Jan 22, 2015)

Well, it's an example of what kind of results are possible with this type of filter and there is a wee bit more to photographing sunsets than filters though they can really help. It's always a gamble with cheap filters even buying the 2 of the same kind can be different. But saying that, I've not noticed a massive difference in IQ and the set I was using (but my lenses were not that great either) cost under a tenner for a set of 6 nd/soft gnd from fleabay.

So you will probably be able to expect similar results.


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## junqi (Jan 22, 2015)

weepete said:


> Well, it's an example of what kind of results are possible with this type of filter and there is a wee bit more to photographing sunsets than filters though they can really help. It's always a gamble with cheap filters even buying the 2 of the same kind can be different. But saying that, I've not noticed a massive difference in IQ and the set I was using (but my lenses were not that great either) cost under a tenner for a set of 6 nd/soft gnd from fleabay.
> 
> So you will probably be able to expect similar results.



Because actually i already buy the nd filter from that amazon link just to test out first. that why i just want to know the example of picture i can get from using that. anyway thanks a lot for the information provided.


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## TCampbell (Jan 22, 2015)

I noticed that the "square" filters in this set are actually... well, "square".  That's bad.  

An ND Grad is usually rectangular -- not square.  My filters, for example, are 100mm x 150mm (which works out to 4" x 6").  This is important in an ND Grad because the point of the slide-in design is that half the filter is clear and half is tinted and you get to decide how far you want to slide it into the holder -- you control the composition of the image and where the tinting begins.

With a "square" filter, it seems like you're really not much better off than using a thread-on filter in that you can't control where the tinting begins.  You have to compose the shot for the tinting, rather than compose the shot for the shot and set the tinting to the appropriate point.

Also, there's about 6 ND Grads that would make up a full set.  These are a 1, 2, and 3 stop "soft" edge ND grad, and a 1, 2, and 3 stop "hard" edge ND grad.  There are reasons why you'd want both soft and hard edge versions and the color grads are a lower priority.    But I noticed this set comes with just 3 ND grads and I can't tell if they're supposed to be "soft" vs. "hard" edge (they don't say, but I think they look more like soft edge grads.)

Another thing we don't know is the size.  These things come in many sizes, but for a DSLR, you probably want a 4"x6" size filter (100mm x 150mm).  You can get smaller sizes for less (sometimes a LOT less), but then you risk having the filter holder show up in the edges of your frame when shooting with a wide-angle lens.  That's a problem, especially considering that ND grads are most often used in landscape photography AND landscape photography is most often shot with wide-angle lenses (in other words you are mostly likely going to want to shoot using the focal lengths most likely to cause a problem IF you don't have a large enough filter and filter holder to make sure the edges are out-of-frame.)

I'm a little concerned about the very low cost of these filters and are suspicious of the construction (Are they flimsy?  Is the optical quality awful?  Are they easily scratched?)

I use Lee filters, but those are fairly expensive.  You can look at Cokin, but I would suggest you look only at their "Z-Pro" series (Large size - which is their 100x150mm filters).  Their "started set" is $210 at B&H:  Cokin Z-Pro U960 Pro Graduated Neutral Density Filter Kit CU960

That's still quite a bit less than a Lee brand, but since it's the same SIZE as the Lee brand, you'd have the option of buying ANY 4x6" (100x150mm) slide-in filters... which means you could buy the Cokin starter grand ND kit and then expand your collection later.

One last important point.  If you look at, say, the Cokin starter kit that I linked above, it doesn't come with the adapter ring for your lens thread diameter.  You would need to order that separately (but those are low cost.)  

Also, the Cokin filters don't specifically say if they are "hard edge" vs "soft edge" filters -- the Cokin filters are "hard" edge by default.  They do have one or two that they call out as being "soft" grads, so whenever Cokin doesn't say soft or hard... it's hard.


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