Lee vs Cokin

[alvinxie89]

Hi Guys!

I am looking at getting a slot in filter kit for my landscape photography. But i am stuck between the Lee filters vs the Cokin filter systems. I would like to find out which of the differences between 2 brands, which is better and why?

[wave01]

Hi they did a comparison a couple of months back in photoplus and the user chose the cokin filters due to the price of the lee ones

[cosmicma]

another brand to consider are the hitech filter range there seems to be a following for them and preferred over cokin / lee filters price / performance wise

[wavemachine]

I did a course with a pro recently and his take on it was use hitechs for ND and grads but if you want a 10 stop then use the Lee big stopper (if you can get one!) as it is glass, he recommended using Lee filter holders which the Hitechs will work with!

I have found Cokins to be okay until you start stacking them, you get a pretty bad Magenta cast whcih is correctable in PP!

Another thing to consider is if you are looking to use wideangle lenses then you need to look at the 100mm filters to avoid vignetting!

[alvinxie89]

Thanks guys for the info!

Yea.. i shall go check them out today and see the price differences. One of the reasons for using Lee i guess was to use the Lee big stopper. But if Hitech ones can fit the Lee slot in holders, i guess thats a good way to save up!

[alvinxie89]

i am wondering what size of the filters should i go for? the 84/85mm ones or the 100mm ones. Since i am currently using a 60D with a 17-55mm with a 77mm filter thread, will i need to go up to 100mm filters?? I would see myself upgrading to a 10-22mm lens for my landscape works though. But it is also a 77mm lens. So would i need a 100mm filter for this UWA lens?

[wavemachine]

Well you may get away with 85mm with your current lens, however the Big Stopper is 100mm anyway.

Even though the 10-20mm is a 77mm filter size when you look at wideangle lenses the glass protrudes into a partial spherical shape so you probably won't get away with 85mm there.

What type of filters are you looking to get? I say this because the only filters I will currently use are Neutral Densities (including 10 stop) and a circular polariser, I have ND Grads but no longer use them. Rather than use an ND grads I bracket my photos for example with a sunset I will take one shot exposed for the sky and one shot exposed for the foreground and combine them using a layer mask and the gradient tool in PS Elements, this really is a software version of what an ND Grad does you also have the added benefit of being able to brush out buildings, trees, hills etc where the grad filter would normally darken them. The bracketed shots do need to be taken on a tripod of course to minimize movement, this technique will not work well with moving subjects of course.


There is nothing wrong with using ND Grads I just thought I would mention the alternative which I prefer.

The trouble is with filters is they are a lot of expense a set of .3, .6 and .9 ND's is going to set you back £90 if you use hi-tech and £210 if you go for Lee's.

The Lee holder (foundation kit) is another £48 and then you will need an adaptor ring (wide angle) which is another £31.

So it is quite an investment, you could of course compromise and go down the 85mm route just to see how you get on but then again you could end up having to buy 100mm filters anyway.

These are just my thoughts and experience

[jet_kit]

Originally Posted by alvinxie89

i am wondering what size of the filters should i go for? the 84/85mm ones or the 100mm ones. Since i am currently using a 60D with a 17-55mm with a 77mm filter thread, will i need to go up to 100mm filters?? I would see myself upgrading to a 10-22mm lens for my landscape works though. But it is also a 77mm lens. So would i need a 100mm filter for this UWA lens?

You'll be fine with the size of the Cokin P system (or equivalent) which is about 85mm. However, when you get your 10-20 you could have a problem with this system. Even with the wide-angle filter holder you will still get vignetting up to about 12mm, after that you'll be OK.
I resolved this by modifying the wide-angle holder to take one filter only (instead of two), but it's a bit of a fiddly operation.