Filters

[David Hutt]

Having recently purchased a Sigma 10-22mm, I am looking to buy some ND Filters, Grad Filters and Polariser. Having never bought any of these before I am a little unsure about the best make and route to go.
1) The lens diameter is 82mm, therefore do I need an adapter ring?
2) Should I be going for a square/rectangular multiple filter holder?
3) Can you reccommend any good makes which dont cost a small fortune? Lee Filters ?
4) If I buy a Lee filter holder can I fit other makes of filters into that holder?
5) Whats the mimimum size I should be looking for to avoid vignetting at 10mm focal length?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated

[jet_kit]

Wow! Lots of questions, but here goes.
1. No. If you go for circular filters, you just need to make sure you buy 82mm. But, be prepared for a significant cost outlay. Filters are not cheap, and the more 'known' the brand, the more you'll have to pay. Also, you'll probably need the special slim ones to avoid vignetting.
2. If you want to dabble in grads, then I would recommend going for square/rectangular. You will also find these are considerably cheaper than round filters because they are made from optical resin rather than glass. The Polarising filter (make sure you get the circular, not the linear) is round and slots into the adaptor where you can turn it to achieve the desired effect.
3. Probably the best known and 'middle of the road' is the Cokin system. Even if you want to spend more money at some later time on the likes of Lee, the holders and adaptors will still work.
4. Sort of answered in No. 3. I bought cheap Chinese holders and they work fine. The filter is the important thing.
5. Tricky. I use the same Cokin P system on all my lenses (Chinese holders and rings are so cheap, they're permanently fitted), although I have the wide-angle holder I still get a little vignetting at 10mm. It's hardly noticeable at 11mm and gone at 12mm. The alternative is the larger and much more expensive Cokin Z system
Hope this helps.

[donoreo]

3. I can recommend Hi-Tech/Formatt. I have their ND Grads and a 10 Stop from them as well as the hardware. They are good and not expensive. Kood are also supposed to be good. Cokin are still hard to find, the company had some financial and production problems.

5. If you go with a less expensive (less than Lee anyway) you can get the Z size (100mm) and you will not have a problem at 10 mm.

[PeterColli]

Apart from a Skylight filter permanently fitted to all my lenses (largely for protection as it's cheaper to replace a filter than an expensive piece of glass) I have used square filters for many years now.
I adopted the A system (from Jessops at the time), but have recently bought Kood which I have found good and reasonably priced - and you only need to buy one filter rather than one for each lens you are going to use as is the case with round ones.
In the case of graduated filters, the square system also means you can adjust the 'height' of the filter for the best effect or to match the horizon, etc. Also if you are using a lens that has a rotating front element (i.e. the front element rotates as you zoom/focus) the square system allows you to correct for this.