ND & GND filters.

[allenlennon]

I am thinking of getting a set of cokin filter, the one that you slide the fileters in.
And i get the following:
1 x 58mm Ring adapter
1 x Filter Holder
1 x ND2 Filter
1 x ND4 Filter
1 x ND8 Filter
1 x Graduated Gradual Grey Filter
1 x Graduated Gradual Orange Filter
1 x Graduated Gradual Blue Filter
1 x filter case
Original Manufacture Package

Is this a good place to start with? Also, what types of photography are they ideal for, besides landscapes

[Donald]

Allan

I would question why you need three (esp., the 1-stop) NDs. If you are seriously thinking about going down the road of NDs, then maybe you start with one of them - the 2 or 3-stop.

On the GNDs - I would say that if you are not sure why you need them (i.e. know what you are going to use them for), then you don't need them yet. Don't buy because they seem like a good idea and you'll find a use for them. Buy them once you you know you need them to take help you take your photography to where you want it to go. Especially the coloured filters - you need to study what they are used for and know that that is what you are going to do. Otherwise you're wasting money.

[herbert]

Hi Allen,

I believe that it would be best to go for a large filter size to future proof any lens changes. 58mm is not very big. You can get step down rings so you can use the filters on different lenses.

Alternatively you can take my approach and not use filters. Any time I would be using filters I will be using a tripod too. So I just take multiple shots and achieve the effect in post processing.

The only thing you cannot do in post processing is mimick a circular polariser, or capture fast action that requires a single shot (e.g. a bird flying through the frame of a sunset).

Alex

[MattNQ]

Hi Allen,
As mentioned above, work out what you want to shoot (and what you need to fix..!) before shelling out the $$. Eg Sunrise/sunset you have sky too bright & foreground too dark? Solution - you can play with bracketing, or go with GND's (note - neutral, not coloured) if you want a bit more flexibility. No point buying stuff until you know you need it
If you have reasonable photo editing software, I wouldn't worry about any coloured filters unless you have a specific use.
I have Cokin P, but if you have the extra $$, maybe go Z-pro for the bigger size. adapter rings are fairly inexpensive.
My style I use GND's a lot mainly because the because sky here in Qld is usually very bright and the clouds blow out (wouldn't even bother with ND2's at all here). I move around a subject a lot & use low angles, so often don't want to be constrained by a tripod.
horses for course - do your research & work out where you want your photography to go....and what filters will help you get there.

Matt