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Hi Guys.

My wife is asking what I want for an xmas prezzie and I think that a cokin filter system would be a good idea. I went to filtershop.com.au and saw what i need but I'm just wondering if anywhere sells little kits with perhaps an adapter, holder and a graduated nd filter or an nd filter... just to get started.

Cheers,
Owen.

Owen,

If you are wanting to puchase while you are in Sydney then I could suggest no better place to go than:

VANBAR
UNIT 1
2 GORDON STREET
CAMPERDOWN

PHONE: 02 9550 5833

The store is within walking distance of Sydney Uni. They will also pack and send via post or courier to country areas.

Cheers,

Hi Walter, thanks for your suggestion. I am in the process of checking out their website (I'm assuming it's the same place).

Cheers,
Owen.

Most, that's most, yes most, but not all, camera retailers should, that's should be able to order them in for you, even in the Nowra area. Vanbars may be cheaper even with postage costs, maybe.

Just a personal note, I have found the Cokin filters to be annoying and expensive.

there is nothing you can do with them that you cannot do in Photoshop.

After many years I use a UV and a polarizer filter and nothing else.

I do have an odd assortment of strange filters but would use them once in a blue moon like an ND for waterfalls.

Just a personal thing and only my opinion.

cheers doug

Dug wrote:Just a personal note, I have found the Cokin filters to be annoying and expensive.

there is nothing you can do with them that you cannot do in Photoshop.

After many years I use a UV and a polarizer filter and nothing else.

I do have an odd assortment of strange filters but would use them once in a blue moon like an ND for waterfalls.

Just a personal thing and only my opinion.

cheers doug

Doug,
I totally agreed, Cokin filters had been debated long in the early day of this forum, I have full sac of Cokin filters back in the 90 (Still in my possession) and never use them again, same as I against use them as they're inconvience, especially in digital age. If anyone want to read, please do a search on Cokin filter on this forum.
I now only have CPL and UV screwed-ins type filter.
RIP Cokin!!!!!!!!

Dug wrote:there is nothing you can do with them that you cannot do in Photoshop.

After many years I use a UV and a polarizer filter and nothing else.

I'm not sure I can totally agree with this. Sure, a polariser's effect is very hard (impossible?) to emulate using PP techniques.

However, although a grad ND seems like a trivial thing to do on the PC, this is only true if the scene hasn't overwhelmed the dynamic range of the sensor. A grad ND is just the medicine against that.

I do agree that all those colour and effect filters are poppycock in this day and age. That's not only true for Cokins. I'm sure I'm never going to use my once dearly loved Nikon A2 again...

Cheers
Steffen.

Birddog114 wrote:RIP Cokin!!!!!!!!

Care to dump a P holder and grad ND on me?

Cheers
Steffen.

Steffen,

Have to agree that ND Grads are indispensible for taming many instances of a runaway Subject Brightness Range. A lighting kit in a wallet. I am just about to give a loan of my Cokins to a mate spending the holidays in New Zealand. He has some monster of a Sigma zoom that requires 82mm filter mounts - that's the biggest Cokin do for the 'P' range.

Cheers,

Interesting feedback guys. Thanks. About half of you say that there's no need, and half say that they are good. I do agree though that there is no way to remove reflections in photoshop, but a normal screw-in polariser can do this. Also I'd like to try 'getting it right' in the camera rather than merging two shots in photoshop... which is why I thought about getting a grad ND filter...

I will give it some more thought.

Thanks,
Owen.

The cokin filters i use and have in my camera bag are;

ND (+2, +4, +8 )
Grad ND
IR 89a

The Grad ND is useful because you can adjust the height of where you want the most reduction of light, so if your horizon is not in the middle of your image, then you simply move the filter up or down in it's holder.

I still have a few coloured ones from film days, but i never use them anymore.