Reverse ND Grad - Singh Ray? Hitech? Other? Best price?

[Kym]

I'm thinking about getting a 2 or 3 stop reverse ND grad filter for sunrise/sunset work.
(In Z-pro i.e. 4x6 size)

http://www.singh-ray.com/reversegrads.html

Who uses one?

Where is the best place to buy one?

Thanks!

[ving]

probably not helpfull but arthur has a gnd filter that he uses... i dont know anything about it tho...

[Tannin]

A reverse ND grad, eh? Tricky damn items to find in stock anywhere. Just about all the ND grads you can get here in Australia are dark at the top, fading gradually to completely clear at the bottom. You could try mail-order from Europe or the USA (because they naturally mostly use the other sort over there). Or, if that seems too difficult, you can just use a standard non-reverse grad and hold the camera upside down.

[Big Pix]

you could try here http://www.2filter.com/prices/catalog.html

I have not ordered any filters from this supplier

[gcflora]

I use the singh-ray reverse grads. Ordering on their site is the only way to get them, but their service and delivery is very quick. Not cheap though

[Kym]

A reverse ND grad, eh? Tricky damn items to find in stock anywhere. Just about all the ND grads you can get here in Australia are dark at the top, fading gradually to completely clear at the bottom. You could try mail-order from Europe or the USA (because they naturally mostly use the other sort over there).:cool: Reverse in as much as its darker in the middle and rapidly transitions to clear on the bottom half.
Designed for sunsets/sunrises
Or, if that seems too difficult, you can just use a standard non-reverse grad and hold the camera upside down.
Or I could just swivel the holder :Doh: Or maybe because we are down under ... never mind :confused013
Maybe I could get you to stand on your head so you get some blood flow to the brain :lol2:

[ving]

here ya go, this is what you are after

http://www.pro-design.com.au/product_info.php?product_id=281

dont say i dont do anything for ya! :p

[gcflora]

here ya go, this is what you are after

http://www.pro-design.com.au/product_info.php?product_id=281

dont say i dont do anything for ya! :p

Lee make reverse grads now? Cool

[Kym]

here ya go, this is what you are after
dont say i dont do anything for ya! :p

Not useful :p

A REVERSE ND Grad starts light at the top, gets darker progressively towards the middle then goes suddenly lighter.
The idea is to tame the horizon and just above for sunsets.

Normal ND grads are dark at the top and get lighter as they progress.
You can fit a normal ND grad upside down and halfway in the holder but that give a very hard edge.


Lee make reverse grads now? Cool

Sadly no.

[ving]

the sky set and twilight set work like that.


what do you want for your money... its not like you pay me to do this :p

[Dylan & Marianne]

My advice on reverse grads :

VERY useful! BUT for certain situations only
- it is useful for those precise moments of sunset where you have nothing else on the horzion or those objects will be turned black as well. Also useful for after sunset too.

I have singhray 2 stop reverse which work well
hitech also make them at 10cm X12.5cm (will fit into Zpro filter holder) among other sizes I believe.

you can get them from teamworkphoto.com at a fraction the price of singhray and so far, I have found no discernable cast or difference in quality.

Choose the scene well and you'll be surprised what results you can get :)

[arthurking83]

Apart from SinghRay, I don't know of any other manufacturers that have them.

The only thing that's stopped me from getting SinghRay's(I think I wanted 5 of their filters) is cost.
Those 5 filters would cost me over US$1000!! :eek:

ATM I'm making do, and will one day get a set of their filters too(in the Z-Pro sizes).

I think the 2stop may end up being a tad useless in 'reality' and as it;s always best to underexpose highlight areas anyhow.. I'd say 3stop minimum, 4stop may be best.
At that time of day the brightness of the horizon is usually 3-4stops brighter than the darkest shadows areas in the foreground(in most cases.. not all!). The difference between the middle ground and the upper sky may be in the order of 2-3stops.

From memory I think I was going to order a 3stop and 5stop reverse grad to give myself a fair amount of leeway with only two filters, and they're $200plus each! that way I can stack'em and have up to 8stops of balance when needed..

I think that the difference between 2stops and 3 stops, and 3 stops and 4stops is easily recovered in processing.

The problems with the Lee filters, Stripe Set is that they're all basically coloured as well. Not really needed with digital, and any extra orangey tint will probably only serve to blow the red channel even more(when it does blow out). They one and only striped filter in grey is too light.

[arthurking83]

Hitech!? :D

thanks for that Dylan.

Will have a look one day

ditto on the exact situation where they work well too.
That's been another reason I haven't rushed out to get them. I want them for those situations when they do work properly, which are few and far between in my case.
The problem with my case is that, when I damned well need them, and don't have them .. well, that's the problem.

I'll check out the Hitech site.

[Kym]

My advice on reverse grads :
VERY useful! BUT for certain situations only
- it is useful for those precise moments of sunset where you have nothing else on the horzion or those objects will be turned black as well. Also useful for after sunset too.
I have singhray 2 stop reverse which work well
hitech also make them at 10cm X12.5cm (will fit into Zpro filter holder) among other sizes I believe.
you can get them from teamworkphoto.com (http://teamworkphoto.com) at a fraction the price of singhray and so far, I have found no discernable cast or difference in quality.
Choose the scene well and you'll be surprised what results you can get :)

Thanks!! Teamwork Hitech prices are less than half the SinghRay

[davidd]

You can order Hitech direct from the manufacturer, good price and prompt delivery.

www.formatt.co.uk

[gcflora]

My advice on reverse grads :

VERY useful! BUT for certain situations only
- it is useful for those precise moments of sunset where you have nothing else on the horzion or those objects will be turned black as well. Also useful for after sunset too.


Kah Kit Yoong stacks reverse GNDs with normal (soft) GNDs to get a better, more natural/subtle (IMO and probably his as well otherwise he'd not use the method I guess LOL) result. I've been meaning to give it a go...

Or so I am told ;)


Edit: This is just what I've been told! I wouldn't dare speak for him or put words into his mouth! But I believe it's true

[gcflora]

I'm thinking about getting a 2 or 3 stop reverse ND grad filter for sunrise/sunset work.
(In Z-pro i.e. 4x6 size)

http://www.singh-ray.com/reversegrads.html

Who uses one?

Where is the best place to buy one?

Thanks!

The only place to buy is from Singh-Ray directly. As far as I know they don't have resellers.

[Dylan & Marianne]

Kah Kit Yoong stacks reverse GNDs with normal (soft) GNDs to get a better, more natural/subtle (IMO and probably his as well otherwise he'd not use the method I guess LOL) result. I've been meaning to give it a go...

Or so I am told ;)


Edit: This is just what I've been told! I wouldn't dare speak for him or put words into his mouth! But I believe it's true

definitely works ! on top of the 2 reverse I usually also put the 3 soft GND as 2 stops is not enough for the lighting difference between sky and water usually.
I've gleened alot of inspiration from Kah Kit Yoong's shots and his technique too :)

[tomtom1]

I have a 3 stop singh ray reverse gnd

I think BHphoto resells them, but they are the same price, and they order from singh ray anyway when you place your order. Useful only if you're getting some other stuff from them to save shipping.

It's probably better to get the stronger 3 stop, as the sun on the horizon is obviously quite bright compared to the foreground at that time of the day.

[Steve Axford]

Bloody expensive when two exposures work just as well, maybe better if the horizon isn't flat.

[gcflora]

Bloody expensive when two exposures work just as well, maybe better if the horizon isn't flat.

Two exposures or even the black card method don't work as well in all circumstances. One effect that you'll lose using two exposures is the blurring of clouds which is sometimes what you want; i.e. you _want_ the long exposure of the foreground applied to the sky as well ;)

[Lincolnbl]

Have bought filters from Teamworkphoto a few months back. Great prices. Delivery was a bit slow but it was a the same time as the ash cloud so it was probably held up with that.

[Dylan & Marianne]

2 exposures works well in alot of situations, but then again, there's that desire to get things right in the one shot too hehe
and a rocky /mountainous horizon = shove away the hard/reverse grads for me

[Steve Axford]

Two exposures or even the black card method don't work as well in all circumstances. One effect that you'll lose using two exposures is the blurring of clouds which is sometimes what you want; i.e. you _want_ the long exposure of the foreground applied to the sky as well ;)
I just can't be bothered with filters, anyway, my problem is usually too little light, not too much.

[Scotty72]

Ok, so, now I've bought into the z series filters :P

How did they go Kym? I'm about to order a reverse grad.

Scotty

[Kym]

I've not got the reverse yet. I have the Z regular ND and GND set.

[maccaroneski]

Ok, so, now I've bought into the z series filters :P

Scotty

Scotty looks like you have my problem - every AP meet costs me a fortune as I inevitably end up buying something that I have seen while on one :)

[Scotty72]

Yeah, screw you Tony!!! :lol2:

I'm gonna keep the P-series for a while as I can use it all but the wide angle stuff.

Z-Series is nice but, gee it looks fragile :crossed:.

Scotty

[maccaroneski]

I was bitching to Peter about the fact that the holder is visible at 10mm, and he clued me on to the fact that by unscrewing the gold bits on the front, you can remove one "layer" of filter holder, which should do the trick, although I haven't tested it.

(Sorry about the mini-thread hijack Kym)

[Kym]

I was bitching to Peter about the fact that the holder is visible at 10mm, and he clued me on to the fact that by unscrewing the gold bits on the front, you can remove one "layer" of filter holder, which should do the trick, although I haven't tested it.
(Sorry about the mini-thread hijack Kym)

Not at all - very relevant

[Scotty72]

I was bitching to Peter about the fact that the holder is visible at 10mm, and he clued me on to the fact that by unscrewing the gold bits on the front, you can remove one "layer" of filter holder, which should do the trick, although I haven't tested it.

(Sorry about the mini-thread hijack Kym)

Or you could probably put it on back to front

[axle01]

Been reading this thread and i'm in the need for a reverse grad i have a problem i can get a Singh-Ray reverse grad 3 stop filter for $274 including post to Australia or a Hitech from http://www.teamworkphoto.com/index.p...ath=78_965_966 for $117 including post.

Don't know anything about the Hitech filters but i'm sure the Singh-Ray are top quality.

An advise would be appreciated.

Axle

[Kym]

Hitech look good, I've not done much with mine yet. I'm going for a shoot tonight - but it depends a bit on the clouds/weather.
From the top of Mt Lofty here in Adelaide

[axle01]

Bit the bullet and ordered a Sing-Ray ND Grad Filter-3 stop soft-step graduation and a Singh -Ray Reverse ND Grad Filter-3 stop ------cost $440 AUD including post, just need to use them to justify the cost.

[axle01]

Bit the bullet and ordered a Sing-Ray ND Grad Filter-3 stop soft-step graduation and a Singh -Ray Reverse ND Grad Filter-3 stop ------cost $440 AUD including post, just need to use them to justify the cost.

Just arrived this morning 4 days to Australia not bad.

[peterb666]

Been reading this thread and i'm in the need for a reverse grad i have a problem i can get a Singh-Ray reverse grad 3 stop filter for $274 including post to Australia or a Hitech from http://www.teamworkphoto.com/index.p...ath=78_965_966 for $117 including post.

Don't know anything about the Hitech filters but i'm sure the Singh-Ray are top quality.

An advise would be appreciated.

Axle

My post is a bit late I use the HiTech 3-stop reverse GND in P-series size and it is a great little filter. Although they claim otherwise, they are not colour cast free and don't work too well with the 8-stop HiTech filter. Generally OK when combined with a 4-Stop ND and perfectly fine with a 3-Stop ND. Considering the price of Singh-Ray, unless you are a professional or have bucket loads of money, they would be the better buy.

There is no doubt that Lee and Singh-Ray are better than HiTech but HiTech seems to fill a middle ground between Cokin (which are not that bad at all but quite limited in their range of grads and NDs).

[axle01]

Considering the price of Singh-Ray, unless you are a professional or have bucket loads of money, they would be the better buy.

Thanks Peter, I'm not a professional and i did have a bucket load of money but it's gone now after getting the 2 filters,:rolleyes: I now need to use them to justify the cost.

[peterb666]

Thanks Peter, I'm not a professional and i did have a bucket load of money but it's gone now after getting the 2 filters,:rolleyes: I now need to use them to justify the cost.

Take lots of photos and post them on AP. :th3:

I would love to have them if you get tired of them.

Cheers

PeterB666

[axle01]

Take lots of photos and post them on AP. :th3:

I would love to have them if you get tired of them.

Cheers

PeterB666

But your a cockroach.:p

[peterb666]

But your a cockroach.:p

Don't cane toads have a mail service?

[axle01]

Don't cane toads have a mail service?

No mate we're a bit slow up here but we do have a good Football team.:p