High end GND advice

[markjaffa]

My girlfriend and I have decided to go to Karijini National Park in 2 weeks for 4-5 days. A holiday is always a good excuse to purchase more gear - this time its GNDs. :) At home I do a lot of seascapes, sunsets and sunrises. I have read lots of threads on here re-Cokins colour cast issue when stacking multiple NDs and that it seems more common in the P-sizes than the Z/X-Pro. Regardless, at this stage I am leaning towards Singh-Ray and Lee filters. Cokin X-Pros are only 25% less than the other brands. I use a 14mm on full frame, so I believe it needs to be X-Pro(170x130mm), or Lees SW150 system. Vignetting is not acceptable. I will be handholding at first, but I would like the system to be able to be used with holders at a a later date. From my readings the holder may cause vignetting on a 14mm wide open on full frame with the X-Pro. Can anyone confirm this?

I can get the Lees in Oz for approx $200ea for Hard/Soft GNDs and $220ea for NDs - GNDs are 170x150mm and NDs are 150x150mm. Singh-Rays offerings I am considering are X-Pro sized and cost either US$210 for NDs and US$225 for GNDs. Plus they have the Reverse GNDs available for US$260 in 1, 2 and 3-stop. Freight from US is approx US$60 for FEDEX, so its not too bad.

Will the X-Pro cause vignetting on the 14mm if being handheld? Or should I go with the larger SW150 Lees? Is there an appreciable difference between the two brands in regards to IQ?

At this stage I am considering purchasing a 3-stop Hard and Soft GND, 3 stop ND and the Reverse GND if I go with Singh-Ray. Any suggestions in regards to my shopping list?

[OzzieTraveller]

G'day Mark

To some extent I think you have answered your own Q with "Vignetting is not acceptable."
Put the extra $$ into the larger sizes and go for it in the knowledge that they are large enough not to 'cut any corners' [pun intended]

Regards, Phil

[markjaffa]

Perusing other forums gave me the answers I needed and through one of them I found the Lees in stock in Oz for 25% less than the prices I quoted - which made the final decision easy. I will probably get a Singh Ray reverse GND at another date, and made some 0.6 grads too.