ND filters...still using them?

[IPT]

I see a bunch of people are talking about ND filters (hard and soft edge). Since going digital I haven't touched mine. Just do a large bracket and merge in PS with some masking. No more dark trees to get the sky and clouds from being blown out. Any one else doing this?

 

[BlueCorn]

I do both but still rely heavily on my split grads. If at all possible getting it right in camera gives you better results than in post processing. You're right though that sometimes it just doesn't work and you have to do a blend.

 

[IPT]

If at all possible getting it right in camera gives you better results than in post processing.

Yeah, that's exactly the point. I'm not talking about using adjustments (even to a RAW file) to save highlights (or sky, or shadows, or whatever). I'm talking about taking two perfect exposures so you capture it in the camera, without having a $100 piece of glass infront of your $1500 lens. Then just blend it together (Galen Rowel was doing this even when he was still shooting film using the scanned images).

With the exception of a beach shot (generally speaking) I rarely see a flat horizon without something that rises up into the graduated filter. Usually that should be exposed the same as the foreground. Then it's underexposed.

I know I've had a finger tip or two in many a frame when I was shooting MF film and using filters. Really ****ed me off...and there was no way to "preview" it like now with digital.

 

[KurtsReef]

I still use them, think mine were more like 200 each though.

I have both full ND filters to allow for longer exposures and the graduated ND filters...but really do not get out much for landscapes anymore.

 

[BlueCorn]

Actually Galen was a HUGE proponent of split grads. So much so that he worked with Singh-Ray on his own line of filters. Read Mountain light sometime. I carry a 2 and 3 stop soft, a 3 stop hard and a 3 stop reverse grad. You don't need a perfectly straight horizon to use them. I make use of long exposure times and actually move the filter in a small circular pattern. It completely hides the harsh transition that you can end up if done wrong.

There's nothing wrong with either process. You can certainly make good images by blending; I do it myself. You can also work wonders in ACR and Lightroom giving a similar result. I prefer to do it in camera because it's a challenge.

No right or wrong, do what you prefer.