What to buy and where to go?

[DennisHolland]

Thanks Jeff,

 

that is exactely what I was looking for

 

You see, got a lot to learn in this but now I've got my EOS 350D I just wonder why I didn't dive into photography earlier. My choice for a gradient filter is the Singh-Ray two f-stop, soft step grad.

 

My intention was to buy the filter right through the webshop at the Singh-Ray site (filter $ 99.- and shipping $ 52.-) It's obvious that I will go out here in the Netherlands for that specific filter. I think that filter is just what I need. The others are or to 'hard' gradientwise or too artistic and dominant for my type of work but yes, the pics a looking great with all the cool filters.

 

Dennis

[Jeff Mottle]

You see, got a lot to learn in this but now I've got my EOS 350D I just wonder why I didn't dive into photography earlier. My choice for a gradient filter is the Singh-Ray two f-stop, soft step grad.

 

Yeah once I got my D70, I thought the exact same thing. Just know that your new toy is going to cost you a lot more money once you see all the other accesories you can get for it LOLOLOL:)

[Wojciech Klepacki]

If You are still interested in new camera look here: http://www.letsgodigital.org/html/review/nikon/d50/nikon_D50.html

Nice Nikon D50 review... It seems to be a cheaper alternative to D70.

[DennisHolland]

Thanks Wojciech,

 

the pics in a couple of my posts in this thread are shot with my new Digital Rebel EOS 350D (Canon) and I'm very, very confident with 'her'

 

But thanks anyway. Maybe you can give me some advice in filter quality? I'm on the lookout here in the Netherlands for some cool gradient filters. I've seen some very usefull types but they are all from one specific brand, B+W that is. Any advice would be welcome since I'm about to order a set of 6 different filters tomorrow, if there are some bad experiences by one of you guys with this brand just let me know.

 

The Singh-ray filters, mentioned by Jeff, are not in stock here at Capilux.nl so that would be a costly story (€ 120 p/f compared to B+W € 55 p/f) and I can not find anything on the national online-marketplaces.

 

Any suggestions maybe?

 

Dennis

[Jape]

Hi Dennis,

 

Sorry for the late reply but jus been on a trip (hence the new camera buy). I think you made a good choice with the canon, for me it was also between the canon and the nikon but the fact that i could get an 'old' (but very good) 70-200mm AF lens from my old man for the nikon made my choice much easier.

 

Concerning the filters, according to what i have read you can best go with a 2-stop filter (i believe they range from 1-stop to 3-stop) as they will be the most practical in most situations. I also havent bought any but i will in the near future, so let me now how your filters are working for you.

 

Im curious at your Rotterdam nigt shots, took the liberty of hasseling you guys with some more of my photos again. two night shots (Exposure times res. 11min. and 30min. for the startrail photo) Had to buy the remote control for it. 26 Euro for a tiny thingy with just a shutter release button though but necesarry for exposure times longer then 30secs ) Only the night shots have some post-processing in it, mostly a little noise reduction and color balance.

[DennisHolland]

Hi Jape,

 

thanks for the reply. I really enjoy your style of photographing, especially the interior is pretty cool.

 

I just bought myself a filter, the B+W 25% linear gradient but I guess I could have been better off buying the 50%. The 25% is not covering the whole overblown sky when snapping a background for my 3D works. Price? € 59.- so that is reasonable but still expensive for a piece of painted glass

 

I will post some nice shots as soon as I've figured out how to increase the exposuretimes for best results.

 

Thanks again, succes en groeten.

 

Dennis