captive said:
this is not correct. You can get what is called Graduated Nueatral Density filters in lots of flavors(2 stop, 4 stop, 6 stop etc) that decrease the a scenes dynamic range.
Heh. Check the sentence below what you quoted.
Unfotunately, GND filters don't always apply due to design, they are very situational. If you have a Cokin setup and can easily rotate it or are able to hand-hold it at an angles position, that's handy for when the area you want to stop down isn't perfectly horizontal.
Note that a polarising filter doesn't solve the problem either. A polarising filter is designed to cut reflections, a by-product of this is that it increases colour saturation of objects at a 90 degree angle to the sun.
Don't let this stop you though, a polarising filter and a plain neutral density filter are well worth having in your photographic kit.
There is a considerable difference in quality with filters, not necessarily brands but there are tiers of quality within brands. The most well regarded and expensive brand is B+W. Cokin have a great filter system, the only downside is if you're moving around quite a bit, then it can be quite cumbersome; if you're not, it is the cheapest way to go as the filters are literally just sheets of glass costing a fraction of the screw-in equivalent. Then of course there are Kenko/Hoya which are one and the same, though you will find Hoya branded filters are more expensive for absolutely no reason.
My personal choice was to grab a Kenko Pro 1 D circular polariser and a Kenko Pro 1 D ND8 (though the shop was out of stock of said ND8 so they swapped it for the superior Kenko Zeta ND8 at no extra charge
). Their Zeta range is very good, so if it's not much more than the Pro 1 D equivalent where you shop, go for it. Some money saving advice would be grab the largest size filter to fit your biggest lens diameter eg. 77mm and then buy step-up rings if necessary to fit smaller lenses.
One piece of equipment that would be good for you to add that is beyond helpful is a light meter. They're quite reasonably priced if you get an analog style unit, pretty small to so you can pop one in your pocket. They are much more accurate than the in-camera meters as they can measure incident lighting (light falling on a subject or scene) rather than reflective lighting (the light reflected from an object) as your camera does. Both have their uses but incident lighting is a better measurement on most occasions. Just a passing thought, feel free to ignore it.
I've rambled on long enough and have probably worn out my welcome in the thread also, I shall depart now.
