SusanFromVermont wrote:
A kit may sound like a good idea, but in the end you will probably end up only using a few of them. The best thing would be to figure out which ones you really want, and then buy good quality. You can always buy another one later, when you decide you need it. The most useful are the Graduated ND filters, and there are some interesting variations to consider. First there is how dark do you want to go - usually darker is better, because if you don't need darker, you can probably get a decent image straight out of the camera! Second, do you want one that starts dark at one end, and goes to clear at the other? Or do you want one that starts dark in the middle and goes to clear at both ends? Solid ND filters decrease the amount of light that enters the camera, but you could do that by changing exposure settings! More useful would be a circular polarizer, but you would need one for each different size of lens that you want to use it with.
Everyone has their brand preference, mine is B+H for the circular polarizer, and for the Grad ND I like Singh Ray Galen Rowell, which are rectangular. Like SPeters, I hand-hold them. Starting out, I also had holders and adapters, but they are just as easy to use and faster when hand-held. It takes a little practice, to make sure you are covering the whole lens, but allows you to switch from the filter for one image, and then immediately to shooting without it for another image. I think the only time the holder/adapter might be useful is if you want to stack filters, but even that can be done hand-held!
A kit may sound like a good idea, but in the end y... (
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Typically, I'll use an ND filter because I want a long exposure. Sometimes, the light is so bright that I can't just close down the aperture and speed up the shutter, and still get the effect I want. Regarding hand-holding the filters, I would try it in a pinch, but I'm leery of any vibration being transmitted from me to the camera. I'm ambivalent about the graduated NDs, most of the things that I shoot that require them don't have nice, straight lines separating the dark from the light exposure regions.
Two good examples: showing a blurred waterfall in bright light (as opposed to freezing the motion of the water), and smoothing the ocean waves at sunset. In brightest lights, I'll use a 10-stop or higher filter.