CP / ND Filters - Best Setup?

[ccirelli]

Inspired by Steve's recent "Fall Photography Basics" post, I'm now in need of a good CP filter. I'm having trouble deciding between a straight CP and separate ND (64 or 1000), or a ND/PL combo. I decided to invest in PolarPro Quartzline, but Gobe is another brand I'm considering (lower cost, but Gobe doesn't offer the ND/PL combo).

I'm leaning toward starting out with a PolarPro ND64/PL ($129) which I think would cover most situations. This has benefits (little or no ghosting, as seen when stacking multiple separate filters), but - I can't separate them when I want one or the other. For example, when I want faster shutter speeds with polarization.

My other option is, I could go a little overboard and get a discounted 3-pack: ND64/PL / CP / ND1000 ($307) and this combo would have me well-covered all around.

I haven't been a huge filter guy, so If anyone can share their setup / experience / best practices with CP and ND filters, it would help me a lot.

 

[DRwyoming]

I'm having trouble deciding between a straight CP and separate ND (64 or 1000), or a ND/PL combo

Personally I carry separate ND and CPL filters. There are plenty of situations where I want to use a CPL but don't want to further reduce light reaching the sensor (e.g. bringing out fur detail in animals or shooting fall colors hand held). And there are some situations where I want the light reduction of a ND filter but don't necessarily want to polarize the image (a bit less common but it happens). So I carry separate filters that can be stacked when I need both.

 

[ccirelli]

Thanks DRwyoming, definitely some important considerations and a good approach.

 

[Woody Meristem]

I don't use filter very often but always carry separate CP and ND filters. Remember, a polarizer already reduces the available light and there may be many cases where you want to polarize a scene but still need all the light you can get.

 

[Warren D]

I have seperate CPOL and ND filters. All my newer filters are from Breakthrough. Be careful with the ND's most of them aren't color neutral (including some very expensive ones!)

 

[Steve]

I too use separate filters. The combo ones seem like a great idea, but in practice, I don't like them. I had one and it's necessarily thicker than either an ND or polarizer by itself. Always had vignetting at the wider end of the zooms like like to use (the 24-70G at the time). Plus, I almost never use an ND filter - most of the time if I need an ND filter, the light is such that I shouldn't be shooting anyway (not all the time, but most of the time )