hollisterimages Posted May 7, 2007 Share #1 Posted May 7, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Has anyone found an ND grad set that would work with the M8? Being a landscape photographer and having discovered this brilliant "little" camera, the only thing I miss is the ND grad capability. By the way I've done some landscape quality comparisons with the Canon 5D and L series lenses and the Leica is rapidly becoming my camera of choice! (Full details of the comparison study on Hollisterimages.com.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 7, 2007 Posted May 7, 2007 Hi hollisterimages, Take a look here ND grads for the M8. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
andybarton Posted May 7, 2007 Share #2 Posted May 7, 2007 Welcome to the forum! Love the panoramas - what software do you use to stitch them together? Using graduated filters on a rangefinder is a bit of a hit and miss affair, but at least with the M8 you can adjust he position of the grad to get it right. Using them on a film M is impractical, unless you are prepared to burn a lot of film. Do Lee do a holder of a suitable diameter? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollisterimages Posted May 7, 2007 Author Share #3 Posted May 7, 2007 Andy - the pans are not stitched but cropped images, so not much good for blowing up but pans are not my speciality! I think Lee are working on a filter set for rangefinders but have not yet got an answer to whether they will do a 39mm adaptor or when they will be on the market. I was just wondering if anyone had found an alternative supplier who can provide these for the rangefinder. It is probably too early in the rangfinder digital market. As you say, it would be almost impossible to use ND grad filters with a rangefinder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravastar Posted May 7, 2007 Share #4 Posted May 7, 2007 Adrian, very nice images on your site. I did think with the M8 rape seed pictures there was signs of infra red contamination. The images have a brownish look which I have found to be due to IR. It's hard to tell without knowing the quality of the light though. I noticed in one of your pdf write-ups you said "I envisage using the M8 for handheld landscape work, travel photography and hand-held portrait photography." I was going to ask if you had considered as an alternative to graduated filters taking multiple exposures for highlights, mid tones and shadows and combining them in photo shop. However that's not so easy unless you use a tripod and the subject is static (no wind or waves). Digital Blending Bob. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollisterimages Posted May 7, 2007 Author Share #5 Posted May 7, 2007 Thanks Bob. Yes, that's really the only way without a grad set, but as you indicated, I am always nervous that something has changed. It would be much easier if the M8 had a bracketing function. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollisterimages Posted May 7, 2007 Author Share #6 Posted May 7, 2007 Thanks Bob for your comments on the site. Yes, that's really the only way without a grad set, but as you indicated, I am always nervous that something has changed. It would be much easier if the M8 had a bracketing function. Thanks also for the comment about the IR. now I have the filters I should use them. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckcars Posted May 8, 2007 Share #7 Posted May 8, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Anyone tried shooting several captures, aperature priority, then photoshop PSCS2 merge to HDR? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted May 8, 2007 Share #8 Posted May 8, 2007 ... the pans are not stitched but cropped images ... QUOTE] Cool. That answers my question; why the horizon isn't the wrong way from the stitching. I was going to ask what perspective correction you were performing that fixed that problem. Great shots. How nice the M8 has so much detail that we can crop and blow up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthury Posted May 9, 2007 Share #9 Posted May 9, 2007 Anyone tried shooting several captures, aperature priority, then photoshop PSCS2 merge to HDR? The HDR feature is OK but if you merge 2 images yourself, it is often better. This one is hand merged and dodged. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthury Posted May 9, 2007 Share #10 Posted May 9, 2007 Anyone tried shooting several captures, aperature priority, then photoshop PSCS2 merge to HDR? The HDR feature is OK but if you merge 2 images yourself, it is often better. This one is hand merged and doged. This one is also merged from a single RAW: one developed for highlights and the other for shadows. There's no need for an ND filter anymore unless you just wanted to use them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollisterimages Posted May 9, 2007 Author Share #11 Posted May 9, 2007 The HDR looks great but is'nt it more fun, and less time in front of a computer to use the grad filters. I've always found the HDR merging a bit tempremental, but its worked well on the great image above. By the way, emailed with Lee Filters yesterday and it looks like they are testing a prototype rangefinder filter set with possible launch date of August this year. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted May 9, 2007 Share #12 Posted May 9, 2007 Once you have taken a shot with a filter, it's always a shot with a filter... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted May 9, 2007 Share #13 Posted May 9, 2007 Leitz offered graduated filters for the Leica during the 1930's. They do work, and yes, I think a graduated ND could come in handy sometimes, especially with overcast skies which become giant light sources. B+W offer two ND grads in rotatable screw mounts. The 501 is 1X grey, the 502 is 2X. They seem to be available in all sizes up to E82, which should suffice. The old man from the Age of the Yellow Filter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted May 9, 2007 Share #14 Posted May 9, 2007 Once you have taken a shot with a filter, it's always a shot with a filter... And once you have taken a shot without a filter, and blown the highlights, it's always a shot with blown highlights ... The old man from the Wet Wild Darkroom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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