Cheap filters for cheap people:D
I had always wanted a set of filters like this since i first bought my DSLR. After doing some research and asking a lot of people i was recommended the Lee and Singh Ray range of filters. While these are obviously the best out there, they are also the most expensive!
So me being the cheap arse i am went searching the net, or put better went on Ebay and found a lot of Chinese filters i liked the look of(i mean price). I couldn’t find out much on these filters or if they were any good, only that they are cheap, on Ebay and come from Hong Kong – sounding highly doubtful. So i decided to take a chance and bought the Tian Ya kit for approx. AU$40(at the time). It included a holder, an adaptor(size of your choice) and x4 84mmx100mm filters.
This is very comparable to genuine Cokin(P system only), especially for $40, you’d be lucky to get the holder and adaptor or even a single filter, let alone 4 for the same price! The holder is just plastic and feels cheap(i haven’t tried the Cokin to compare) but fits well to the adaptor without being to loose(better than the Cokin WA holder). I’m pretty impressed with the filters/glass as they look good quality with well cut edges and come in their own individual cases. They slide onto the holder(which holds 3 filters) well except for the middle one – quite loose! The optics of the lens seem un-effected as far as i can notice. The only problem i guess is the GND which is only a soft gradual grey(Cokin seems to be the same – not true ND) and the ND8 which gives off a heavy megenta colour-cast.
Either way it is a cheap way to start out and get some experience in the world of filters and effects, if your interested in that kind of thing, and you can always add to it with better/different filters.
I recommend it to anyone on a budget!
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See here for some examples of what the filters can do
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Images taken using a Canon 40D with Sigma 10-20mm lens
This is what happens at 10mm
This is what happens at 12mm – no filter
GND4 – you can see how the sky is exposed much the same as the last, allowing roughly 2-stops of extra light to fill in the bottom of the image which was prevously quite dark!
x2 GND4 – you can really notice the higher dynamic range that you can achieve comparing this to the shot without a filter. I purchased the extra GND filter later when i was looking at getting a GND8 and found it over-priced lol.
Gradient Warm + GND4
Gradient Cool + GND4
Gradient Warm
Gradient Cool
No filter(for comparison as the light changed!)
ND8 – note purple cast which is a sob, though easily fixed which i will show later. It took the exposure time from 1/50 down to 1/8 – a tad over 3-stops but i let it meter itself…
And why not use them all? Though you will have to hold one out in front, be careful not to scratch it lol!
