Sincere thanks for all the kind messages. It is much appreciated. I will overcome and be back.
Sincere thanks for all the kind messages. It is much appreciated. I will overcome and be back.
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I have noticed that on some of my digital photographs of landscapes that I have had to turn up the brightness to see what is in the foreground. This has resulted in a loss of colour and definition in any sky featured, giving the impression that the picture is overexposed there and underexposed on the ground. I find that it can be a problem with some digital cameras due to the way that the light sensor works.
I have used the screw in circular Polarizer and U.V. Skylight filters with out success. So I wanted something different.
What I found was this Cokin system. This system was developed by the French professional photographer Jean Coquin. He developed a system that has as he says "simplicity, rapidity of use and versatile enough to leave plenty of room
for individual inspiration and creativity".
First you have a screw in adaptor that fits the front of the lens. This varies with the size of your lens. Onto this adaptor fits the filter holder itself. This is made of a hard dark plastic into which the filter slots. There are two slots in the front of the holder.
You will notice at once that you can put in and take out a filter very quickly as you are not screwing in the filter, though care to avoid finger marks must be taken.
The filter holder is able to freely rotate about the lens ring so that you can vary the effects. The "X-Pro" system has two brass screws on the filter holder that can be tightened to hold the holder in one position against the mounting ring.
The system has four main types:
"A" system; for lenses from 36mm-62mm with a focal length greater than 35mm. "P" system; from 48mm-82mm with focal length greater than 28mm. "Z-Pro" system: from 49mm-96mm and focal length greater than 20mm. "X-Pro" system; from 62mm-112mm with focal length greater than 14mm. There are also some rings for specialist type cameras such as Rollei and Hasselblad. There are also some that will attach with a magnetic ring for digital cameras. Here I am quoting their literature.
The filters come in 8 different types. 1: coloured. 2: diffraction stars. 3: Centre-spots. 4: Pastels-diffusers. 5: Optical Effects. 6: Graduated. 7: Polarizers. 9: Special Effects. The complete range has 160 different filters.
The filters for the "P" system are contained in a plastic box and are themselves made of organic glass (maker's booklet) as are all the filters rather than an optical glass with a coating. The box for the filter is (HxWxD) 110mm x 95mm x 10mm and the filter itself is 82mm x 82mm.
The X-Pro comes in its own soft leather wallet as they are much larger.170mm x 130mm. These are sold in a larger cardboard box.
I cannot give the sizes of either the "A" or "Z-Pro" as I do not have any.
It would appear that the "A" and "P" series cover the vast majority of the popular sizes. The "X" and "Z-Pro" systems are for the larger format systems. Not every type of filter is available for each system. Having bought some filters in one system, say "P" and you then get a different lens, all that may be required is a new mounting ring rather than a complete new set of filters at a great saving in money.
Price:
This appears to vary depending where to do your shopping. For a "P" series ring and holder I paid £5 and £8 respectively from a Photoshop. Since then I have found a variety of prices. A filter can cost between £9-£15 depending again where you shop.
The "X-Pro" ring and holder cost £25 and £32 respectively and the filters themselves were £39.
You can see that costs can mount up quickly when you have a large lens and you want several filters. As an indication a 121M filter can cost: "A" £10.95 "P" £13.95 "X" £49.95 "Z" £34.95
As an example I took the following 4 shots from the same place with my CanonEOS 300digital camera using the "P" series of graduated filters numbered 121L, 121M and 121S fitted to the 18-55mm lens. All stops, film and shutter speed settings remain the same.
Fig 1 used no filter at all. Fig 2 used P121L filter Fig 3 used P121M filter Fig 4 used P121S filter There are variations you will note but I have not lost the definition in the clouds that can sometimes be lost when you have to turn up the brightness in a picture to see the foreground.The distinctions may not be all that clear on these reduced photos, but it is noticable on the full size 3072x2048 that I normally use
Think about what you want to do and have fun with your camera.
Pictures of Cokin Filter System
fig 1
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Excellent value for money as an entry level medium format camera Disadvantages: Getting a little bit old now with limited automation. Good for learning with.
db375 01.12.2002 (10.12.2002)
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