# Lee Filter Adapter Question



## Vivid Color (Feb 13, 2014)

I will be going to Hawaii in August and thought that might be a great place to use a Lee Big Stopper. For a few moments last night, I thought Adorama had one in stock, but it turns out it was out of stock. Oh well, I ordered it and at least I'm now on the waiting list! 

In the meantime, I would like to order the foundation kit and adapter rings. I think I can use a standard 67mm adapter for my 100mm L macro and 70-300L lenses. 

But I have a question about my 24-105L: for proper use at 24mm, can I get by with the standard, or should I get the more expensive wide-angle version? 

Also, any suggestions on other filters to take to Hawaii will be greatly appreciated. (I already have B+W CPLs in 67mm and 77mm.) It will be my first trip. 

Thanks!

Vivid


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## JustMeOregon (Feb 14, 2014)

I just happened to still have my old 77mm standard adapter ring (along with the wide-angle adapter ring I use all the time now) so I gave it a quick & dirty test. With my 5D3, 24-105mm L, and Lee filter holder (Foundation Kit) in the typical configuration of 2-slots:

The standard 77mm adapter ring does indeed cause a slight amount of hard-mechanical vignetting (together with a moderate amount of soft vignetting) at 24mm. While the same setup using the wide-angle adapter ring appeared to add no vignetting; though the 24-105mm has more than its own fair share of vignetting at 24mm...

I don't have a cropped-sensor camera handy to test with, but judging by the small amount of hard vignetting with the full-frame 5D3, I bet a cropped-sensor camera wouldn't show any bad vignetting even while using the less expensive "standard" 77mm adapter ring.

As far as other filters go, if you get your Foundation Kit (with or without the Big Stopper) check out a 3-stop _reverse_-ND-grad. I wouldn't face a sunset here on the Oregon coast without one...


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## wtlloyd (Feb 14, 2014)

You don't have to wait for Adorama.

All Lee filters including Big Stopper is in stock at 2filters.com

Super reliable, they've been around for years.


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## sagittariansrock (Feb 14, 2014)

If you want to save some money at the moment, I can recommend the Filter Dude Lee adapter on ebay. The wide angle adapter ring and the holder costs $ 40 and works with all Lee and Singh Ray filters perfectly (including the big stopper). Very nicely made.


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## Vivid Color (Feb 19, 2014)

Thank you, JustMeOregon, wtlloyd, and sagittariansrock for your replies. They are all very helpful.

The Filter Dude Lee adapter did not seem to be available. Do any of you or the other readers know if the Lee Big Stopper will work in a Fotodiox 100mm filter holder?


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## King Eyre (Feb 21, 2014)

Personally, I'd spend the extra and get the UWA adaptor, if only that it's future proofing you to an extent.

Excellent system in my opinion.

George


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## sunnyVan (Feb 21, 2014)

Vivid Color said:


> Thank you, JustMeOregon, wtlloyd, and sagittariansrock for your replies. They are all very helpful.
> 
> The Filter Dude Lee adapter did not seem to be available. Do any of you or the other readers know if the Lee Big Stopper will work in a Fotodiox 100mm filter holder?



I have a Fotodiox filter holder. Regret buying it very much. I can't compare it to other brands because this is the only one I ever tried. It's a hassle to push the filter in. It tends to be stuck towards the middle and requires using two hands to get the filter past the middle portion. Perhaps name brands are better? What I learned is that it's much easier to hand hold or use tape when stacking multiple filters. Anyway I just wanted to share my views on Fotodiox holder since there's not many reviews available


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## PhotographAdventure (Feb 22, 2014)

wtlloyd said:


> You don't have to wait for Adorama.
> 
> All Lee filters including Big Stopper is in stock at 2filters.com
> 
> Super reliable, they've been around for years.



Just grabbed a big stopper before it went out of stock at BH yesterday. Not sure how 2filters keeps stock.


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## Halfrack (Feb 22, 2014)

Lots in my local camera store...

http://www.glazerscamera.com/store/lee-big-stopper-nd-4x4-10x.html

Go for the wide angle adapter, you'll want/need it at some point right? 77mm covers the 17-40, so why double purchase?


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## Vivid Color (Feb 22, 2014)

sunnyVan said:


> Vivid Color said:
> 
> 
> > Thank you, JustMeOregon, wtlloyd, and sagittariansrock for your replies. They are all very helpful.
> ...



Thank you, sunnyVan, I will stick with the Lee holder. I could not find any reviews on the Fotodiox holder so your experience is very helpful.


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## Vivid Color (Feb 22, 2014)

King Eyre said:


> Personally, I'd spend the extra and get the UWA adaptor, if only that it's future proofing you to an extent.
> 
> Excellent system in my opinion.
> 
> George



Thank you, George.


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## jeffa4444 (Mar 24, 2014)

Hi Vivid Color

Other filters I would recommend for Hawaii for the 100mm holder are Sky Blue S/E 2 grad and Sunset S/E 2 grad its not always blue skies or perfect sunsets! 
Alternatively get a set of ND grads if it is bright the variance between sky & land will be between 2 - 3 stops and these can be used at any time after than holiday.


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## RobertG. (Mar 24, 2014)

Hi,
A good alternative to the Lee Big Stopper is the newest 10 stop "Resin ProStop IRND" filter from Hitech. I got the 6 stop and 10 stop version of this filter some months ago and they are great! The pictures show almost no color cast anymore. I also have the two previous versions from Hitech, which I hardly every used because of the strong color cast. As far as I know the Lee Big Stopper is also prone to a rather strong blue color cast.

Much more usefull than ND filters are grad ND filters. For spectacular sunsets/sunrises a reverse ND filter is needed. If you are willing to be bothered by an adapter ring and unwiedly filter holder, get at least a 2 stop soft grad ND and 2 stop reverse grad ND filter. From my collection of more than a dozen grad and reverse grad ND filters, these are the 2 filters I use most. A matching pol filter in 105mm is quite expensive but definitely pays off. My rather cheap Sigma EX DG 105mm pol filter does a pretty good job for couple of years already. I do have some B+W pol filters in smaller diameters but I still couldn't justify the price of a 105mm B+W pol filter while having the Sigma one.

Kind regards, Robert


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## Vivid Color (Mar 26, 2014)

jeffa4444 said:


> Hi Vivid Color
> 
> Other filters I would recommend for Hawaii for the 100mm holder are Sky Blue S/E 2 grad and Sunset S/E 2 grad its not always blue skies or perfect sunsets!
> Alternatively get a set of ND grads if it is bright the variance between sky & land will be between 2 - 3 stops and these can be used at any time after than holiday.



Thank you jeffa4444. I've been thinking about getting some colored filters as well as some ND grads so your suggestions are very helpful.


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## Vivid Color (Mar 26, 2014)

RobertG. said:


> Hi,
> A good alternative to the Lee Big Stopper is the newest 10 stop "Resin ProStop IRND" filter from Hitech. I got the 6 stop and 10 stop version of this filter some months ago and they are great! The pictures show almost no color cast anymore. I also have the two previous versions from Hitech, which I hardly every used because of the strong color cast. As far as I know the Lee Big Stopper is also prone to a rather strong blue color cast.
> 
> Much more usefull than ND filters are grad ND filters. For spectacular sunsets/sunrises a reverse ND filter is needed. If you are willing to be bothered by an adapter ring and unwiedly filter holder, get at least a 2 stop soft grad ND and 2 stop reverse grad ND filter. From my collection of more than a dozen grad and reverse grad ND filters, these are the 2 filters I use most. A matching pol filter in 105mm is quite expensive but definitely pays off. My rather cheap Sigma EX DG 105mm pol filter does a pretty good job for couple of years already. I do have some B+W pol filters in smaller diameters but I still couldn't justify the price of a 105mm B+W pol filter while having the Sigma one.
> ...



Thank you, Robert. I also appreciate your suggestions on the ND grad and reverse grad filters. Do you use the Lee or Hitech filters?


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## RobertG. (Mar 27, 2014)

Hi,
I use the Hitech filters in a Lee filter holder. The Hitech filters were cheaper and easier to get. I though about switching to Lee for a while already but can't imagine that the image quality would improve enough to justify the investment. The newer Hitech filters like the reverse grad NDs or ProStop IRND are also a bit better than my older grad NDs. A single Hitech grad ND or a Hitech grad ND + pol filter is fine. Two Hitech grad ND filters is not such a good idea because you may notice a tiny bit of haze caused by 3mm of additional plastic infront of your lens. But the pictures are still pretty good. 

BTW, depending on the exact position of the Hitech reverse grad filter to the sun, a much more reddish picture can be the result. This is often quite welcome. The attached photo shows the efect quite well. Both pics are out of cam but resized. Half of the 2nd one was stacked up as a layer on the 1st one. They were taken seconds apart and differ only in the position of the reverse grad filter and shutter speed (1/15sec vs 1/5sec).

Best regards, Robert


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## Vivid Color (Mar 27, 2014)

RobertG. said:


> Hi,
> I use the Hitech filters in a Lee filter holder. The Hitech filters were cheaper and easier to get. I though about switching to Lee for a while already but can't imagine that the image quality would improve enough to justify the investment. The newer Hitech filters like the reverse grad NDs or ProStop IRND are also a bit better than my older grad NDs. A single Hitech grad ND or a Hitech grad ND + pol filter is fine. Two Hitech grad ND filters is not such a good idea because you may notice a tiny bit of haze caused by 3mm of additional plastic infront of your lens. But the pictures are still pretty good.
> 
> BTW, depending on the exact position of the Hitech reverse grad filter to the sun, a much more reddish picture can be the result. This is often quite welcome. The attached photo shows the efect quite well. Both pics are out of cam but resized. Half of the 2nd one was stacked up as a layer on the 1st one. They were taken seconds apart and differ only in the position of the reverse grad filter and shutter speed (1/15sec vs 1/5sec).
> ...



Robert, thank you so much for taking the time to not only answer my question but also to send the photos, which I found to be quite helpful. --Vivid


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## Goldingd (Mar 27, 2014)

I use the Lee 100mm system. I am supremely happy with it. I have both standard and wide adaptor rings. The difference in-between standard and wide is that the wide adaptor places the "ring" behind the front edge of the lens, as a result, if your lens retracts into the barrel when focusing, the ring might prevent that (focus direction lens dependent).

If your lens supports use of the wide adaptor rings I would go with that ESPECIALLY for wide angle lenses.

I would advise visiting the LEE web page for clarity on that.

http://www.leefilters.com/index.php/camera/system


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## Vivid Color (Mar 28, 2014)

Goldingd said:


> I use the Lee 100mm system. I am supremely happy with it. I have both standard and wide adaptor rings. The difference in-between standard and wide is that the wide adaptor places the "ring" behind the front edge of the lens, as a result, if your lens retracts into the barrel when focusing, the ring might prevent that (focus direction lens dependent).
> 
> If your lens supports use of the wide adaptor rings I would go with that ESPECIALLY for wide angle lenses.
> 
> ...



Thank you, Goldingd!


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