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I am looking to buy some more Lee ND filters, particularly ND's, but also some Coral's for sunset shots. I'd like to buy whole sets if possible (they usually sell .3, .6, and .9 sets for ND and Coral in Soft and Hard Grad.) It seems that Lee filters are sold out at a lot of online stores, and the items are back ordered. Does anyone know a good online photography gear store that is a little off the beaten path that might actually have some of these items in stock? I would rather not wait an arbitrary length of time to actually get the filters I need to order.

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The 666th question. ;) – Guffa Sep 11 '10 at 3:14
... shudder ... o_o – jrista♦ Sep 11 '10 at 3:30
Some how seems fitting :) – Alan Sep 12 '10 at 1:42
@Alan: :\ ....? – jrista♦ Sep 12 '10 at 17:04
@jrista Have you had any luck finding Lee ND Filters in the US? – Thanh Nov 15 '11 at 16:01
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3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

If you don't mind shipping costs from Canada, then Vistek appears to have stock or you can also look at Henrys which doesn't have stock (they're special order), but says they will ship in 7 to 14 days.

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I'm not really sure what the exchange rate is between Canada and the US, although I believe it is pretty flat right now. The prices at Vistek seem radically extreme. The Lee Filter Foundation kit is about $75 here, but its listed at $170 at Vistek. The ND soft grad kit (.3,.6,.9) is about $240 here, but its listed as $419 at Vistek. Other stuff is similarly expensive. Those prices sound really outrageous. Am I seeing the right kind of prices? – jrista♦ Sep 11 '10 at 3:27
Henrys seems to have a similar problem...their prices are a bit cheaper, but still nearly twice as much as the prices here in the US. – jrista♦ Sep 11 '10 at 3:30
Yeah, they're expensive, more than I would expect and definitely not in line with the exchange rate (which is less than $0.05 these days). However, you didn't specify cheap, just available! :) – John Cavan♦ Sep 11 '10 at 4:32
Aye, I did specify 'available'. ;P If they were a little more expensive, I'd go for it...but its kind of hard to justify nearly twice the price. I wonder if tariffs are involved in those prices somehow... I did find some of what I needed on B&H. They had ONE of the ND sets that I need in stock, as well as a 77mm adapter for the foundation kit. They are not allowing purchases until 8:30 ET...I'll be waiting with baited breath to click the "purchase" button as soon as it is available...hopefully no one else is trying to buy the same thing. Seems LEE stuff is perpetually backordered. – jrista♦ Sep 11 '10 at 17:58
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For UK based people there is teamworkphoto.com/shop . I recently got from them 0.6 & 0.9 ND with first class delivery – peter_budo Oct 24 '11 at 10:00
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up vote 1 down vote

2filter.com is the place. GREAT customer service - they were great on the phone helping get me set up with my first LEE filter set and foundation kit. They even talked me out of some of the more expensive glass filters because the feedback they've gotten (along with their use) shows that the resin LEE filters are better and more durable. When was the last time you had someone talk you out of a more expensive product?

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up vote 0 down vote

I read an article about Lee filters a while ago that went into how they are made. The process is amazingly manual, each filter is made and checked by hand, its very painstaking. I seem to remember it takes an hour or two to make a single filter!

Lee filters have a reputation for high quality, this is why they are expensive and often hard to get.

BTW, I don't work for Lee or anything, I have a Cokin set.

*Edit: Found a reference.

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Aye, Lee filters are finely crafted tools. Thats why I chose them, they seemed to have a solid work ethic and there is certainly no question about the quality of their stuff. One thing I didn't research before I bought the system, however, was the availability of their stuff. Non-standard filters are easy enough to get, but the foundation kit, tandem kit, ring adapters, ND/NDGrad, and Coral/Coral Grad filters seem to be notoriously difficult to find in stock anywhere. – jrista♦ Sep 15 '10 at 3:39
As a side note, this would have probably been best as a comment, rather than an answer. – jrista♦ Sep 15 '10 at 3:40

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