Essential filters for Micro Four Thirds landscape photography?

Question

So Ive been shooting Micro Four Thirds for about four years now mostly on an OM-1 and the 12-40mm f2.8 Pro and I love how light everything is but I keep hitting this wall with my landscape shots. I moved over from a bulky full frame setup and I used to carry this massive 100mm square filter system that just feels like overkill for these tiny lenses. Recently I was out at the Oregon coast trying to get those long exposures on the tide pools and the dynamic range just felt a bit more cramped than I remember on my old gear especially when the sun is hitting the horizon hard.

I usually try to bracket everything but blending exposures when the waves are moving is a nightmare and looks super fake sometimes so I think I need to go back to using physical glass. Since MFT sensors have that 2x crop factor and generally less headroom in the RAW files for pulling shadows out of the mud I'm trying to figure out what the actual must haves are for this system specifically. Is a 6-stop or 10-stop ND better for that milky water look on these smaller sensors? And what about grads... do people still use hard grads or is it all soft edge now because of the field of view? I've got about 300 bucks to spend before a trip to Glacier next month and I dont want to buy a whole set of stuff I wont actually use. What are you guys actually keeping in your bag for MFT landscapes these days?

MagentaHaven · Accepted Answer

Adding my two cents here since I've been running the OM-1 for a while now too. I'm super satisfied with a 6-stop ND for coastal work. Since our base ISO is 200 on MFT, a 10-stop often pushes exposure times into the 'too long' category where you lose all wave texture and it just looks like fog. A Hoya PROND64 6-Stop Filter is basically the sweet spot for that half-second blur that actually shows the motion of the tide. For the dynamic range thing, I stopped using hard grads years ago. On the smaller sensor, the transition line is way more obvious than full frame, so stick to soft grads if you go that route. Honestly tho, a good CPL like the Breakthrough Photography X4 CPL does half the heavy lifting by killing reflections on wet rocks and deepening the sky. If you want to ditch the bulky 100mm setup, the NiSi M75 Filter System is designed for these smaller lenses and works like a charm without the weight.

casino_mfen · Answer

Wait, quick question tho, what kind of tripod are you packing for Glacier?Reminds me of when my brother-in-law went there with a flimsy setupHe tried using these big filters in the windThe whole rig tipped right into a freezing creek Honestly Ive been super satisfied with staying light lately, works well for me. Like someone mentioned, the weight really matters.