Neutral Density Filters...

Discussion in 'Photography 101' started by RedOctober25, Oct 16, 2010.

Page 2 of 3
  1. mainstreet1997

    mainstreet1997 Member

    So what do you suggest I start with? 0.3, 0.6, or 0.9 (or 2x, 4x or 8x)?

    I was doing some reading and some suggested to just get an 8x because a 2 and 4 just weren't dark enough.
     
    mainstreet1997, Oct 30, 2010
    #21
  2. Roger

    Roger Member Staff Member

    I would, now, start with at least an 8x. ; If you're shooting a waterfall in a dark(er) forest, a 2x/4x is fine to slow the water motion down because you can always lower your ISO.

    Shooting Victoria Falls at the Canada pavilion in bright sunlight, eh...not so much. ; The main problem you'll see is that the viewfinder[nb]Optical that is, I need to test with an EVF[/nb] will get very dark.
     
    Roger, Oct 30, 2010
    #22
  3. Roger

    Roger Member Staff Member

    Just tested my 1.6 B&W ND filter and my EVF autogained to only be slightly dimmer than normal....
     
    Roger, Oct 30, 2010
    #23
  4. mainstreet1997

    mainstreet1997 Member

    I think I get it now.

    Okay one more question - what brand would you reccommend? Tiffen, Hoya or something else?
     
    mainstreet1997, Oct 30, 2010
    #24
  5. Roger

    Roger Member Staff Member

    I don't think a brand is going to matter for an ND filter. ; But I like the Hoya multi-coated/SMC/HD filters or the B&W ones. ; Tiffen is usually lower cost but they also seem to have a Hollywood pedigree which is odd. ; I haven't liked them as much since I got a bad enhancing filter from them....
     
    Roger, Oct 30, 2010
    #25
  6. Scottwdw

    Scottwdw Member

    I'm taking an ND8 tonight for Wishes. ; Will be using the lock on my shutter release and my iPhone to time the long exposures.

    I'll post tomorrow if I get anything good.
     
    Scottwdw, Oct 30, 2010
    #26
  7. Roger

    Roger Member Staff Member

    Scott, don't know if you'll read this before hand, but have you tried taking a test exposure with the castle in the shot before the show, and then making that your exposure? ; If you get the castle exposure right, then the fireworks should turn out right....I stopped using bulb mode in the era of digital.
     
    Roger, Oct 30, 2010
    #27
  8. Scottwdw

    Scottwdw Member

    Roger, I have had excellent results with bulb mode for fireworks. ; Here's my longest exposure for the night. ; What I ended up doing was capturing each of the scenes of Wishes in one exposure. ; Worked very well. ;

    This is the Villain scene.
    [​IMG]
    Nikon D700/28-300VR, 66.9s, f/16, ISO 200, 52mm FL, tripod, ND8 (3 stops) filter
     
    Scottwdw, Oct 30, 2010
    #28
  9. mSummers

    mSummers Member

    Awesome shot! ; I can't wait to try that in December!
     
    mSummers, Nov 2, 2010
    #29
  10. HW

    HW Member

    Scott, that is fantastic. one of the best FW pics I have ever seen
     
    HW, Nov 2, 2010
    #30
  11. jbwolffiv

    jbwolffiv Member

    That is great work Scott!!
     
    jbwolffiv, Nov 2, 2010
    #31
  12. mSummers

    mSummers Member

    Scott, did you do any processing on that shot, or was it straight out of the camera. ; If you processed it, would you mind sharing the original and talking about what you did in post?
     
    mSummers, Nov 2, 2010
    #32
  13. Sonny Eclipse (Colin C)

    Sonny Eclipse (Colin C) Member

    Nice work Scott. That is amazing.

    So for the newbie to the boards, what advantage would it be to me to get a ND filter and what would be the best situation to use it in WDW?
     
    Sonny Eclipse (Colin C), Nov 3, 2010
    #33
  14. Roger

    Roger Member Staff Member

    ND filters used to only be used for daytime, when you wanted to show a longer shutter speed, like with a flowing body of water/waterfall. ; When you can't stop down your lens anymore or lower your ISO, that's when the ND filter had to come out. ;

    But fireworks, since digital doesn't seem to suffer from the reciprocity effects[nb]A phenomenon where film actually needed more light than what a meter would tell you. ; Example, if the scene required 4 seconds of light, the film actually needed 6-8 seconds of light. ; It gets worse the longer your shutter speed is.[/nb] that film had, you can easily blow out a background element (like the castle) while not getting that many fireworks trails in your picture. ; So, with an ND filter, you can get more fireworks in a shot without blowing out a background element, and in most cases, reduce the exposure of smoke in the shot. ; The fireworks still show up because they are so bright.

    Additionally you can use an ND filter to take longer shutter speeds in the day, which should result in blurred/invisible guests, say on Main Street, because they won't stand in one place (usually) to properly expose.
     
    Roger, Nov 3, 2010
    #34
  15. Scottwdw

    Scottwdw Member

    Yes, I processed the RAW image a bit. ; The castle was a bit blown out in the blue color so I recovered that and most of the bright firework trails using Aperture 3's Recovery and Highlight sliders. ; Then, I brought back some color which was lost in the recovery by using the fine tuning sliders for Highlight color and contrast. Last, I added a touch of edge sharpening which is for the castle mostly. Uploaded to my SmugMug account as a JPEG file.

    Sonny Eclipse, what Roger said is actually how I used the ND filter for fireworks. ; I also used it for a daytime shot of the Dumbo ride. ; Without the ND filter, the slowest shutter I could get with the lens I was using was 1/40th of a second at f/25. ; With the ND filter, 1.6 seconds at f/25. ; Dumbo ride vehicles went from slightly blurred to warp speed blur. ; :D
     
    Scottwdw, Nov 3, 2010
    #35
  16. goofmick

    goofmick Member

    Scott have you posted the Dumbo shot? ; If not, I would love to see it.
     
    goofmick, Nov 3, 2010
    #36
  17. Scottwdw

    Scottwdw Member

    Not yet...soon. ; Been catching up on my blogs since I got back. ; Will be doing a lot of processing this weekend.
     
    Scottwdw, Nov 4, 2010
    #37
  18. Craig

    Craig Member Staff Member

    Scott, that is absolutely AWESOME!!! great work!!
     
    Craig, Nov 5, 2010
    #38
  19. Scottwdw

    Scottwdw Member

    Okay, here are the Dumbo photos. ; I was a little off on the shutter speeds in my previous post.

    Without ND filter. ; Camera on tripod and used timer to trip shutter.
    [​IMG]
    Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/15s, f/25, ISO 200, +0.6, 38mm focal length

    With ND8 filter (3-stops or 0.9).
    [​IMG]
    Nikon D700/28-300VR, 0.6s, f/25, ISO 200, +0.6, 38mm focal length

    This is the filter kit I bought from Amazon: [amazonsearch]Dolica CF-NDK77 77mm 0.3, 0.6, 0.9ND Neutral Density Filter Kit[/amazonsearch]. ; These filters are thin and can be stacked. ; I only had the ND8 with me or I would have added the 0.6 (2-stop) filter to the 3 stopper. ; I will be using these filters for photographing moving water and other objects when the light does not allow for long shutter speeds.
     
    Scottwdw, Nov 6, 2010
    #39
  20. RedOctober25

    RedOctober25 Member

    could you imagine if the ride really went as fast as that looks... ZOOOWWWIE!!! ; You'd have ALOT of little kids tossin' up after the ride. ; Very cool photo. ; Can't wait to try out my new lenses. ; Purchasing them tonite or tomorrow (whenever B&H online ordering comes back up).
     
    RedOctober25, Nov 6, 2010
    #40
Page 2 of 3

Share This Page