just tried tiffen nd 10 filter what happend here

At a guess, you didn't block the viewfinder window for the long exposure and enough light crept in and spoiled the pictures.

ETA... Just remembered I had this shot in my Flickr stream, deliberately shot to show the effect of light entering through the viewfinder window. It was a 10 second exposure of the inside of the lens cap.

leakage by gpn63, on Flickr
 
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wow thanks nod didnt realise it could cause that much of a problem,should cameras come with anything to block the view finder or do you have to buy something cheers
 
I hang my cap over the viewfinder, but anything will do really.

My D90 came with a cover but I have no idea where it is now!

Looks like you had the sun shining right on the back of the camera too which won't help.
 
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iwols said:
wow thanks nod didnt realise it could cause that much of a problem,should cameras come with anything to block the view finder or do you have to buy something cheers
Click to expand...

Some cameras are affected by this more than others, but most come with a little rubber eye-piece cover. Also take care when the camera is on a tripod and your eye is not shielding the viewfinder as that will upset the metering.
 
Nod said:
At a guess, you didn't block the viewfinder window for the long exposure and enough light crept in and spoiled the pictures.

ETA... Just remembered I had this shot in my Flickr stream, deliberately shot to show the effect of light entering through the viewfinder window. It was a 10 second exposure of the inside of the lens cap.

leakage by gpn63, on Flickr
Click to expand...

This is a very helpful example. I always cover my viewfinder with that little rubber bit on the strap, but I never realised it could be this bad.
 
I took the pic after the same question (or similar) was asked a while back. It was a fairly extreme case, with me deliberately aiming the viewfinder at the direct sun with a cap on the lens. IIRC, it was taken with my D700 (which has a blind rather than a separate cap to close off the VF.) Pretty much anything can be used to cover the VF and possibly even just shading it would stop the reverse path light. My older cameras have all come with little covers that slip over the VF. I've always got a roll of black insulating tape in the bag and an inch of that would be ideal if I didn't have the blind/shield (and did looooong exposures!)
 
Thanks guys great answers ,just looked in the box it came in and found the little cover will try again when time,weather permits,maybe this would stop the colour cast I got on other pics too thanks
 
I've seen a few photos of cameras 'taking' a long exposure shot and I always wondered why there was a plastic piece over the viewfinder. Will bare this in mind in the future.
 
WOW I just bought a 10 stop filter and i found a video about this, crazy that the view finder can let in this much light.
 
The photo I posted was specifically to highlight a worst case scenario, although it was "only" a 10 second exposure, I deliberately aimed the viewfinder window towards strong sunlight. Since most new SLRs are supplied with viewfinder caps or blinds, it shouldn't be a problem unless the cap gets left in the box (often with the manual...) As I said above, if the shield's missing for any reason, a strip of insulating tape over the window will block the light out.
 
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