Noob ND filter advice

D

Dab

Suspended / Banned
Messages
269
Edit My Images
No
I've been looking at getting an ND filter to capture better moving water shots. I've looked online and i've seen either a Hoya ND4 or ND8, can anyone advise me on which one i need, or what the difference between the two is? Im guessing they let in different densities in light, but if someone could clear that up, that would be great.

Also, how much are these filters usually. I saw them on one website at about £34 for the 58mm size, is this about right?
 
You can get many different strengths of ND filters. The common ones in usage are ND2, which reduces the light getting through by 1 stop, ND4, which gives a 2 stop reduction and ND8 (3 stop), although you can go up to ND 1000,000 which gives a 20 stop reduction in light, although simply painting the lens black would probably have a similar effect :lol:

Have a look at Kood for ND filters too if you are just experimenting as they are quite a bit cheaper than Hoya.
 
You might also consider the Cokin range (or Lee if you're Croesus!) of square filters (or rectangular if you want ND grads) since the same filters can be used on different diameter lenses (you'll be wanting the P series) by using adapter rings.
 
Thanks guys, i'll have a look at those makes you recommended. What's a good one to start with, ND2 or ND4?
 
Cokin are a good choice to start with, Lee are lots better, but also lots more expensive :(

ND4 would probably be the best to start with IMO
 
cokin one have been reported to give colour cast so be careful to check them before you buy!
 
33L said:
cokin one have been reported to give colour cast so be careful to check them before you buy!
Click to expand...

They do ( sometimes ) give a slight colour cast, as reported here :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brentbat/2372603825/

I didn't find that my Cokin ND's gave any colour cast, but I've long since consigned them to the bits bag, and nowadays I tend to bracket shots and use Photoshop to combine them . . .
 
I'd also suggest you take a look at Hitech filters. They can be bought as a kit of three (ND2, ND4 & ND8), can be mounted in the Cokin holder but are a significant improvement over the Cokin filters though not quite as good as Lee filters but then they're less than half the price!

Obviously this would give you more options as you can stack them to reduce the light hitting the sensor even more.

Stevieboy378 said:
but I've long since consigned them to the bits bag, and nowadays I tend to bracket shots and use Photoshop to combine them . . .
Click to expand...

But isn't that missing the point of ND filters?

If you can get the shot simply by adjusting the shutter speed then you won't need them. They are really for when you cannot use a desired shutter speed or aperture without resulting in an over exposed image. Most commonly used when you wish to use a wide aperture of maybe f/2.8 or faster in bright conditions or like the OP you wish to use a very slow shutter speed to show motion blur in the subject.
 
Chris L said:
But isn't that missing the point of ND filters?
Click to expand...

Sorry for causing any confusion - the Cokin ND filters I own are all of the Graduated type . . .
 
Stevieboy378 said:
Sorry for causing any confusion - the Cokin ND filters I own are all of the Graduated type . . .
Click to expand...

In which case your previous post would indeed make sense :D

I've also got a set of Hitech ND Grads which although fun to use are sometimes not worth the hassle. Unfortunately the ND Solids are an essential for me...assuming the weather actually brightens up enough!
 
Jayst84 said:
Grads are still the way to go over exposure blending in my opinion. Bracketing is a ******* when the three frames are 10 minutes, 20 minutes and 40 minutes. And no amount of bracketing is going to help control bright lights at night.
Click to expand...

They're never going to be totally dispensable, but in my case I can do without them, as I shoot landscapes and only needed to use Grads to prevent blown highlights in brightly lit skies. I also found that a polariser, coupled with the ISO50 setting and f16 on my 5D, allows me to slow my shutter speed down enough to capture those silky smooth moving water shots . . .
 
Jayst84 said:
That's fair enough, it's horses for courses, and depends what you shoot, and to what end. Just out of interest, and with apologies to the OP; is the ISO 50 an 'expanded' option on the 5D? If so, do you find it affects IQ in any way?
Click to expand...

It is an expanded option IIRC.
I wouldn't say it affects the image quality in any way, more like theres no improvement in IQ over ISO100 . . .
By the way, maybe its just my old eyes, but I reckon ISO200 on the 5D has the edge over ISO100 in IQ . . . .
 
Jayst84 said:
That's fair enough, it's horses for courses, and depends what you shoot, and to what end. Just out of interest, and with apologies to the OP; is the ISO 50 an 'expanded' option on the 5D? If so, do you find it affects IQ in any way?
Click to expand...

I find you lose some of the contrast and tend to treat it as an emergency option rather than a valid setting IYSWIM?

Stevieboy378 said:
It is an expanded option IIRC.
I wouldn't say it affects the image quality in any way, more like theres no improvement in IQ over ISO100 . . .
By the way, maybe its just my old eyes, but I reckon ISO200 on the 5D has the edge over ISO100 in IQ . . . .
Click to expand...

I'm sure I recall reading in at least one photography magazine that colours should be richer at ISO 200 but TBH I can't recall which magazine it was and tend to just use ISO 100 unless I need to raise the ISO to keep the shutter speed and aperture I need.:shrug:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top