what's it called?

K

kam

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Tracy
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Hi. I wondered if someone could help me out?

I would like to use a long shutter speed in the daylight, I thought It was a polarising lens I needed, so I brought one, I haven't got a clue what a polarising lens is for, but its not what I thought :shrug: Can someone plz tell me what the lens is called to be able to take pictures in the day light using a long shutter speed.

Many thanks in advance

Tracy
 
You're after a neutral density filter. They vary in density i.e how much light they let pass through. I'd recommend at least 3stops but you can go up to 10.
 
You can get variable ones so you can experiment and see what strength nd filter you need for the effect you want

That's what i'm doing anyway - i'm sure someone will let me know why I shouldn't do this...
 
With a polariser you can still get 2 stops of underexposure which may be enough with a low iso 100 and high f number like 22-32 to get some blurry water effect and ofc it will bring out the colour in bright days.
 
Do you want to take the shots with your Canaon A560?

If so, go to a photographic shop and discuss what you want to do with them as I'm not sure how you would attach a filter to the A560 and ND filters are not cheap.

A much cheaper, though not as optically good, alternative is to use welding glass. It can be found for a few pounds on Ebay. As welding glass is very dark green you would need to alter the white balance in your camera so you get a normally colour photo, but that is not difficult. However, there is still the problem of fixing it to your camera.

Dave
 
macs said:
You can get variable ones so you can experiment and see what strength nd filter you need for the effect you want

That's what i'm doing anyway - i'm sure someone will let me know why I shouldn't do this...
Click to expand...

I would check the reviews of the variable ND filters before spending any money, they haven't been very good.
 
You're thinking about a neutral density filter. They comes in different types and grades but, as others have said, I don't know how you would attach one to an A560. A circular polarising filter - it's not a lens - has some of the neutral density effect, but it's not designed for this and you would run into the same issues fitting it to the camera.
 
Hi Tracy,
Although all of the above answers are correct in what they say, I think you may need a little more help on the polariser, especially if you think you have wasted your money. As hotshot says, they are paticularly good at removing or reducing the amount of reflection on water, and for giving more contrast or bringing out the clouds in what otherwise may look like a plain sky, depending on conditions of course.
Whenever I get a new lens with a different filter size, a polariser is always the first filter I get. Hope this has helped.
 
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