neutral density filter

[robpendragon]

Does anyone use a neutral density filter? Should it be a necessary part of my gear?

[Whiplash-GT]

they come in handy on bright days to bring down the sky and/or on timed exposures where you want to increase the exposure times
ever take a picture of a waterfall? i'll close up the aprature and add an ND8 to get at least a few second exposure to get that milky water look
i personally would never be w/o one, but i shoot a lot of "slow" :)

[Edmund]

Rob, I have used them in the past with my Nikon film SLR. They are a must but most people are slow to experiment (myself included) so they buy one and very rarely use it. It's great for landscape shots where the dynamic range is greater then our film or sensor meaning how much latitude do we have. If I take a picture of a sunset and spot expose for the sky (away from the sun) then the foreground will most likely be black. So now I could put on my 2-stop graduated neutral density filter and line up my horizon and open up two full stops and now You would see some good detail in the foreground. In essence what we are tryin to do when using a ND filter is to retain our Highlights and Black's to increase the Dynamic range in our image. IMHO. Hope this helps, boy did I get off track, Yes I use both fixed and graduated ND filters.
Eddie:)

[JulieM]

Hi Eddie, what's the difference between a fixed and graduated NDF? I can guess what it means technically, but how does their use differ?

[Whiplash-GT]

the fixed ND is a solid color

the graduated is colored at the one end while clear on the other

http://www.cokin.com/ico3-p1-2.html

[JulieM]

So graduated would be for scenes which have a roughly straight line between areas which need to be exposed differently, like a horizon?

[Tom K]

Hi Rob;

I have both the graduated and the fixed and very seldom use them. To me
the most useful filter ( not trying to start an argument here) is the circular polarizer. It is super for sky, it will darken the blue and works well for water reflections. Also when set to its darkest point it will eat up a couple of stops of light.

Tom :)

[Whiplash-GT]

So graduated would be for scenes which have a roughly straight line between areas which need to be exposed differently, like a horizon?

yes ma'am, that is correct :)

[Whiplash-GT]

i like circ. polarizers too, but more for removal of glare etc from glass
i think i've only used mine tho about 5 times
i much prefer the "non-destructive" ND (that sounds a lot worse than it is, neutral density is just that tho...it doesn't affect anything but the EV)

[Edmund]

Julie,I personally like the Sing Ray filters and there is a good example of how they work here.
http://www.singh-ray.com/grndgrads.html
Eddie:)

[JulieM]

Thanks, Eddie. So, those fit into a holder that goes onto your lens like a threaded filter would? I guess that make it usable on different diameter lenses. Good information...

[lexcell]

I'll throw my two cents worth in on what I use and why.

Like Whiplash, I too, like slow. I use a Singh Ray Vari-ND when the light is too bright to drop the shutter speed to where I want it to blur water, make a blur pan (sharp subject...blurred everything else), etc. With the Vari-ND I have the ability to drop the exposure from 2 to 8 stops. You can also buy single density ND filters in 1, 2 and 3 stop increments (there are some out there with even greater density). I'd suggest a 2 and/or 3 stop density to start.

I use a Lee Graduated ND 3 stop soft filter for when either the foreground or background ate much lighter than the other (beyond a five stop range). The graduated ND allows me to compress the exposure so that detail can be captured in both the highlight and shadow areas. As Julie accurately pointed out, the line between shadow and highlight needs to be fairly straight. The filter can be held at an angle or parallel...wherever it does the most good. (It works great when the situation is right)

I use a polarizer to remove reflection...whether it's from windows, water or just the blue sky reflected all over the earth. I even use one on overcast days to remove the grey reflection from the sky. The polarizer removes the blue reflection of the sky and colors become more vivid. A side effect is the sky usually gets darker and any clouds seem to get whiter popping the contrast.

[Chuck S.]

Laurie, do you ever 'stack' your filters, e.g., a neutral density and polarizer mounted at the same time? I could see where that would put an even higher premium on using high quality filters to avoid quality loss.

[lexcell]

Hi Chuck,
I have not stacked my ND and Polarizer together.
I do buy multi coated filters to keep the resolution up.
I also take off all filters when shooting into the sun to avoid the light bouncing between the two pieces of glass and creating a double sun.
I will usually take the uv filter off when I attach the polarizer for optimum quality and to avoid vignetting with wide angle lenses.

[JulieM]

I'm still not quite getting how those rectangular Singh Ray filters fit on a round lens! :rolleyes: And how do you "stack" filters? :confused:

[Whiplash-GT]

http://www.cokin.com/ico15-A.html

this is how the square filters work Julie
the singh-ray work with the same holder, they have a link up on their site
the holders will "hold" three slides each or one circ. pol and one slide
they also have a wide angle one that will only hold one slide..i've been able to go down to 12mm using it before losing my corners

[JulieM]

Thank you! Now I get it! :)

[Inspeqtor]

Julie,

Don't feel bad as I was wondering the same thing! Kinda like how do you get a square peg into a round hole!!! :p