My Haida ND3.0 10 stop filter turned up yesterday so I thought Id have a play about with it in the house before I use it in anger as Ive read that they can vary a little bit around the 10 stop mark.
Now bear in mind Im still on a steep learning curve and havent done any long exposure photograph before, Im aware that there are better quality filters out there than the Haida but Ive bought it to have a play about with at relatively low cost (£42 for the 77mm).
So I did this inside to try and keep the lighting constant (was a mixture of diffused light through a closed blind and LED ceiling mounded spotlights which could go some way to explaining some of the blue cast, although I suspect most of it is the filter). I also remembered to cover the view finder as I read somewhere I needed to do this to stop light getting in that way?
The main aim of this for me was to try and give me a better idea of how to calculate exposure times when I use this in the field. I downloaded the iPhone app Long Time to help me out a bit with this test.
So here is a photo taken without any filters and is therefore the control shot. All were shot with my D3000 with a Nikon 17-55mm f2.8, all set at f6.3 and ISO 400 (to keep the exposure times sensible). This wasnt helped by the fact I dont have a shutter release cable and on bulb mode on the D3000 you need to keep the button pressed, which after a while wasnt much fun! Dont know if this is the same on all cameras?
Control shot: 1/15 sec, f6.3, ISO400
2012_07_22-323410-Stop-TEST=1/15 sec by Tunbridge Wells, on Flickr
With ND3.0. I set the time as 60 sec as this should be the correct exposure for a 10 stop filter and got this, which looked a bit dark
2012_07_22-323510-Stop-TEST-60 sec by Tunbridge Wells, on Flickr
So I tried it at 90 sec. A bit better but still a bit dark?
2012_07_22-323710-Stop-TEST-90 sec by Tunbridge Wells, on Flickr
Again at 105 sec
2012_07_22-323210-Stop-TEST-105 sec by Tunbridge Wells, on Flickr
And again at 120 sec
2012_07_22-323610-Stop-TEST-120 sec by Tunbridge Wells, on Flickr
So what do we think? Looks nearer to 11 stops to my un-trained eye?
Any tips or advise would be great before I go out into the field with this.
Now bear in mind Im still on a steep learning curve and havent done any long exposure photograph before, Im aware that there are better quality filters out there than the Haida but Ive bought it to have a play about with at relatively low cost (£42 for the 77mm).
So I did this inside to try and keep the lighting constant (was a mixture of diffused light through a closed blind and LED ceiling mounded spotlights which could go some way to explaining some of the blue cast, although I suspect most of it is the filter). I also remembered to cover the view finder as I read somewhere I needed to do this to stop light getting in that way?
The main aim of this for me was to try and give me a better idea of how to calculate exposure times when I use this in the field. I downloaded the iPhone app Long Time to help me out a bit with this test.
So here is a photo taken without any filters and is therefore the control shot. All were shot with my D3000 with a Nikon 17-55mm f2.8, all set at f6.3 and ISO 400 (to keep the exposure times sensible). This wasnt helped by the fact I dont have a shutter release cable and on bulb mode on the D3000 you need to keep the button pressed, which after a while wasnt much fun! Dont know if this is the same on all cameras?
Control shot: 1/15 sec, f6.3, ISO400
2012_07_22-323410-Stop-TEST=1/15 sec by Tunbridge Wells, on Flickr
With ND3.0. I set the time as 60 sec as this should be the correct exposure for a 10 stop filter and got this, which looked a bit dark
2012_07_22-323510-Stop-TEST-60 sec by Tunbridge Wells, on Flickr
So I tried it at 90 sec. A bit better but still a bit dark?
2012_07_22-323710-Stop-TEST-90 sec by Tunbridge Wells, on Flickr
Again at 105 sec
2012_07_22-323210-Stop-TEST-105 sec by Tunbridge Wells, on Flickr
And again at 120 sec
2012_07_22-323610-Stop-TEST-120 sec by Tunbridge Wells, on Flickr
So what do we think? Looks nearer to 11 stops to my un-trained eye?
Any tips or advise would be great before I go out into the field with this.
