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*Please skip to the end of this thread, as I think that I answered my own question. Cheers!*
Now, there must be more than a couple of ways to skin this particular cat, but I was just curious to know how you folks go about using your 10-stop filters (since they seem very popular these days
).
I've had mine for a couple of months but really haven't had much opportunity to use it more than twice, so far. The first time, I checked the exposure without the filter on and just did the maths, before switching to manual, setting "bulb" exposure and using a remote to keep the shutter open for the 4 minutes or so, which those shots required. In each case, they came out under-exposed (think I forgot to allow for the setting sun
).
More recently, I've been wanting to take long exposure shots in daylight and have been trying to work out the best method to save time and errors. I came up with the following, but have yet to test it out 'in the field'. So, does this seem like a sensible 'work flow' to you guys, or would you do anything differently/more efficiently :shrug:?
1. Set up the camera on the tripod, compose, focus and take test shots with the filter off, until I have a good reference image.
2. Ensure that ISO is set to 200, or slower if the longest possible exposure is required.
3. Switch the lens to "M" focus, so that the camera will not try to re-focus and hunt around in the dark for the subject (which happened all the time on previous attempts).
4. Switch the camera's exposure mode from "Aperture" (which is what I normally use for landscapes) to "Manual", taking careful note of the aperture setting and shutter speed from the desired test shot.
5. Leaving the aperture on the desired setting, dial in the above shutter speed.
6. Screw on the 10-stop filter, being careful not to disturb the manual focus ring.
7. Switch on "Long Exposure Noise Reduction" function, if not already on.
8. Making sure that the EV values in the exposure menu are set to whole F stops (as opposed to the default 1/3 EV steps), click down through the shutter speeds by 10 clicks.
9. Press the shutter release button and pray that it doesn't cloud over, rain, snow etc.
.
This worked OK on test shots around the house and the exposure for the 10-stop shot (through my window, including the darkened window frames) came out looking about the same as the original (non-filtered) test shot, except with the desired movement blur of the passing clouds.
I guess that my concern is, what happens if your exposure time goes beyond 30 seconds (the longest selectable exposure time on my D700) and you can't just dial it in? Can you dial in, say, 7 clicks slower on the shutter speed in Manual mode and then use the Fine Exposure Compensation function to increase the EV by a further 3 whole EV steps? That should have the same effect, right!?
I know that some of you will be thinking, "Why don't you just get out there and experiment for yourself?", but I'm stuck at work now (as always
) and would like to get this clear in my head before I go out for my next attempt, as time is precious when you're trying to capture a sunset .
I have read other threads here, where people have described using smaller aperture settings to get the reference shot and then simply opening it up by 10 stops to get the right exposure when the filters on, but that wouldn't allow me to get the focus and DOF that I want in my reference shot :shrug:. I've also heard suggestions about dialling in higher ISO settings and then lowering it by 10 stops to get the desired exposure (e.g. start with ISO 12,560 on the D700 and then select ISO 100 for the filtered shot, although this is only 9 stops, I believe).
So, how do you do it and what tips do you have for a relative beginner like me, please
?
Now, there must be more than a couple of ways to skin this particular cat, but I was just curious to know how you folks go about using your 10-stop filters (since they seem very popular these days
).I've had mine for a couple of months but really haven't had much opportunity to use it more than twice, so far. The first time, I checked the exposure without the filter on and just did the maths, before switching to manual, setting "bulb" exposure and using a remote to keep the shutter open for the 4 minutes or so, which those shots required. In each case, they came out under-exposed (think I forgot to allow for the setting sun
).More recently, I've been wanting to take long exposure shots in daylight and have been trying to work out the best method to save time and errors. I came up with the following, but have yet to test it out 'in the field'. So, does this seem like a sensible 'work flow' to you guys, or would you do anything differently/more efficiently :shrug:?
1. Set up the camera on the tripod, compose, focus and take test shots with the filter off, until I have a good reference image.
2. Ensure that ISO is set to 200, or slower if the longest possible exposure is required.
3. Switch the lens to "M" focus, so that the camera will not try to re-focus and hunt around in the dark for the subject (which happened all the time on previous attempts).
4. Switch the camera's exposure mode from "Aperture" (which is what I normally use for landscapes) to "Manual", taking careful note of the aperture setting and shutter speed from the desired test shot.
5. Leaving the aperture on the desired setting, dial in the above shutter speed.
6. Screw on the 10-stop filter, being careful not to disturb the manual focus ring.
7. Switch on "Long Exposure Noise Reduction" function, if not already on.
8. Making sure that the EV values in the exposure menu are set to whole F stops (as opposed to the default 1/3 EV steps), click down through the shutter speeds by 10 clicks.
9. Press the shutter release button and pray that it doesn't cloud over, rain, snow etc.
.This worked OK on test shots around the house and the exposure for the 10-stop shot (through my window, including the darkened window frames) came out looking about the same as the original (non-filtered) test shot, except with the desired movement blur of the passing clouds.
I guess that my concern is, what happens if your exposure time goes beyond 30 seconds (the longest selectable exposure time on my D700) and you can't just dial it in? Can you dial in, say, 7 clicks slower on the shutter speed in Manual mode and then use the Fine Exposure Compensation function to increase the EV by a further 3 whole EV steps? That should have the same effect, right
!?I know that some of you will be thinking, "Why don't you just get out there and experiment for yourself?", but I'm stuck at work now (as always
) and would like to get this clear in my head before I go out for my next attempt, as time is precious when you're trying to capture a sunset .I have read other threads here, where people have described using smaller aperture settings to get the reference shot and then simply opening it up by 10 stops to get the right exposure when the filters on, but that wouldn't allow me to get the focus and DOF that I want in my reference shot :shrug:. I've also heard suggestions about dialling in higher ISO settings and then lowering it by 10 stops to get the desired exposure (e.g. start with ISO 12,560 on the D700 and then select ISO 100 for the filtered shot, although this is only 9 stops, I believe
).So, how do you do it and what tips do you have for a relative beginner like me, please
?
!
. Or, someone comes up and asks me "what I'm doing" and I forget about ... "what I'm doing" :bang:.
Cheers for your input, Sean.
.
