If you could choose only one ND filter what would it be?

PeterM69

PeterM69

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Pete
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Im looking at buying my first ND filter (77mm thread) for water/landscape shots. I'm on a tight budget and can only afford one of the Hoya pro-1 Digitals but what do you recommend to get me started? ND4/8/16?

Thanks

Pete
 
What are you trying to achieve?
 
RSMarco said:
What are you trying to achieve?
Click to expand...

Basically I want to experiment with longer exposures, creating a silky smooth look with rivers, streams or beach shots. I'm off to a place called Winspit today in Dorset and I know I'm not going to be able to stop my lens down enough without overexposing my shots while trying to achieve this :crying: As I said, just experimenting at the moment and wondered what ND was best to get me started until I could afford more.

Hi,
7 day shop do a vari nd filter, my pal has one and it's top notch
£31 quid delivered http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/prod...ucts_id=111258

Hope this helps
Click to expand...

Thats a very good price but the first thing that springs to mind is quality, anyone on here had any experience with these?
 
That vari filter is really good, it does to nd10, you said you were on a budget, this is ideal as it will let you play around with different filter settings, other than just buying one filter, good luck
 
I take a lot of long exposure shots. You'll need a minimum of 10 stops. I sometimes add a 6 stop on as well on really bright days. I use B+W ND filters so can't really offer any advice for other makes.
 
Before you decide to buy one of those vari ND filters Peter, I'd advise you to do a quick search on the forum. I remember reading a while back loads of people returning them because they weren't fit for purpose. Not quite sure if it was the 7dayshop ones.
 
Have you considered getting a Cokin P square filter?

The holder and adapter ring an be got for about £10 and from SRB Griturn you can then get the ND filters for £12.50 each. Their own brand ones are made by HiTech filters which are quite high quality and then if you have any other lenses which need different sized filters, you just buy the relevant adapter ring so it saves you money. Plus if you ever get into using a ND grads, square filters are much easier to use.

Holder and Adapter kit:

http://www.srb-griturn.com/p-size-holder-kit-1-2171-p.asp

ND filters:

http://www.srb-griturn.com/full-neutral-density-filters-1781-p.asp (Make sure you select the 'P-Size' option)
 
I bought and returned the Fader ND II filter because it did not meet my needs at all. On a full frame camera at short focal lengths (e.g. 24mm), typical for landscape photography, there were IQ problems long before the maximum claimed density was reached. At longer focal lengths, above 100mm the whole image was soft. It's worth noting the limitations highlighted in the product description, which was only added after I and others (Hoppy for one) provided feedback about the problems.

http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photog...rkshop-77mm-fader-nd-filter-mk-ii-p-2828.html

I've also seen reports that the 7dayshop filter is every bit as bad. For the price I would guess it might be worse. The principles upon which the faders work are all the same - a pair of polarising filters which you rotate relative to one another.

In order to answer your original question I think you need to consider what sort of lighting you wish to shoot in and what your target shutter speed is. Taking the Sunny 16 guideline as a starting point, in sunny conditions you might expect a shutter speed of 1/100 at f/16 and 100 ISO. Ideally, on a cropper you would not want to stop down that far, with f/11 probably being ample for DOF, and diffraction upsetting the apple cart beyond that. If you were to limit your self to f/11 then you'd need a shutter speed of 1/200 in bright sunshine. So, back to filters....

1 stop gets you to 1/100
2 stop gets you to 1/50
3 stop gets you to 1/25
4 stop gets you to 1/13
5 stop gets you to 1/6
6 stop gets you to 1/3
7 stop gets you to 0.6
8 stop gets you to 1.3
9 stop gets you to 2.5
10 stop gets you to 5 seconds

In overcast conditions you might lose 4 stops of light from cloud cover, so really you need to consider how much light nature will provide and how long you want the shutter to be open. You'll get creamy at about 1 second for the exposure for a stream or waterfall, but may want to fine tune either side of that for the required effect, maybe extending shutter times to 30 seconds in some cases such as large lakes and the sea. It really depends on how fast the water motion is.

Here's an example at 4 seconds. You can see the exposure data. This would have been with my LCW ND500 (9 stop) filter. I know it needs a bit of tweaking, or maybe even deleting altogether, but it's just an example of the result at 4 seconds.

20110917_124542_000.jpg
 
Bigvin said:
Before you decide to buy one of those vari ND filters Peter, I'd advise you to do a quick search on the forum. I remember reading a while back loads of people returning them because they weren't fit for purpose. Not quite sure if it was the 7dayshop ones.
Click to expand...

Yep, some bad reviews which have really put me off even considering one even though I'm on a budget.
 
Thanks tdodd, that's a very helpful and informative reply. I think I'm going to save and invest a little extra and buy a few filters to experiment with. Looking at the system as recommended by S162216, seems in the long run it'll be a lot cheaper. Just need to sell my D5100 now ;-)

Thanks S162216 for the links and thanks again tdodd.

Nothings ever simple :) lol
 
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Personally I like the Lee big stopper , but that not a budget filter - hitech 10 stop is about half the price but gets worse reviews

also see the thread about using welding glass for an ultra cheap option
 
big soft moose said:
Personally I like the Lee big stopper , but that not a budget filter - hitech 10 stop is about half the price but gets worse reviews

also see the thread about using welding glass for an ultra cheap option
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Those linked are the new versions of the Hitech 10 stop which seems to get much better reviews than the original regarding circular flare and WB issues.

Original Hitech/Lee comparison review

http://blog.robertstrachan.com/archives/1314/hitech-pro-stop-review/
New Hitech/Lee comparison review:

http://blog.robertstrachan.com/archives/1314/hitech-pro-stop-review/
 
A lot will depend on what you can actually get your hands on, as a lot of filters are on backorder at the moment, especially the Lee ND's and the big stopper.
 
Sarin said:
A lot will depend on what you can actually get your hands on, as a lot of filters are on backorder at the moment, especially the Lee ND's and the big stopper.
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The Lee and BS aren't really within my budget at the moment as I have my eye on a couple lenses so looking for something a bit cheaper for now like the new Hitech filters coming out.
 
This is something I'm considering - should I go for the above or a B+W 10 stop...it's a tricky one as I guess the 10 stop gives more versatility ?
 
damianmkv said:
This is something I'm considering - should I go for the above or a B+W 10 stop...it's a tricky one as I guess the 10 stop gives more versatility ?
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10 stop ND filters don't really do versatility. They really only do one thing, and if that's what you want, go ahead!

Some people love them, some people "specialise" in using them, but I've got one and have only used it twice!
 
Just thought I'd throw in my penny's worth! I have the LCW ND500 and find it very good optically - but there are a few niggles -

1. mine works out around 8.5 stops, and on bright summer days that sometimes is just not enough.

2. its a screw-in filter so manual focusing without the filter and then screwing it on means taking the risk of dropping an expensive bit of glass, probably on rocks! (I haven't ......... yet!)

3. although the filter ring is thin enough to avoid vignetting on my Sigma at 10mm, there is no way I could use another screw-in filter as well.

Got mine from Premier Inks too - good service and very quick delivery to NI.

btw - I also found that a steady tripod and a remote timer release are also needed. :)
 
damianmkv said:
This is something I'm considering - should I go for the above or a B+W 10 stop...it's a tricky one as I guess the 10 stop gives more versatility ?
Click to expand...

Why not try something like a 4 stop first and use it like a 10 stop i.e meter and focus with filter off and then shoot with it on. If you get along with it then perhaps it might be worth getting a 10 stop. Even with a 4 stop and the lowest sensitivity possible on your camera you can still get some nice blur effects with waterfalls etc.
 
Yes, I could go for that idea. At this end of the scale, is any brand better than another ?
 
I would first get a Cokin P holder and adapter ring like those that I linked near the top so you can use square filters as their so much easier to use in cases like this and you can then use on all your lenses if they have different sized filter rings by just buying another adapter ring.

Those filters linked are fine if you don't want to have to pay a lot; there are no colour cast issues with them unlike Cokin ND filters as I have used the graduated versions with slide film and when projected I couldn't see any cast.
 
Some useful info thanks guys

persuaded me to go for one of the LCW ND500's rather than a Fader variable type one
 
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