What ND filter

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Emmet Brickowski
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I want to try long exposure. You know the kind. Old boat wreck in the foreground, misty sea, or the sun going down with that rolling fog that is the sea. 10+ second I guess.
I bought cheap ND filter years ago and I think if I remember rightly they are great for use as a Frisbee.
I only want to see if I get into this so I don't need filters that cost hundreds.
What ND filter for 10+ seconds at a mid range price would you recommend?
 
Try the SRB Elite range....Had some great results with them, I was lucky enough to get some Lee filters from the classifieds a while ago, but had a a set of SRB's, a really good starter to be honest.
 
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I want to try long exposure. You know the kind. Old boat wreck in the foreground, misty sea, or the sun going down with that rolling fog that is the sea. 10+ second I guess.
I bought cheap ND filter years ago and I think if I remember rightly they are great for use as a Frisbee.
I only want to see if I get into this so I don't need filters that cost hundreds.
What ND filter for 10+ seconds at a mid range price would you recommend?

Impossible to say what filter would give a 10 secs exposure time without knowing how bright the ambient light is ;)

However, being more helpful, it's the kind of subject most folks would use a 10 stops ND filter for. Haidas are great value, eg this one from Camera Gear UK in Norwich ,
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Haida-PR...-77mm-IR-ND-/252452536359?hash=item3ac7580027

CGUK also do a lesser known brand called Luzid which is also good quality and a bit cheaper.
 
Impossible to say what filter would give a 10 secs exposure time without knowing how bright the ambient light is ;)

However, being more helpful, it's the kind of subject most folks would use a 10 stops ND filter for. Haidas are great value, eg this one from Camera Gear UK in Norwich ,
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Haida-PR...-77mm-IR-ND-/252452536359?hash=item3ac7580027

CGUK also do a lesser known brand called Luzid which is also good quality and a bit cheaper.
You can have a rough guess though. 10 stops down from 1/100 is about 10 seconds so if you can set ISO and f to give about 1/100 #nofilter then simples.
 
You can have a rough guess though. 10 stops down from 1/100 is about 10 seconds so if you can set ISO and f to give about 1/100 #nofilter then simples.

Yes, that's true, but by the same token it doesn't matter what density ND you have because you can always adjust shutter speed with aperture and ISO ;)
 
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Try the SRB Elite range....Had some great results with them, I was lucky enough to get some Lee filters from the classifieds a while ago, but had a a set of SRB's, a really good starter to be honest.
+1 for SRB, even their basic/cheap range is good enough for dipping your tow in the water without breaking the bank.
 
Yes, that's true, but by the same token it doesn't matter what density ND you have because you can always adjust shutter speed with aperture and ISO ;)
true and of course you could get 10 seconds without any ND filter if you went low enough with ISO and shot at f64
 
true and of course you could get 10 seconds without any ND filter if you went low enough with ISO and shot at f64

Reality is you need roughly the right density ND filter to cover all options, if you are not to run into either noisy ISOs or diffraction at high f/numbers. Keen users have both ten-stops and six-stops.

Another point worth mentioning is the new breed of ND filters that use evaporated-metal deposit for the ND layer rather than dyed glass. Apart from being very neutral with inherently good infrared suppression, they don't suffer from optical vignetting with wide-angles. This can be severe with dyed glass and very wide lenses, because the lens see through the filter at an angle towards the edges of the frame, making the glass effectively thicker and darker. Most of the better NDs use this technology these days.
 
Another point worth mentioning is the new breed of ND filters that use evaporated-metal deposit for the ND layer rather than dyed glass. Apart from being very neutral with inherently good infrared suppression, they don't suffer from optical vignetting with wide-angles. This can be severe with dyed glass and very wide lenses, because the lens see through the filter at an angle towards the edges of the frame, making the glass effectively thicker and darker. Most of the better NDs use this technology these days.
What type of black magic do they employ to achieve this? :) :)
 
What type of black magic do they employ to achieve this? :) :)

I've not looked into the theory* of it but it certainly works. I've tested over 20 of them from all the big brands and vignetting even with a 17mm lens (on full-frame) is negligible to non-existent. On the other hand, you might get a couple of stops (or more) with dyed glass, and when that's added to a similar amount that is common to many wide-angles anyway, you end up with severe darkening in the corners. It can be corrected in post-processing of course, but that's a very big push and hardly ideal. The flip side is very often at least some vignetting suits a lot of these images and looks rather good.

This is a very useful benefit IMHO and as I said pretty much all the better ND filter manufacturers now use it but, inexplicably, not all of them mention it in their marketing.

*Well I have, briefly, but couldn't find anything helpful ;)

NB The Haida and Luzid ND I mentioned earlier are dyed glass, though other Haidas are evaporated metal - the nano-coated ones. Though nano coating is actually something different, I think that's the case.
 
Appreciate the reply Richard, I am aware of vignetting when using NDs (dyed glass I suspect) - and had figured that why it was worse for reasons you have explained. Given that I'd expect an even coverage of "magic" on the evaporated metal ones then logic suggests that the light still has more to travel through ... which is why I asked ... it doesn't make sense to me, even accepting your testing of them (which I'm not questioning btw).
 
I've not looked into the theory* of it but it certainly works. I've tested over 20 of them from all the big brands and vignetting even with a 17mm lens (on full-frame) is negligible to non-existent. On the other hand, you might get a couple of stops (or more) with dyed glass, and when that's added to a similar amount that is common to many wide-angles anyway, you end up with severe darkening in the corners. It can be corrected in post-processing of course, but that's a very big push and hardly ideal. The flip side is very often at least some vignetting suits a lot of these images and looks rather good.

This is a very useful benefit IMHO and as I said pretty much all the better ND filter manufacturers now use it but, inexplicably, not all of them mention it in their marketing.

*Well I have, briefly, but couldn't find anything helpful ;)

NB The Haida and Luzid ND I mentioned earlier are dyed glass, though other Haidas are evaporated metal - the nano-coated ones. Though nano coating is actually something different, I think that's the case.

Which ones are not dipped then ? Please share....
 
Which ones are not dipped then ? Please share....

Not sure what you mean by 'dipped' though the full complement of desirable features includes an evaporated-metal deposit ND layer, anti-reflection multi-coating, and an easy-clean dirt resistant surface. From the major brands, most of their top-end ND filters now include all these features. Notable exceptions are Formatt-Hitech Firecrest that are not coated, and Lee ProGlass which doesn't have an easy-clean finish.
 
Lee filters are sheets of glass or Perspex that are dipped into a liquid/ ink whatever it is and that’s how it goes dark
 
Lee filters are sheets of glass or Perspex that are dipped into a liquid/ ink whatever it is and that’s how it goes dark

Only Lee's graduated ND filters are dye-dipped resin.
 
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