What Nd Filters Do I Need
ND Filters – In Depth Guide For Beginners
In this tutorial, I'm going to give you a guide to ND filters in photography; what ND filters do, what ND filters to buy, what effects they create and so on. I've also created an ND filters guide that you can download and keep. This will assistance you lot work out shutter speed times using our exposure calculator and advise on what ones to buy.
If you're thinking of buying or using ND filters to create long exposure furnishings, then this tutorial is for yous.
The Guide and Exposure Computer tin can be constitute beneath.
What exercise ND filters do?
They help you create images like this….
An ND filter acts like sunglasses would to your optics, it blocks light coming into the lens similar sunglasses blocks light coming into your eyes. ND stands for Neutral Density which ways it blocks the light in a neutral manner without changing the colour of the light.
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Why would yous want to block light coming into your lens?
Lite is expert, right? It's what makes the image. It makes sense to call up that if you cake light coming into your lens yous're just going to make a dark, underexposed image.
Well, when you block light coming into your lens y'all're are forced to expose the camera to light for a longer period of time. You lot have to open the shutter for longer to permit for the correct amount of light to enter the camera.
Let's look at the effect an ND filter tin accept on an image. Below is a normal picture with no filter, taken using a tripod at i/30th of a second. Y'all can come across the ripples in the h2o and the clouds look clear, everything has been frozen for that fraction of a second. Exposure details - 1/30th sec, f22, ISO 400
ane/30th 2nd – f22 – ISO 400
And here is a shot taken only after that one using a x stop ND filter. The filter has allowed me to increase the exposure time to xxx seconds. I've yet exposed the photographic camera to same corporeality of light, but this i has been exposed over a longer catamenia of time. When y'all do that everything that's still, stays still, i.e. the tree and mountains and everything that moves blurs or blends together. This shot has also been adapted in Lightroom to pump upwardly the colours and contrast. Cheque out my other tutorial on how I adjust images in Lightroom if you wish. 30 Secs, f22, ISO 400
30 seconds – f22 – ISO 400
Let's expect at them both together. The one on the left, shot at 1/30th of a second, the i on the right, shot at xxx seconds with a 10 terminate ND filter on. Over again, they have both been exposed to exactly the same amount of calorie-free, just with the ND filter on yous able to allow that light in slowly which allows moving things to blur, such every bit the clouds, and it too allows things to blend in, such every bit the ripples in the water. Also annotation that information technology is simply the shutter speed that has changed. The aperture and ISO stay the same when y'all are doing these shots and you must shoot in fully manual mode. I cover that in much more than detail in my other tutorial 'How to use ND filters'.
ND filters come up in all shapes and sizes
Screw on Type
Ones that screw onto the front of your lens, ones that need to use a filter holder system and graduated ND filters, with the graduated ND filters it'southward best to use a filter holder system.
The screw in types are very good value for coin (around £10 or $15 each), you can become lots of different brands of these and they all do pretty much the same thing. If you're just starting out I recommend getting one of these types that volition fit your widest-angle lens or your standard zoom lens, this will exist great for getting those long exposure landscape shots.
Screw on ND Filter
77mm size filter
To fit a 77mm bore lens
The filter holder blazon
Cons - A lot more expensive. This arrangement is for a commitment to this type of photography, or for those who take the coin to spare – the other is for a exercise or play around.
Pros - Better quality. You tin use them with other lenses but you will demand an adapter ring for different lens. You can use ND filters in conjunction with other filters similar the ND grad filters.
Filter adapter ring
Filter holder
ND Filter Holder System
Brands
There are many brands and they are all pretty skilful. Hither are some brand names - HiTech, Lee, Nisi and cokin, the latter being the more budget brand.
ND Grad filters
ND Grads are mainly used to darken down skies and balance out your exposure.
Below is an example using a hard grad ND filter. The one on the left is a normal picture shot using the photographic camera's built in low-cal meter. This is what the camera thought was the right exposure. The ane on the right with the 2 cease difficult grad ND filter. This has darkened the sky past 2 stops to give a much more balanced exposure.
And then, using the filter holder system, you lot tin can add a 10 finish ND filter together with the ND difficult grad, add some Lightroom and Photoshop trickery to it and you can become a shot like this.
2 finish hard grad ND filter and a 10 stop ND filter
Dissimilar strengths of ND filters
ND filters are created in stops. A stop in photography is either halving or doubling the amount of light e.thou. making the pic ane end darker or 1 stop lighter. In the instance of ND filters, you are always halving or reducing the corporeality of light. So a ane cease ND filter will be stopping the calorie-free by 50% or one-half. A x finish filter is stopping the light by x halves in a row. You take to practice it sequentially, that's of import.
Remember when yous're doing long exposure shots it'due south only the shutter speed you desire to be irresolute. If you accept a 2 2d exposure without a filter, then you put a 1 stop ND filter on, you have finer halved the corporeality of light coming into that photographic camera. So to counter remainder this y'all take to increment the amount of time you let calorie-free into the photographic camera, in this case past doubling it. See table below.
Adding a 1 stop ND will half the light
That's the basic principle of ND filters, they stop light coming into your camera which forces yous to recoup by letting in light over a longer period of time. The table beneath shows this with a one second exposure adding different strengths of ND filters. Notice how the new exposure times double sequentially. E.yard when you add a iv stop ND filter you have to double the original exposure 4 times.
Different ND filters with calculated exposure times
Different numbers for stops
Just to confuse you more than, different manufacturers will advertise different numbers for stops. For example, instead of saying a 2 stop ND filter, they might say information technology has an 'optical density of 0.half-dozen' or a 'ND factor of iv'. To aid you out with this here is some other tabular array giving yous all these different numbers which mean the aforementioned thing.
Stops, Optical Density and ND Factor equivalent nautical chart
My all-time advice for you is to just stick to the stops, how many stops does the ND take.
What filter is best to use?
For long exposure shots similar below with articulate water and blurred clouds yous volition desire a half dozen cease or x stop ND filter equally this will give y'all an exposure time of at least xxx seconds and up to four minutes. The college stop filters will enable you to get those long exposures.
Shot using a x stop ND filter
Then for shots like the ane below y'all will want a ii end filter. This was shot at 1/15th of a second in the middle of the solar day. Because there was a lot a low-cal I needed to stop the light downwards slightly then I could open my shutter for longer.
Shot using a 2 end ND filter
Equipment you will need
A good sturdy tripod is a must. You'll demand a bit of weight and then information technology holds your camera firmly and still for long periods of fourth dimension.
Y'all will also demand a cable release or remote trigger. This is so yous tin can apply your camera on a setting called bulb. I'll teach you all about bulb in the adjacent tutorial when I'm out and almost. You can get these quite cheaply of the internet, just type in 'cable release for …..your camera model.
I also recommend you avoid variable ND filters. It'southward harder to judge your exposure times with these types and on its strongest setting you can sometimes get lines going through the image. I would recommend getting a 10 finish and a six stop filter to get you lot started. You'll have loads of fun with them.
There are lots of different ND filters brands and kits out there. We desire to recommend to yous what nosotros call up are the all-time whether y'all are on a upkeep or not. Nosotros have merely recommended companies that we or our colleagues use.
Recommended Nd Filter Kits
When is best to utilise an ND filter?
If you want that glass looking outcome in the water you demand the water to be adequately still and calm, only slight ripples is perfect. Large crashing waves and rough seas will non work that well for this smooth glass effect. Also have a few clouds in the sky, this will requite the shot texture. A fully clouded day will just give you a grayness sky and although articulate skies can look good a bit of texture upward there adds to the shot. And try to catch the sunrise or sunset. Midday light will be too white and may even be too bright to go a 30 second or above exposure.
And there you get, ND filters explained. Don't forget to check out the 'How to use ND filters tutorial', where I'll be out in the field using them. You can also download the free Guide to ND filters via the link below.
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What Nd Filters Do I Need,
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