Topic: Long Exposure In The Daytime (Read 707 times)

Mister V · « **on:** March 08, 2010, 04:37:27 PM »

Hi guys,

I found that photography in bright light isn't always as good as initially thought!

Tried to run some long exposure shots of a waterfall on a sunny day but it was over exposed even at F32!

After some research I found that I will need a ND Filter.

Could someone point me in the right direction of a ND filter that will cure my problem or offer any other tips of how to overcome this problem.

Are good filters expensive? Like everything these days, there are ones on ebay for around £10-15 - are these good enough?

Many thanks!

Rob aka [minolta mad] · « **Reply #1 on:** March 08, 2010, 05:10:44 PM »

ND filters are the only way to go, they come in strengths from 1 stop right the way to 10 stops.
Hoya, B+W,Lee,Cokin all make ND filters, but they start at around £30 depending on thread size.
£15 would not be a very good filter IMO, do you have a link to one

Rob

Stef. · « **Reply #2 on:** March 08, 2010, 10:11:36 PM »

Also- when you buy on get one for your biggest filters size an buy some step down rings. This is much cheaper than buying a fitler for each filter size!
Stef.
P.S. My 10 grad neutral density fitler cost me $200

...I don't know whether there are any cheaper versions.

pointblank · « **Reply #3 on:** March 09, 2010, 04:51:39 AM »

Im using Lee, very good but cost ya an arm and a leg.

Mister V · « **Reply #4 on:** March 11, 2010, 03:31:04 PM »

Thanks for the replies!

Is a graduated ND filter one which has different 'stops' in just one filter? (you can tell i'm new to this!)

Also, if I were to get a one-stop ND filter - is there a recommended one that I should get? Or would it just be better to get one filter with several stops in it?

V

Faldrax · « **Reply #5 on:** March 11, 2010, 05:38:50 PM »

A graduated ND filter is one with part of the filter dark, and part clear. They are used where different parts of an image have significantly different brightness levels, such as landscapes with bright sky.
You can get graduaded ND in either 'hard' or 'soft' varieties - a hard grad switches from dark to clear in about 1mm, and is used where the dark and light areas of a scene are well defined (EG sky and sea). A soft grad has a larger area where the filter changes from dark to light and is used where the change from dark to light is less well defined - such as a broken skyline due to trees, buildings, etc.
With both hard and soft grads you need to select the right strength of filter based on the difference in brightness between ligh and dark areas, then position the filter so that the transition line/area is in the right place.
The Lee brochure has soem more info, and includes pictures which might explain it better.
You can download it here; http://www.leefilters.com/camera/downloads/

Rob aka [minolta mad] · « **Reply #6 on:** March 13, 2010, 04:12:45 PM »

Quote from: Mister V 22 on March 11, 2010, 03:31:04 PM

Thanks for the replies!

Is a graduated ND filter one which has different 'stops' in just one filter? (you can tell i'm new to this!)

Also, if I were to get a one-stop ND filter - is there a recommended one that I should get? Or would it just be better to get one filter with several stops in it?

It all depends on the effect that you are trying to create, a 3 0r 6 stop filter would be my first choice.
For example, if you have an image in front of you that is 1/125 sec at f/8 then a 3 stop filter would give an exposure of 1/15 sec at f/8 and a 6 stop would give an exposure of 1/2 sec at f/8.

My 10 stop filter in very bright conditions will sometime only give an exposure of 4 secs at f/8, but the same filter at dusk time an exposure of 2 minutes will be needed, which gives great effects, but starts to introduce noise.

Below is an 80 sec exposure with a 10 stop filter just before dusk

A 13 sec with the 10 stop as the sun was just about to start dipping the horizon

4 sec exposure, but alot brighter sky

Rob

zekewhipper · « **Reply #7 on:** March 13, 2010, 08:43:02 PM »

I'm wanting to get some Cokin ND filters too, but their website doesn't really give any information as to how strong the various versions are. It is obvious however, that a ND2 is weaker than a ND8, but how so is what I can't find out.

Rob aka [minolta mad] · « **Reply #8 on:** March 13, 2010, 10:19:19 PM »

ND2 is 1 stop
ND4 is 2 stops
ND8 is 3 stops

Rob

zekewhipper · « **Reply #9 on:** March 14, 2010, 06:36:15 PM »

Thanks for the info. Rob.

winjeel · « **Reply #10 on:** March 19, 2010, 04:09:11 AM »

I have Cokin and a soft Lee. I wasn't impressed with the Lee, though I know Rob loves them, and have heard from numerous others that Lee is better. If I were you, I'd go with the middle ND, or even the ND8, especially if you're using f32. Such f-stop numbers don't help image quality at all. An alternative is to do what I do, use both an ND4, and a polariser or an ND2. Warning, adding more glass in front of glass can lead to light refractions (rows of hexagonal shaped spots across your image). Also, I've tried Lee and Cokin together, and that gave a pretty poor result (fairly fuzzy images). I suspect that that was more to do with the soft Lee I was using. Then using the Lee by itself did improve quality, but only marginally. So, I still prefer my Cokins.

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Author Topic: Long Exposure In The Daytime (Read 707 times)

Mister V

Long Exposure In The Daytime

Rob aka [minolta mad]

Re: Long Exposure In The Daytime

Stef.

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pointblank

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Mister V

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Faldrax

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Rob aka [minolta mad]

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zekewhipper

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Rob aka [minolta mad]

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zekewhipper

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winjeel

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