I just bought a lens from ebay and it came with a B+W 58MM NEUTRAL DENSITY GRAY FILTER. What is the difference between this type of filter and your everyday standard type?
thanks in advance
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I just bought a lens from ebay and it came with a B+W 58MM NEUTRAL DENSITY GRAY FILTER. What is the difference between this type of filter and your everyday standard type?
thanks in advance
By "everyday standard type", we assume you mean UV/haze, the typical 'protection' filter that some people swear by (and others swear at). An ND filter is a darkening filter, used when you want a wider aperture and/or longer shutter time and/or lower ISO than you can otherwise get.
Example:
f/22, ISO 50, 1/15th
http://photos.templin.org/albums/pj-...0261.sized.jpg
That was as slow as I could get the picture to be without an ND filter - the lens was as stopped down as it can do, and the ISO was as low as I could get it. (I suppose I could have dialed in some positive exposure compensation and taken it out in post.) If I wanted 1/15th but f/4 (for depth-of-field reasons), I'd need to "get rid of" five stops of shutter and/or ISO, or stick a five-stop ND filter on the front of my lens. Others may want an ND filter for shots of flowing water, as long shutter times create dreamy looks.
ND filters can be used to create motion blur effetcs on water for one.
This is done by increasing the exposure time (shutter speed) allowing more light to enter and create a blur, but then the ND filter brings down the exposure so that the image isn't over-exposed as well.
ND filters come in different strengths, for example: ND2, ND4, ND8
Each srength becomes stronger (darker)
ND filters can also be used for portrait shooting for decreasing exposure as well.