ND Filter advice

So, for a while I've been using a Rodenstock Vario ND. It says it stops up to 5 stops etc. What I've found is it's good at dawn and decent at sunset but in the daylight it's next to useless for anything over 2 seconds. I've been reading up on the Lee Big Stopper, but I was just curious if that would be decent in daylight or suffer the same fate?

I stumbled across an old wrecked WW1 ship and wanted to get a 30 second exposure with clouds etc but the max I could get was 2 or so seconds, so I know I need something better.

Does anyone have any ideas if the Lee would work well for me?

I like the Big Stopper a lot... not only does it give the shutter time I need, it imparts very little colour cast on the image (which is easy to fix with a white balance adjustment). To figure out if it would work for you, you just need to take your normal non-filtered shutter speed and add 10 stops to it. So if your target is a 30 second exposure, then your starting point would need to be no faster than 1/30 second. (30 - 15 - 8 - 4 - 2 - 1 - 1/2 - 1/4 - 1/8 - 1/15 - 1/30 makes ten stops). So if you can use a ISO and aperture combination that would give you 1/30 second unfiltered, under the lighting conditions you are working with, then it's a touchdown.

I have the Lee Big Stopper, as well as screw-in 10-stop NDs (77mm B+W and 82mm Schneider Optics). There are advantages and disadvantages to each. The Lee is more work to set up (you need a holder and adapter ring), but you can compose the shot, focus, etc., then slide the filter in place. Also, the Lee holder allows you to use graduated ND filters (with/without the Big Stopper). The screw-ins are easy to mount, and take up less room on the bag. In bright light, Live View can exposure simulate even with 10 stops of ND, so you can focus and meter. In dmmer light, you'll need to focus and meter, then mount the filter and adjust by 10 stops (and you'll either need to switch your lens to MF or be using back button AF, else the camera will attempt to focus when you go to take the shot). The screw-in filter also combines more easily with a CPL (you can do it with the Lee, but you need to either have two foundation kits and the tandem adapter, or the 105mm front ring and a 105mm CPL).

Personally, if I'm going to use a grad ND, I bring the Lee setup, and if I know all I'll want is the ND or ND+CPL, I bring the screw-in.

Hey all,

Thanks for the replies so far. It looks like I've potentially been doing this wrong judging by your replies. I'm only a beginner so what I've been doing is using TV instead of AV and setting a 30 second shutter speed manually instead of using AV and going to, say, F22. My settings are usually ISO100, shutter 30 seconds. I might give M a go and see how it pans out. This filter cost me $280 and the Lee locally will be over $400 so I kind of want to make sure it's the filter not coping with what I want than me screwing up :)

Jonathan Huyer, I just showed my fiance some of your shots, especially the ones of the polar bears, so expect us to be ordering some prints on the weekend :) Also, thanks for the little "graph" about stops etc, it makes a little bit of sense to me now. So, if I have a 5 stop filter, if I set to 1/30 it will then expand to 1/2 of a sec? Or am I reading that backwards?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Squidy

... So, if I have a 5 stop filter, if I set to 1/30 it will then expand to 1/2 of a sec? Or am I reading that backwards?

---

Hi, if you have another look at Jonathan's numbers you'll find that 5 stops bring you from 1/30 sec to 1 sec, 1/2 sec would be only 4 stops. You may find it easier to just multiply the shutter speed without filter with 2^5 = 32 (30) rather than "counting stops on fingers".

When it comes to shooting procedure with ND filters I suppose one can do it in many ways, but at least to me the "Tv way" seems difficult. I suppose a lot more common procedure is to set up your shot without filter. Choose aperture and decide what exposure you want - that gives you a time, say 1/200 sec. Then add your filter, in my case it's a B+W ND110 (10 stops). 2^10 = 1024 (1000), which means that the corresponding shutter speed setting with filter would be 1/200 × 1000 = 5 seconds.

Ahhhh ok, thanks, that makes a little more sense now. So, I guess that's why they're better at sunset etc? slower shutter speed means more stops to get to 30 seconds etc? Whereas if i was doing 1/640 it would still end up a fast shutter speed.

I've always done it at TV mode as I am just used to setting shutter speeds. I'm guessing though, at sunset with less light then aperture mode would also work if I go out to say F22 or F18 or whatever, but as I said i'm a beginner so I'm still trying to work out this "triangle" that photographers mention, that ISO goes to shutter goes to aperture etc and they all affect each other differently.