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I'll soon have myself a 10-20mm f4 sigma which I plan on using on landscapes. I'm looking for an ND filter to do long exposures during the day. How strong of a ND filter do I need? I'd prefer not to break the bank on a filter, anyone have any suggestions on a strength and or brand?
Thanks in advance
I think it really depends on how long a long exposure is; or to put it anothe way, how fluid you want the water to look in your photos? Personally, I wouldn't go with too dark of an ND filter because you can over do the effect, in my opinion. That said, I wouldn't waste my money and get a (.3) filter has it wouldn't have a hugely significant effect. I own a B&W .4X ND filter, and I'm glad I've got it in case I need it. It's dark enough to get my shutter speed down (when doing wider-apertured portraits outside) yet not too strong so that I can't still light the subject with a few strobes. If I were just doing landscapes, a B&W 1.8 ND might do the trick nicely. Take a look at the reviews.
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What camera (which will help us guide you on a minimum aperture to avoid diffraction effects)?
How long of a shutter speed do you want?
Any sample shots you can show us, with the desired shutter speed?
Thanks Sean, I figured B + W would be the way to go, I was just hoping someone would give me a less expensive alternative. Oh well. I've been looking at the 1.8 as well as the 3.0. Is the 3.0 just overkill? I was thinking 3.0 so I won't have to go to such a small apeture and lose picture quality.
As for camera, I'm using a 40D, and I'm not sure what shutter speed I'm aiming for. Probably something around the 10 second or longer shutter speed for that nice motion blur in water and sky. I'll look and see if I can find a good example picture.
Wow...10 seconds you say? Sheesh....you might need something more opaque than 3.0. It typically doesn't take that long of an exposure to get motion in water--but are you sure you want motion blur in the sky??
I know a guy who does 100 sec exposures during the day to get a cool motion blur in the sky and along the coastline. I have no idea what kind of ND filter he uses, or how strong, though. Must be pretty strong?
I know a guy who does 100 sec exposures during the day to get a cool motion blur in the sky and along the coastline. I have no idea what kind of ND filter he uses, or how strong, though. Must be pretty strong?
It's a bit of cash to spend but the Singh-Ray Vari-ND Filter's the way to go :) Of course then you can only use it on certain lenses that have specific filter sizes...
I've seen some pretty cool shots with motion blur in the sky. I'm pretty much going to try long exposures on everything. I think the longer I can make the shutter speed the better. I'm thinking the 3.0 is about right, but it is sold out everywhere. Anyone know where they have it in stock? Or anyone selling a used one?
As for the singh-ray, that sounds great, but I can't afford it at the moment. thanks for the suggestion.
Let me see if I can find some example shots
here's a few examples I just found quickly on google, just to give an idea.
http://www.merzeta.com/photos/20090121171952-Martin-Wallgren.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/cjsouthern/image/108018339/original.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/2747118353_2cbe23cc6b.jpg
Just my luck. Both Adorama and BHphoto were out of stock on this filter, so I flipped a coin on who to order from, and I ordered from Adorama last night. This morning I get an email from BH saying they have it in stock. BUMMER!
anyway, thought I'd give a heads up to anyone looking for this filter that it's in stock at BHphoto. Oh btw, I'm referring to the B+W 77mm Neutral density 3.0 #110