10 Stop Neutral Density Photography, the cheap alternative.

[tkerr]

I've been following a thread discussion at POTN forums about using a #10 glass filter lens for a welders helmet.
http://photography-o...ad.php?t=767152



So I decided to experiment with it myself, what the heck, the glass
filter only cost $4.98 at Lowes. I contrstucted a holder to slide
onto the end of my camera lens that allows me to slide the glass filter
in and out. ND filters are great for a lot of things, especially
water falls, the surf zone at the beach and clouds just to name a few. Today I've got a few thin clouds hanging around on
an otherwise sunny afternoon.Went outside and set it up to test it
out and this is what I got.

Not really that interesting, but at
least I know it's potential.Can'twait to get out to the beach with
this to see what I can do.
Oh, And btw, it does take some post processing, otherwise all you will have is a green picture.

ISO 100, f/16, 60 second exposure, on a bright sunny mid-afternoon.



One thing's for sure. I can see that it is time to clean the dust off the sensor again.



The Before Post Processing image

[Sheiky]

Oh, And btw, it does take some post processing, otherwise all you will have is a green picture.

The first thing that came in mind was that the glass in any of the welding masks I used isn't ...uh "neutral" ...as far as color is concerned.


But still the idea is pretty good [] They should call it 10 stop Density Filters instead of Neutral Density though []


And obviously you need to have quite some photoshopping skills if you shoot something with a lot of different colors in it. Or it must work very well in black and white or monotone colors [A]

[tkerr]

And obviously you need to have quite some photoshopping skills if you shoot something with a lot of different colors in it. Or it must work very well in black and white or monotone colors [img]/emoticons/emotion-13.gif[/img]
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Actually all you really need to do is adjust the tint, and then a slight color temp adjustment, maybe a little contrast adjustment also, all of which I would think could be done in most any photo editing software.

[wickerprints]

The problem with uneven density response as a function of wavelength is that you can clip your highlights in one or more channels without achieving adequate exposure in the other(s). For example, if the filter has a 10-stop density in the red and blue frequencies but, say, only 6 stops of density in green, then it becomes improbable to expose the sensor in such a way that would allow faithful capture of all three channels at once.


That

[tkerr]

The problem with uneven density response as a function of wavelength is that you can clip your highlights in one or more channels without achieving adequate exposure in the other(s). For example, if the filter has a 10-stop density in the red and blue frequencies but, say, only 6 stops of density in green, then it becomes improbable to expose the sensor in such a way that would allow faithful capture of all three channels at once.


That's why ND filters are expensive--it is easy to make a material that blocks a lot of light, but not so easy to do it in a way that is roughly uniform across the visual spectrum.
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Technical perfection is not the point of this. That is obvious, so I thought. It Is Just An Alternative! A $4.98 Alternative for which no one should expect miracles. It's not like everyone has a daily use for a ND filter, and it is for that reason I have no desire to spend the money on one. This is just something that can be fun for someone to play around with and not have to spend a lot of money to do it. That's all, and it is cheap, and does have potential uses no matter how Technically inaccurate it might be. It's not meant to produce professional level technically perfect silky smooth waterfall photos for publication. It is something that people can do without forking out all kinds of money for a filter they will rarely use.





Does every picture have to achieve technical perfection? Can't it just be visually appealing to someone instead?

[PaulM]

If you took a B&amp;W of a waterfall amongst verdant green foliage would you get a nice very smooth and bright waterfall AND bright foliage?


Wondering about creative use of the green tint...


Paul.

[Sheiky]

Does every picture have to achieve technical perfection? Can't it just be visually appealing to someone instead?

Oh yes it can and I like the idea of a do it yourself ND filter. However you wouldn't technicallybe able to call it an "alternative" to a "real" ND filter would you, since it has different characteristics.


Anyway I think it could really make up some creative shots. When I started thinking about it: could the window tinting foil that is used in car-tuning work as such an ND filter as well? You could apply it onto a cheap filter and so make your own ND filter which can be easily mounted and unmounted.


Looking forward to see some better footage from your home-made ND filter. See if I can be convinced to do the same myself [A]