ND Filters

[ObsidianPhoenix]

Having just picked up my new dSLR, I've been reading the DC mags article about sub £100 kit, to determine some starting equipment.

I'm interested in experimenting with long exposure photography, so was looking at the ND Filters, but I'm all confused as to what to go for.

Apparently the round filters are cheaper, but the squares are much more versatile. I currently only have a single lens (the kit lens), so the rounds sound good for now, but the squares sound better in the long run.

Also, I dont really know which ND to go for. Should I go for something very high as a starter? or something lower?

I'm intrigued by some of the shots I've seen in the past - Beach shots with milky water, traffic shots (you know the ones - with the light-streams), that kind of thing. Or even ones with motion blur from people moving around in the scene.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to get to start with?

[markgozz]

Square vs round , personal I would go for the square type you may only have the one kit lens at the moment but as your kit grows you will be able to use the square filters on all your lenses just by changing the adapter ring ( About £7 each ).

If you are interested in long exposure photography then I would suggest splashing the cash on a good quality 10 stopper ND filter , you can stack lower ND's but you then run the risk of introducing a colour cast into your shots . You will probably also need a set of ND grad filters to even out the exposure but you can pick up grad kits with three or four different strength filters for under £ 50 .

If you are after a starting point to see how you get on with filters then I would suggest the square grad kit , any colour cast caused by stacking the filters in front of each other can be sorted out if you shoot in RAW and they are also very handy in normal landscape photography to stop the sky from being over exposed .

Mark

[thefonz78]

Yeah i would go for square also. If you want a big stopper go for the 9 stop lightcraft which they also recommended in the mag.

[ObsidianPhoenix]

Thanks guys. I think I'll plump for a square kit then.

Where is good to buy the kit, bearing in mind I have none of it yet. Also, would you go for Lee or Cokin?

[jools-elliott]

Lee for sure. Cokin are horrendous! Failing Lee, try HiTech.

With Lee, you might have to wait a while to get them as they are hand-made.

[jimmyosram]

Cokin are OK actually, hardly horrendous, and less expensive that others suggested here.

[jools-elliott]

Cokin have a reputation for a very nasty cast over the image. I have seen this myself.

The old saying of you pay for what you get rings very loudly with Cokin!

[jimmyosram]

I have a set of Cokin filters and as with most filters there is a slight colour cast easily corrected in the editing stage. For a starter kit they are quite good.

Anyway as I have said in another post, you don't need hardware filters anymore. Everything can be done with software for graduated filters anyway.

[ObsidianPhoenix]

Originally Posted by jimmyosram

I have a set of Cokin filters and as with most filters there is a slight colour cast easily corrected in the editing stage. For a starter kit they are quite good.

Anyway as I have said in another post, you don't need hardware filters anymore. Everything can be done with software for graduated filters anyway.

I read that in your other post, but surely that doesnt apply to long exposure shots. If you want to expose a scene for >1 second or so, in order to do a variety of effects (such as removing passers by in a scene as described in DCM, or "misting" water on a coastal shot), surely you cannot do this in post-production? By all accounts you absolutely require an ND filter to achieve this goal?

[jimmyosram]

Originally Posted by ObsidianPhoenix

I read that in your other post, but surely that doesnt apply to long exposure shots. If you want to expose a scene for >1 second or so, in order to do a variety of effects (such as removing passers by in a scene as described in DCM, or "misting" water on a coastal shot), surely you cannot do this in post-production? By all accounts you absolutely require an ND filter to achieve this goal?

Absolutely. I was referring to the ND grad type of filter so apologies for the confusion.