Neutral Density Filter Questions

BMW F22 · 02-22-2020, 11:08 PM

Prepping for an upcoming trip I bought a Breakthrough 6-stop ND filter for the Fuji 14mm I just got. Looks like there's some vignetting with the filter. At ISO 100 and f11-16 I couldn't do more than 1.4" exposures at 4 PM (sunset at 6 PM). If I'm planning on waterfalls and beaches during the daytime, I'll probably need something stronger than 6 stops right?

tracer bullet · 02-23-2020, 12:40 PM

Vignetting could be because it's sticking out a bit further than the lens would like, and so you see it encroaching onto the corners a little bit. If it's a zoom lens, and you slightly zoom in, that could prevent it. Or of course crop it out later. Do you have it stacked on another filter, pushing it too far out?

For longer exposures, yes you'd need to go up in stops. You're on the right track with low ISO and smaller aperture to force a longer exposure to let in light. But let's say your scene normally needs... 1/250 sec for the shot. Another stop would be 1/125, then 1/60. 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, etc. Each of those is a stop. So you can see whee if you're looking to really draw that out to full seconds or something, you need to go a pretty high # of stops to get there.

Hope that made sense.

I'd look around for examples from pro's who list their gear, and when you see pictures (waterfalls, ocean waves, etc. that you really like, see if they list the ND filter used. Eliminates a little guess work.

BMW F22 · 02-23-2020, 03:14 PM

^ it’s a prime 14mm lens with no other filters stacked. I agree that for broad daylight shooting of sky and water I’ll probably need higher stops. Might just buy the Haida ProND 3 and 6 stops for $84 or the kit of 3, 6, and 9 for $110.

tracer bullet · 02-23-2020, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMW F22

^ it’s a prime 14mm lens with no other filters stacked. I agree that for broad daylight shooting of sky and water I’ll probably need higher stops. Might just buy the Haida ProND 3 and 6 stops for $84 or the kit of 3, 6, and 9 for $110.

Cool. Yeah, 14mm is pretty wide. Actually at 14mm there's so much light coming in not just straight on but from decent angles off to the side. And because the stuff coming in from the side actually has a lot more glass to travel through, due to coming in at an angle, it can make it "darker" than the rest for that reason alone.

Going from 6 to 9 stops sounds like what you might want. 6 is already actually a lot, 9 might get you where you want especially for daytime. Just have to try it out.

chassis · 02-26-2020, 08:18 PM

Use 1/ISO with sunny-16 rule.

With f/16 and ISO 60, this gives 1/60 for a "normal" exposure.

6 stop ND means a 1 second exposure at ISO 60 with sunny conditions. Is this shutter speed slow enough to achieve your goals? If not, use the slowest ISO your camera can achieve, and close the lens down beyond f/16 if it is capable.

BMW F22 · 02-26-2020, 11:00 PM

I went to the beach around 4 PM next day and tried it out. With CPL on top of 6 stops ND I was able to get maximum of 30 seconds. I decided that 6 stops are not enough for broad daylight and ended up returning the Breakthrough filter in favor of 3 and 6 stops Haida NanoPro ND filters for the same price. Don’t use them enough so I didn’t want to shell out 2x much money for Breakthrough when Haida filters perform very wel for half the price

02-22-2020, 11:08 PM	#1
BMW F22 Major General 3650 Rep 9,783 Posts Drives: ///M235i Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Bay Area iTrader: (8)	Neutral Density Filter Questions Prepping for an upcoming trip I bought a Breakthrough 6-stop ND filter for the Fuji 14mm I just got. Looks like there's some vignetting with the filter. At ISO 100 and f11-16 I couldn't do more than 1.4" exposures at 4 PM (sunset at 6 PM). If I'm planning on waterfalls and beaches during the daytime, I'll probably need something stronger than 6 stops right? Attached Images
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02-23-2020, 12:40 PM	#2
tracer bullet Brigadier General 3708 Rep 4,247 Posts Drives: '25 Z4, '15 X3 35i (135i sold) Join Date: May 2011 Location: Saint Paul, MN iTrader: (1)	Vignetting could be because it's sticking out a bit further than the lens would like, and so you see it encroaching onto the corners a little bit. If it's a zoom lens, and you slightly zoom in, that could prevent it. Or of course crop it out later. Do you have it stacked on another filter, pushing it too far out? For longer exposures, yes you'd need to go up in stops. You're on the right track with low ISO and smaller aperture to force a longer exposure to let in light. But let's say your scene normally needs... 1/250 sec for the shot. Another stop would be 1/125, then 1/60. 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, etc. Each of those is a stop. So you can see whee if you're looking to really draw that out to full seconds or something, you need to go a pretty high # of stops to get there. Hope that made sense. I'd look around for examples from pro's who list their gear, and when you see pictures (waterfalls, ocean waves, etc. that you really like, see if they list the ND filter used. Eliminates a little guess work.
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02-23-2020, 03:14 PM	#3
BMW F22 Major General 3650 Rep 9,783 Posts Drives: ///M235i Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Bay Area iTrader: (8)	^ it’s a prime 14mm lens with no other filters stacked. I agree that for broad daylight shooting of sky and water I’ll probably need higher stops. Might just buy the Haida ProND 3 and 6 stops for $84 or the kit of 3, 6, and 9 for $110.
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02-26-2020, 08:18 PM	#5
chassis Colonel 8004 Rep 2,495 Posts Drives: 9Y0 Cayenne S Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Einbahnstraße iTrader: (0) Garage List 2020 Porsche Cayenne S [7.69]	Use 1/ISO with sunny-16 rule. With f/16 and ISO 60, this gives 1/60 for a "normal" exposure. 6 stop ND means a 1 second exposure at ISO 60 with sunny conditions. Is this shutter speed slow enough to achieve your goals? If not, use the slowest ISO your camera can achieve, and close the lens down beyond f/16 if it is capable.
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02-26-2020, 11:00 PM	#6
BMW F22 Major General 3650 Rep 9,783 Posts Drives: ///M235i Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Bay Area iTrader: (8)	I went to the beach around 4 PM next day and tried it out. With CPL on top of 6 stops ND I was able to get maximum of 30 seconds. I decided that 6 stops are not enough for broad daylight and ended up returning the Breakthrough filter in favor of 3 and 6 stops Haida NanoPro ND filters for the same price. Don’t use them enough so I didn’t want to shell out 2x much money for Breakthrough when Haida filters perform very wel for half the price
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