Advice Wanted Do I need an ND filter

[Irene McC]

I was in my preferred photo shop yesterday and they have a big rummage box of sale items.
Among the fairly uninteresting stuff I found a Kenko ND4 72mm filter which I asked to have put aside while I go check through lenses that would potentially fit it.

Apparently - contrary to what I thought - it's a 2-stop (not 4) reduction in light.

Considering our usually bright sunlight here in Afrika, would it be cool to shoot wide open at not too crazy shutter speeds? Slow sea scapes and stuff like that?

 

[rayvonn]

I was in my preferred photo shop yesterday and they have a big rummage box of sale items.
Among the fairly uninteresting stuff I found a Kenko ND4 72mm filter which I asked to have put aside while I go check through lenses that would potentially fit it.

Apparently - contrary to what I thought - it's a 2-stop (not 4) reduction in light.

Considering our usually bright sunlight here in Afrika, would it be cool to shoot wide open at not too crazy shutter speeds? Slow sea scapes and stuff like that?

I'd be thinking do you I really need this? Protection? Nah, modern lenses are as tough as nails these days. Shooting at ultra fast apertures? Unless I'm mistaken, modern cameras seem to be able to deal with that now. Delayed motion? Well that's about the only practical reason I could think of. To overcome the need for a filter in that regard, I did try that thing a couple of times where you place the camera on a tripod, take about 30 images of the same waterfall scene then combine all the images in PS to create that blur effect. Whilst I'm not into those kind of images it was still good fun. I suppose what I'm trying to say is only get the filters if you have something specific in mind which you know you're going to do. For me the only cause I could think of to have them would be if I had a monochrome camera.

 

[Bobby T]

If you want to get into some long exposure work during the day, then yeah you need ND filters. And that can become a deep rabbit hole to go down if you really got into it. Long exposure isn’t just for water. Clouds are another piece of an image which can have excellent results in long exposures. Also if you do any video work ND filters can be invaluable.

 

[retiredfromlife]

If it is cheap, crab it once you have it you will start to experiment

 

[Irene McC]

If it is cheap, crab it once you have it you will start to experiment

That's always my modus op

 

[bdbits]

You may already know this but the filter does not have to be the exact size of your lenses. To be able to use them with as many lenses as possible they are often on the large size, in fact 72mm is not really that big. For smaller lenses, you would use (relatively inexpensive) step up rings. For example, a 67mm->72mm ring.

Here are some examples of rings on Amazon.

 

[Walter Palmer]

ND4 is not going to do much to lengthen your exposure. A quick & cheap way to experiment (or just use) is to get that ND4 and 1 sheet of ND filter for stage lights (should be super cheap). Cut the sheet to fit several layers inside the filter. Now you can have 1-stop or 10-stop ND by simply removing or adding the little pieces of the stage light filter. They are often called "gels" by those that use them. Available at your camera store. Used instead of spending hundreds of dollars on various ND filters so you can get 1-stop, 4-stop, and 8-stop (sort of the ND Holy Trinity).
Yeah, it can be a real rabbit hole. Gels make it much simpler, imho. Gels often come in 1 foot squares, so you can make a ton of mistakes and still have a lifetime supply.

 

[bmhome1]

Theatrical gels are very poor optically, adding them up only degrades IQ further. Real optical quality gels (Kodak) cost more than glass filters.

Careful shopping got me quality ND8 67mm ND filters for $25. ICE brand for example from B&H.

 

[Brian]

You could always buy a Monochrome Camera and a Orange or Red filter to shoot in full Sun. The Red is 3 Stops. Check if they have Yellow, Orange, and Red in 49mm. If you get the Pentax Monochrome- will have them ready.
Or get a Circular Polarizer- At least 1 stop, usually 1.5 or so.

A friend of mine keeps an ND4 on his Noctilux to shoot outside wide-open. It's enough. I use the TTart 50/0.95 with a Deep Yellow on the M Monochrom, it's enough. Top shutter speed is only 1/4000th.

Get the ND4 - if at a good price, can always resell it. It Does not take up much space and when you need it, you'll have it.

 

[Irene McC]

Thanks all - it's a moot point, since discussing it with my daughter, it turns out she has one lying at the back of her cupboard that she never uses, so I can borrow that one for 'testing' so long

 

[Brian]

But- you did not tell us what else was in the rummage box! The shop near me (long ago) used to throw filters into a rummage box, $3 each.

 

[Irene McC]

But- you did not tell us what else was in the rummage box! The shop near me (long ago) used to throw filters into a rummage box, $3 each.

whoa @Brian that's a way better price than this one's going for but maybe that was ... as you say ... long ago
There was tons of stuff but niche; for GoPro's or hoods for obscure Sonys from years past, etc

 

[TraamisVOS]

I was in my preferred photo shop yesterday and they have a big rummage box of sale items.
Among the fairly uninteresting stuff I found a Kenko ND4 72mm filter which I asked to have put aside while I go check through lenses that would potentially fit it.

Apparently - contrary to what I thought - it's a 2-stop (not 4) reduction in light.

Considering our usually bright sunlight here in Afrika, would it be cool to shoot wide open at not too crazy shutter speeds? Slow sea scapes and stuff like that?

Does your current camera shoot at 1/8000 shutter speed? If it does, you're much, much less likely to need an ND filter.

If you want to do slow seascapes, you're going to need a stronger ND filter than ND4.

Honestly, you'll probably do much better with a polarising filter (for most things in bright daylight) or a variable ND filter (for landscapes).

 

[davidzvi]

You may already know this but the filter does not have to be the exact size of your lenses. To be able to use them with as many lenses as possible they are often on the large size, in fact 72mm is not really that big. For smaller lenses, you would use (relatively inexpensive) step up rings. For example, a 67mm->72mm ring.

Here are some examples of rings on Amazon.

I typically get filters like these to fit my largest lenses and just use step rings for everything smaller.

 

[mnhoj]

I have both but have been trying the over the sensor filters. I have the Kase branded and have tried the STC brand.
Works well if you can keep it in and just change lenses. A field change in the surf with wind can feel a little dicey.
I now mainly use to keep my flash sync speed with wide apertures. Works well in that situation.

 

[Walter Palmer]

Thanks all - it's a moot point, since discussing it with my daughter, it turns out she has one lying at the back of her cupboard that she never uses, so I can borrow that one for 'testing' so long

Congrats! That's cool. And when you are ready for something else, you will have a good idea of how strong you want. Cost can be a factor since really good filters can run $$$ each. An ND4, ND8, ND64 set (pretty basic) can be spend indeed for good ones. A good ND1000 can be even more.
The gels can help you figure out what works for you, while spending just a couple bucks. Or you may find the quality doesn't suffer as much as expected and you can decide to just keep using them.