# Do I need a Neutral Density Filter?



## violetbright (May 13, 2011)

Someone has told me that to shoot in outside bright sunny conditions, with a wide aperture, I need to  use a neutral density filter?

I'm not sure if I need this - and if I do, what size to get for my lens, do I need some kind of adaptor etc? I'm very confused :S 

It's for a 50mm f1.8AF lens (Nikon), and ideally I don't want to spend too much!

Thanks


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## Robin Usagani (May 13, 2011)

Nope, you dont need ND filter if you want to shoot wide open during a bright day. You just have to make the ISO really low and use fast shutter. The only time you need ND filter is if you:

1. Need to do long shutter
2. You need to use flash that cant do HSS(canon term) or FP(nikon term)


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## violetbright (May 13, 2011)

Thanks  That's one less thing to spend my money on!  Have been playing around with the shutter speed and ISO etc and think I've got the hang of it now


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## tirediron (May 13, 2011)

Not so fast there Schwetty; he probably doesn't need an ND filter, but it really depends.  As mentioned, it will be of most benefit when you want long shutter speeds; what sort of images are you trying to capture, and have you run into any situations where you're over-exposing even at max shutter speed?

To answer your other question, there are basically two types of ND filters, screw-in style, that look just like any other filter except darker, and there are the gel style which are rectangular/square and slide into a filter holder which threads onto the end of your lens.  Both will work well, but if you do buy one, DON'T buy a cheap one.  

Your lens, IIRC, is a 52mm.


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## Village Idiot (May 13, 2011)

violetbright said:


> Thanks  That's one less thing to spend my money on! Have been playing around with the shutter speed and ISO etc and think I've got the hang of it now



You need an ND filter if you're shooting at your lowest ISO widest aperture and fastest shutter speed and are having images still over exposed in the conditions you're shooting. You also need an ND filter if you want to shoot wide open with most flashes. You need an ND filter if you want to have a longer shutter speed while keeping a wide aperture and can't do so without over exposing your images.

Basically, if you're posting a post and asking whether or not you need something instead of posting that you can't achieve something because of the physical limitations of your camera, then you most likely don't need it.


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## clanthar (May 13, 2011)

If you want to use your f/1.8 lens all the way open at f/1.8 you may need an ND filter -- depends on the specific abilities of your camera. If your camera can be set to ISO 64 and your camera is capable of 1/8000 sec. shutter speed then you don't need the filter, but you would have to use only that setting.

In bright sun with the sun shinning on your subject and your ISO set to 64 an f/stop setting of 1.8 requires a shutter speed of 1/8000 sec.

Odds are your camera is capable of 1/4000 of a sec and ISO 100 in which case you only need to stop the lens down to f/2.8 for the same sunny scene.

The most likely reason you would want to use the lens set to a large opening like 1.8 or 2.8 is to achieve shallow DOF which is most desirable in portraits. One of the things least desirable in portraits is direct sunlight which you should avoid.

For general picture taking outdoors your lens will preform best (sharpest) stopped down a couple stops to say f/4 in which case you should be fine without the ND filter.

Use your camera's lowest ISO and make sure your camera is capable of shutter speeds up to 1/4000 sec.

Joe


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## Village Idiot (May 13, 2011)

tirediron said:


> Not so fast there Schwetty; he probably doesn't need an ND filter, but it really depends. As mentioned, it will be of most benefit when you want long shutter speeds; what sort of images are you trying to capture, and have you run into any situations where you're over-exposing even at max shutter speed?
> 
> To answer your other question, there are basically two types of ND filters, screw-in style, that look just like any other filter except darker, and there are the gel style which are rectangular/square and slide into a filter holder which threads onto the end of your lens. Both will work well, but if you do buy one, DON'T buy a cheap one.
> 
> Your lens, IIRC, is a 52mm.


 
I spent $100 on a 6 stop B+W glass ND filter and it has a lovely rose tint to it.


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## Robin Usagani (May 13, 2011)

I have not seen a case where I must use an ND filter when I dont use flash. More than likely you should shoot it with smaller aperture anyway. Give me a scenario when you want to shoot wide open and the scene is super super bright and you dont need flash?


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## clanthar (May 13, 2011)

Canon 60D: fastest shutter: 1/4000 and lowest ISO 100

50mm f/1.8 lens.

Full sun -- no clouds -- on the beach.

swimsuit model in full sun (reflectors and/or fill flash to moderate shadows).

lens set to f/1.8 for shallowest DOF.

ND filter required. (Personally I'd just stop the lens down, but if you must have 1.8......)

Joe


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## Robin Usagani (May 13, 2011)

1/4000?  Wow, OK.  Both my T1i and 5D can go up to 8000 if im not mistaken.

Yeah, most of the time you dont need to shoot wide open especially if you have great distance between subject and background.  When you dont, more than likely it is not that bright.


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## bazooka (May 13, 2011)

Village Idiot said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > Not so fast there Schwetty; he probably doesn't need an ND filter, but it really depends. As mentioned, it will be of most benefit when you want long shutter speeds; what sort of images are you trying to capture, and have you run into any situations where you're over-exposing even at max shutter speed?
> ...



I bought what I remember as being a 7 stop from some custom filter company in Britain for about $70 i think.  It's basically like using a magenta filter and is really tough (at least for me) to correct for in post.  Fun to play with though.


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## KmH (May 13, 2011)

A Graduated Neutral Density (GND) filter can be helpful when the sky is several stops brighter than the foreground when shooting outdoors.


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