grey filter

[mentos_007]

ok now I don't get it never mind I've already ordered it and I'll see effects. I didn't pay too much for it so I think it will be worth to have ND filter

 

[Kent Frost]

It's very much worth it, especially on a digital camera because it'll help you keep that tonal range in check with fewer highlight blow-outs. Only problem is, you'll have to expose the images a bit longer.

 

[SLOShooter]

I agree I think you'll really enjoy it. No longer will you fear taking pictures of white things, and you can do thoose cool shots of people in motion indoors now.

 

[mentos_007]

actually I really wanted longer exposures to get some water blurred effect during a day

 

[SLOShooter]

That's what you'll get, I was referring to the shots of blurred people in a train station or in a que, what have you.

 

[Kodan_Txips]

I would like to add that I recently read an article in a magazine that suggested that a ND filter is MORE useful with a digital camera, because they actually have a larger minimum aperture in many cases.

Something to do with the fact that because the iris is closer to the "film plane" the hole will seem bigger to it, and making the hole smaller would bring about light diffraction problems. (I think that was what it said..)

As an example, the smallest aperture on my Dimage Z1 is f8, the smallest on my Caplio RZ1 is f5, whereas my Minolta film SLR lenses go down to f16 and f22. I THINK that the depth of field is slightly greater at the same aperture, when using the majority of digicams, but there could still be problems because of the aperture, because you might find that it is actually too sunny to take the shot that you want, and this is when you want an ND filter.

I just took a picture of a cloudy overcast sky with my Dimage Z1, at ISO 400, and the camera used a program setting of 1/1000 at f8, complained bitterly that it was overexposing the image, and totally washed out the sky - yet at the same time I can see considerable detail in the thin skyline of houses that take up the bottom 1.10 of the photo. If I had wanted this to be a silhouette of an interesting skyline against a magnificent sky, I would have been bitterly disappointed.

Of course, I could use ISO100, like I usually do, but this was for example purposes. But even at ISO50, as I have just tried, I get 1/500 at f6.3, which may reduce my freedom of choice, artistically speaking.

Had I known all this, and had I been aware then of the bargain film SLRs available on ebay, I would never have bought the Z1, even though it is a lovely piece of kit.