ND filters

spa_edwards

spa_edwards

Active member
Hi lads,

Ive decided to go for the Letus Extreme to go with the Ex1 ive just ordered. Just a quick question:-

What sort of ND filters will i need to buy and how many will suffice if Im shooting outdoors. I dont think I'll have the money at the moment to get a mattebox, so I'll be getting the 52mm filters to attach straight onto my nikon lenses. Also is there any need for any other types of filters????
 
The camera has built in ND filters and iris control which should allow you to have pretty complete control over things without having to mess with external filters. There is a sweet spot generally for most cameras as far as the iris goes though. You really don't want to be wide open on either if you can help it. I've read that the EX1 does much much better with the special optimization kit.
 
Camera ND's are fine to get proper exposure.

If you find the camera's ND's too heavy handed pick up a .03 just to be safe.

More importantly you should get a Polorizer for your SLR lenses.
 
In camera nd's are just fine.
Some people prefer more expensive nd's due to the quality of the glass.
A polarizer and nd soft grads are another must.
 
Don't forget the EX-1 can be subjected to IR issues: blacks turning purple.

I say invest in IR NDs if you're going to buy some. Pancro maybe? Polarizer and soft grads like Matty said as well. Pretty much shouldn't be shooting in broad daylight without a Polarizer.
 
I got as birthday present pack of three formatt nd filters and mattebox.
FORMATT 4x4 filters for motion picture and video.

HD ND0.3
HD ND0.6
HD ND0.9

I don't have a clue when to use which filter, every tip will be appreciated
 
My personal stand on the idea that a Polarizer is detrimental to getting a good image outdoors with Digital cameras is because I like to protect the image from blowing out. That includes sidewalks, skies, buildings, etc. Having the polarizer helps with skies just as much as it helps with reflections in windows, etc.

If you have a polarizer for one of your still lenses try it out: where a sidewalk might be blown out, roll the polarizer until the hot area cools a bit. This way you're less prone to stopping down the iris or camera and underexposing other important areas of the image.

That's prolly just me!
 
jerryrain said:
I got as birthday present pack of three formatt nd filters and mattebox.
FORMATT 4x4 filters for motion picture and video.

HD ND0.3
HD ND0.6
HD ND0.9

I don't have a clue when to use which filter, every tip will be appreciated
Click to expand...
ND .3 cuts the incoming light by 1 stop (i.e., cuts the light to 1/2).
ND .6 cuts the incoming light by 2 stops (i.e., cuts the light to 1/4).
ND .9 cuts the incoming light by 3 stops (i.e., cuts the light to 1/8).

You use them to help control exposure. You'll know when you need them and which one, because you'll be trying to cut enough light to let you shoot at your desired f-stop.
 
Standard in our kit is a .9ND, .6 Graduated ND, and a polarizer (which does strange things on the EX1 with a green shift!) Kholi makes a good point on the polarizer which is often associated with removing reflections in water or on glass. In practice they are used more to cut reflected glare and used properly will cut exposure by nearly 2 stops, as well as improving image quality. We rarely shoot outdoors in sun without one up front. A graduated ND in a rotating filter stage is a tremendously usefull filter outdoors.

With the wierdness going when using the EX1 ND filters (losing back focus) if you do use them, make sure you reset the camera's back focus on the imaging plane. Yes, I've done the service menu recalibration but it's still not perfect.

We're just finishing edits on a quick video university clip that shows the effects of using a .9ND, .6 grad and polarizer outdoors on the EX1. The green shift that occurs during linear polarizer rotation has been reported by several users over at dvinfo. Could this be a polarized light interaction with the camera's trichroic prism array?
 
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