I need ND Filter Help Please

Hi All

I am currently on holiday in Almeria Spain and taking full advantage of my K10D

I have tried to take several sunsets but have discovered that in order to retain forground detail aswell as get the best colours from the actual sunset itself I need ND filters (Filters Split half and half)

Can anyone recommend which one is best for sunset and what I need to fit on the front of the camera to slot the filters in ??

Cheers Pete

What you need is a graduated filter, not a neutral density filter. Personally, I don't find I need one for sunsets, but try looking at the Cokin P range. If you want to spend more money, try Lee.

G

HI Pete.

You need a set of ND (ND2, ND4 & ND graduated filters, start by looking here...http://www.cokin.co.uk/pages/cokinP.htm

The P series will give you good use but if your going wide angle you may end up with vignetting in which case you will need to look at the Z or X Pro filters or go for a set of LEE filters (you will need a fat wallet though).

EDIT:
If your stuck but have your tripod or a bean bag etc, shoot in raw, take 2 shots, one exposed for the sunset and another one exposed for the foreground without moving the camera, you can then blend them in PS.

ND grad filters can be a little expensive, you could try and get hold of a very lightly tinged graduated sunset filter though this will obviously colour the image and may turn a glorious sunset into scene from mars

whichever you go for you'll need a filter holder and adaptor rings to suit the lens your using. have a quick look here for some ideas;

http://www.cokin.co.uk/pages/main.htm

you'll probably need P series.

Alternatively shoot RAW and aim for an in-between exposure, then adjust forground and sky and save as seperate files for merging in photoshop

Damm I'm gonna have to type quicker

Pete,

If you have a tripod with you then it might be possible to get excellent results by shooting an exposure metered from the sky near to the setting sun and, without moving the camera, shoot another metered from the foreground. Most photo editing software has provision for combining the sky from the first exposure with the foreground from the second.

Scary or not

I repeat, you are looking for graduated filters, not ND filters. Graduated ND filters are certainly an option, but there are other options, with various tints, which you may or may not find pleasing.

G

What happened George ?

Here's a cheaper option...http://www.koodinternational.com/pages/filters.html

George is right, although personally I'd go for a grad ND that's just because I generally don't like colour filter effects.

Thanks Guys
I was actually thinking this morning how to do it and then thought of taking several exposures levels by using the cameras light metering first from the sky and then the foreground image ie: church or whatever.

I have my tripod but how do I take these seperate readings without moving the the camera ? Multi metering wont work obviously so the option is to spot meter read but I would have to more the camera once to read the sky and once to read from the foreground on a mid tone colour ??

Is it just as easy to taking several shots at different exposure levels ??? and merge in PS etc..Is that what you mean in the above quote ??

I was also looking for the EV bracketing on the K10D but can´t find it in the settings I dont have my manual with me so perhaps someone can tell me. I have found sharpness/Contrast/saturation/white balance Bracketing but not EV bracketing ??????

Cheers Pete

It's not in the menus, on the 10D it has a button all of its very own

said button is on the top left hand side of the back of the body, and has a symbol showing three overlapping frames of different shades next to it.

To engage bracketing, hold that button and use the front dial to pick the number of frames (3 or 5) and the back dial to pick the exposure interval between them(0.5 to 2)

simple as that.

Conceptually yes you just take several shots and blend them in PS. In practice it can be quite hard to get this to look right, I've only pulled it off to my satisfaction a couple of times.

As far as the metering goes I'd probably use manual mode and spot metering, do the metering before I framed the shot and apply auto bracketing as seemed sensible from the meter readings. As you have realised you don't want to be moving the camera between shots.

If anybody is interested I finally found my X-Pro filters that have been missing since moving house last year. I have a fairly full set inc all ND Grads ND2, ND4, ND8, 81A/B/C/EF, Soft Focus, 5 x B&W coloured filters Red, Orange etc (never been used), Circ PL (with tiny scratch) plus a couple more that I can't remember. I've two holders one of which I've doctored to chop off the very front slot. Adapter rings are 82mm as I use steppers to fit other sizes. Everything has it's original boxes and pouches... The whole lot cost me going on for £400+ - I am open to sensible offers via PM before putting it all on ebay sometime soon.

Will

Why bother bracketting?

Just shoot raw and do the 'bracketting' during post-processing. You have a +/- 3 stop latitude in just one shot.

PS: Pete, you are only about an hour from where I live. Enjoy Almeria.

Regards,