Using 10 stop ND Filter, need tutorial/help

[ivans75]

Hey guys, bought a zomei 10 stop ND filter (100mmx100mm with 82mm holder), and I have been using it twice at my local beach so far and I am not really happy with what I am getting so far. So any tips in regards to:
-what time of day is better to shoot with ND filter
-wheather condition (clouds? gray sky? blue sky?)
-apperture (which apperture for which light condition)
-general tutorial
are greatly appreciated..

Here's what I have done so far learning from youtube and reading from some blogs:

Set my camera in B mode
Have my apperture on 10-13 (tried 22)
auto focus before I put the filter on
Trying results in 3.5,8,12,15,30,45,60,70 seconds

Here is the sample i took in frankston this after with exif data, i dont really like the result
unedited by Ivan Sutrisno, on Flickr

Exif as follow
File Name IMG_1596.CR2
File Size 26.0MB
Camera Model Canon EOS 80D
Firmware Firmware Version 1.0.2
Shooting Date/Time 28/08/2017 11:39:24 AM
Author Ivan Sutrisno
Owner's Name
Shooting Mode Bulb
Tv(Shutter Speed) 15.3
Av(Aperture Value) 22
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
ISO Speed 100
Auto ISO Speed OFF
Lens EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
Focal Length 16.0mm
Image Size 6000x4000
Crop/aspect ratio 3:2
Image Quality RAW
Flash Off
FE lock OFF
White Balance Mode Daylight
AF Mode Manual focusing
Picture Style Neutral
Sharpness:Strength 0
Sharpness:Fineness 2
Sharpness:Threshold 2
Contrast 0
Saturation 0
Color tone 0
Color Space sRGB
Long exposure noise reduction Disable
High ISO speed noise reduction Disable
Highlight tone priority Disable
Auto Lighting Optimizer Disable
Peripheral illumination correction Disable
Chromatic aberration correction Disable
Distortion correction Disable
Dust Delete Data No
Drive Mode Single shooting
Live View Shooting OFF
Camera Body No. 185023001424
Comment

this is edited version,
edited by Ivan Sutrisno, on Flickr

There is a white streak on the right, is that light leak? I thought it was a light leak and caused by the cheap filter i am using but I ve read same leak problem with lee big stopper too.
Shot this with remote by the way.
Thanks in advance

- - - Updated - - -

by the way, i did not take this pic with a tripod as i forgot to bring it with me. instead I placed the camera on a stone like retainer along the beach line, it is flat and somewhat high enough to see a bit of water. Higher position with tripod may look better.

[Cage]

Looks like a light leak.

Does your camera have a shutter over the viewfinder? If not a bit of black gaffer tape will do the trick on you can probably find one for a couple of bucks online.

[ivans75]

Looks like a light leak.

Does your camera have a shutter over the viewfinder? If not a bit of black gaffer tape will do the trick on you can probably find one for a couple of bucks online.

Hi Yes, it has a shutter on the eyepiece (cover) i forgot about that. My camera strap has a black rubber thingy that can cover the viewfinder (eyepiece)

[ameerat42]

I haven't done this stuff - long exposures in daylight - but it is apparent to me
from the resultant ripples in the water that the exposure time was still too short.
I presume you wanted the water surface to be smoother than that?

From what I understand, exposure times are typically about a minute or more for
this sort of shot (others can be more exact).

A ten-stop filter is surprisingly "light" when you consider it. Start off with a "normal"
"Sunny-16" type exposure... 100ISO, f/16, 1/100sec... then apply 10 stops of change
to the exposure time: 1/50, 1/25, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1 sec, 2 sec, 4 sec, 8 sec.

Perhaps you should try them at dusk, when the starting exposure time might be something like
1/25sec, which would yield after a 10-stop adjustment... 30 sec to 1 min.

When you're thinking about the aperture to use, bear in mind that for shorter focal length lenses,
f/22 will be a WAY smaller aperture than for a lens of say 100mm. Use the relationship:

f-stop = focal length/aperture

OR

aperture = focal length/f-stop

The smaller the aperture, the more pronounced diffraction effects (as a general rule).

[Plays With Light]

Howdy Ivan, a 10 stop ND filter doesn't get you very long exposures during the brightest part of the day unfortunately, as you have already discovered.

There are apps you can get for your smartphone which will work out the times you need, the one I use is called Slower Shutter, for iPhone, but if you are an Android user there would have to be a similar app. You enter the shutter peed for a normal exposure and then how many stops of ND filtration you are applying. It goes up to 16 stops of application. Some, if not most all ND calculators only go up to 10 stops of ND filtration being applied.

There is a good table that can be printed off with exposure times already worked out for you here that you can download for free. It can be folded up and carried in your camera bag with you for easy reference.

A really good read that I recommend time and time again, whenever anyone asks about long exposures is Joel Tjintjelaar's blog piece. I have linked to the section of it about gear, because just below where you will land on that page there is an image of how he tapes the top and bottom of his square ND filters, to avoid light leakage there. In that same image you will also notice that he tapes up the side port on the camera body where you plug in the shutter release, if you use one of those that needs to be plugged in because that is also a light leakage point in some cameras. Definitely remove your eyepiece padding and put the rubber blocker in its place, it goes with the Canon label to the inside of the camera and simply slides on from the top of the eyepiece frame. I keep mine in the same case as my 16 stop ND filter, so I know exactly where it is at all times when it's not in use.

AM was correct in saying that by using a smaller aperture, like f/22, it will show up all manner of chromatic aberration and also every dust spot that's on your sensor. I know it seems to be the logical thing to do so as to get the longest shutter time possible, but it always comes at a cost to your image quality.

If you have a circular polariser, you could always stack that on top of your ND filter and see how long you can get the shutter to go through experimenting with times, but be warned it will create strong colour casts once you turn it beyond a certain point!

On my Canon 6D I can focus through a 10 stop ND filter using live view and setting the ISO to say 800 or 1600 and the shutter to 30 seconds. If you do this remember to set things back to what you need for the actual shot though as you could easily burn your sensor otherwise. I usually focus first, without the ND filter in place, then I apply a very thick and tight rubber band to the focus ring, overlapping onto the lens body, so the focus ring can't turn by accident when I screw on or place the filter in place in its holder.

Hope that's of some help to you.

[Plays With Light]

Ivan, I just found a video tutorial that shows you how to add several shorter exposures together to give the effect of a longer one. You may want to give that a try with your 10 stop filter if you are going to shoot in bright midday light by taking a whole series of shorter shots and then combining them in post production. It seemed pretty easy to follow and I'm not the most adept at Photoshop.

[ivans75]

I haven't done this stuff - long exposures in daylight - but it is apparent to me
from the resultant ripples in the water that the exposure time was still too short.
I presume you wanted the water surface to be smoother than that?

From what I understand, exposure times are typically about a minute or more for
this sort of shot (others can be more exact).

A ten-stop filter is surprisingly "light" when you consider it. Start off with a "normal"
"Sunny-16" type exposure... 100ISO, f/16, 1/100sec... then apply 10 stops of change
to the exposure time: 1/50, 1/25, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1 sec, 2 sec, 4 sec, 8 sec.

Perhaps you should try them at dusk, when the starting exposure time might be something like
1/25sec, which would yield after a 10-stop adjustment... 30 sec to 1 min.

When you're thinking about the aperture to use, bear in mind that for shorter focal length lenses,
f/22 will be a WAY smaller aperture than for a lens of say 100mm. Use the relationship:

f-stop = focal length/aperture

OR

aperture = focal length/f-stop

The smaller the aperture, the more pronounced diffraction effects (as a general rule).

Hi ameerat thanks mate, not just the water but the whole lot of it looks dull to me
i tried longer exposure and they look so blown out bright. And tried f8/9/11/16 and none giving better. The larger apperture (smaller numbers) give brighter result

and yeah i was thinking the same about being there at dusk/dawn but i will need to plan the trip. I was there because i had a bit of work in that area and i had my camera bags with me.

- - - Updated - - -

Ivan, I just found a video tutorial that shows you how to add several shorter exposures together to give the effect of a longer one. You may want to give that a try with your 10 stop filter if you are going to shoot in bright midday light by taking a whole series of shorter shots and then combining them in post production. It seemed pretty easy to follow and I'm not the most adept at Photoshop.

Hi alex thanks so much!!!

- - - Updated - - -

I dont really understand much about difraction so please elaborate

- - - Updated - - -

Howdy Ivan, a 10 stop ND filter doesn't get you very long exposures during the brightest part of the day unfortunately, as you have already discovered.

There are apps you can get for your smartphone which will work out the times you need, the one I use is called Slower Shutter, for iPhone, but if you are an Android user there would have to be a similar app. You enter the shutter peed for a normal exposure and then how many stops of ND filtration you are applying. It goes up to 16 stops of application. Some, if not most all ND calculators only go up to 10 stops of ND filtration being applied.

There is a good table that can be printed off with exposure times already worked out for you here that you can download for free. It can be folded up and carried in your camera bag with you for easy reference.

A really good read that I recommend time and time again, whenever anyone asks about long exposures is Joel Tjintjelaar's blog piece. I have linked to the section of it about gear, because just below where you will land on that page there is an image of how he tapes the top and bottom of his square ND filters, to avoid light leakage there. In that same image you will also notice that he tapes up the side port on the camera body where you plug in the shutter release, if you use one of those that needs to be plugged in because that is also a light leakage point in some cameras. Definitely remove your eyepiece padding and put the rubber blocker in its place, it goes with the Canon label to the inside of the camera and simply slides on from the top of the eyepiece frame. I keep mine in the same case as my 16 stop ND filter, so I know exactly where it is at all times when it's not in use.

AM was correct in saying that by using a smaller aperture, like f/22, it will show up all manner of chromatic aberration and also every dust spot that's on your sensor. I know it seems to be the logical thing to do so as to get the longest shutter time possible, but it always comes at a cost to your image quality.

If you have a circular polariser, you could always stack that on top of your ND filter and see how long you can get the shutter to go through experimenting with times, but be warned it will create strong colour casts once you turn it beyond a certain point!

On my Canon 6D I can focus through a 10 stop ND filter using live view and setting the ISO to say 800 or 1600 and the shutter to 30 seconds. If you do this remember to set things back to what you need for the actual shot though as you could easily burn your sensor otherwise. I usually focus first, without the ND filter in place, then I apply a very thick and tight rubber band to the focus ring, overlapping onto the lens body, so the focus ring can't turn by accident when I screw on or place the filter in place in its holder.

Hope that's of some help to you.

thanks again Alex and i will download the table. Once again thank you and appreciate your help. I am still reading all the replies here and try to digest this as much as i could and will get back to you guys again.