A Guide to Neutral Density Filters

Hey Edwin,

I've read both of your messages and replying here...

Will you get vingetting at 24mm? That is a good question and I honestly don't know the answer. I suspect it is possible, but going with thin-ring filters might be the way to go to eliminate or minimize the vignetting. There are a few things to consider with this topic...1) you can remove some vignetting in post processing and, 2) depending on the subject, sometimes vignetting isn't the end of the world. Proof of this is that post processing software not only allows you to reduce it, but increase it. Sometimes vignetting adds to the overall aesthetics of an image. And, finally, just because you get vignetting at 24mm doesn't mean you will get any at 28mm. If the composition or your viewpoint allows it, step back and zoom in a bit knowing there are additional advantages to not shooting at the extreme ends of a zoom focal length.

All three of the brands you have mentioned are solid. It really depends on your budget. In my experience, I find very little (if any) difference between mid-range filters and high-end filters. Higher-end models might have better/different coatings, but I have gotten unwanted reflections on high-end filters at times.

6-stop vs. 10-stop? A 6+polarizer is an 8-stop, so the 6 gives you a bit more flexibility. I carry a 6 and an 10 in my bag and sometimes, when its bright out, the 6 isn't dark enough and in failing light the 10 is too dark! I don't get commission from sales driven by my comment, but maybe having both a 6 and 10 is a good option. If you are budget limited, you can maybe get mid-range models of both. I think Hoya and B+W have some of the best values in the filter market based on price point and performance.

I think I got all of your queries. If not, or if you have follow-ups, please let me know!

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for reading!

Best,

Todd

Hi Edwin,

I replied to this one above.

Thanks!

Best,

Todd

Hi Angelo,

Thank you for the compliment!

I believe your awesome tech idea is already out in the wild. Some cameras have built-in "Live ND" filter functions that simulate the use of an ND filter and others can simulate red/green/and yellow B&W filtration in their film simulations.

Let me know if you have a particular camera or cameras you'd like to take a deeper look into for these options!

Thanks for reading!

Best,

Todd

Hi Tariq,

Thank you for the kind words!

Great question. I think a combination of a polarizer (2-stop ND), a 6-stop ND, and a 10-stop ND filter will cover many scenarios for outdoor shooting.

In general, you will not want or need an ND filter for indoor shooting as light is often at a premium (especially at aquariums!). In those scenarios, you want to gather as much light as possible to keep your shutter speeds up and ISO settings manageable.

Please let me know if you have more questions!

Thanks for reading!

Best,

Todd

Hi Mary,

I am glad you found this article as well! :)

And, yep, part of my job (and one of the best parts of my job) is "answering the mail" here, so thank you for your query!

For your setup, I would normally recommend starting with a 6-stop ND filter and seeing if that does the trick, but you might want to grab a 4-stop, too. Not knowing the exact lighting, a 6-stop might be too heavy. If you already have a polarizer, you can start with that (it should be 2-stops) and see how that works for you.

Which lens, exactly, do you have?

Thanks for reading!

Best,

Todd

Hi Kara,

I am glad this article was helpful for you!

Are you asking what ND filter would be best for your style of photography? If so, here are some thoughts:

1) An ND filter can be useful for outdoor portraiture as it will reduce the amount of light getting to the sensor on a bright, sunny day when you have your aperture wide open. Sometimes, the combination of a large aperture and bright sunshine will be so bright that the camera cannot capture a proper exposure—even at its lowest ISO and fastest shutter speed. Using an ND filter in this scenario can allow you to keep your aperture wide open and darken the image enough so that the camera's shutter can handle the amount of incoming light.

2) In street photography, you usually want to have your camera firing at fast shutter speeds. The ND filter can be a creative tool to slow your shutter down for some artistic blurring of street scenes, or, just like I mentioned above, allow you to shoot wide open on bright and sunny days.

For either purpose, starting with a 6-stop ND filter would be a good idea, in my opinion.

Please let me know if you have more questions...or if I misread your original query!

Thanks for reading!

Best,

Todd

Hi David,

Good question!

My answer is: buy a filter and/or step-up rings for the largest lens (filter diameter size) you own...or hope to own in the future. Unless, of course, you want to buy a bunch of different sized filters.

My personal example: My largest lens filter diameters are 77mm, so I have 77mm ND filters, light pollution filters, and a polarizing filter...and step-up rings to allow those 77mm filters to fit on all of my smaller-diameter lenses.

Some ultra-wide-angle lenses will vignette when filters are applied, so do some research for your Sigma lens. There are times where a step-up ring will exacerbate the vignetting (or not change it) depending on the lens.

Let me know if you have more questions and thanks for reading!

Best,

Todd

Hello Dhiman,

Thank you for your question!

I would pick up one of these 6-stop ND filters as a good starting point:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1536083-REG/nisi_nir_nd1_8_67_67…

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1330997-REG/haida_hd2018_67_67mm…

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1696402-REG/hoya_xpd_67ndex64_67…

Let us know if you have more questions and good luck in your studies!

Thanks for reading!

Best,

Todd

Hey Steve,

Good question and the answer depends a bit on what kind of photographs you are taking. In my experience, I have a 6-stop and a 10-stop ND filter for normal use (the heavier ones don't get carried around much)...and I often find myself reaching for the 10-stop for daylight photography while the 6-stop does well in less light.

Based on my experience, I would grab the 4-stop for your Canon. You can usually get a stop back by bumping up ISO or opening your aperture...but it is can be more difficult to go the other direction.

Let me know if you have follow-ups and thanks for reading!

Best,

Todd

Hey Paul,

Great question and I do have a (hopefully) great answer for you:

Step-up/down rings! [https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Step-Up-Rings/ci/420/N/4026728361]

Your lenses have a 58mm, 67mm, and 72mm filter thread. So, you can buy 72mm filters and a 72-67mm ring plus a 72-58mm ring and use the same filter on all three lenses.

You might actually think of getting a 77m filter and rings to allow room for future lens purchases/growth. I believe 77mm is the largest filter size on any current FUJIFILM X-mount lens (except the monstrous 200mm).

Please let me know if you have more questions.

Thanks for reading!

Best,

Todd

Hi Greg,

Thank you for the kind words on the article!

Yes. In general, they are universal as long as you have the correct size diameter for your specific lens(es).

What I do, to save money (and weight in my bag), is I have ND filters that fit my largest lens and then I have step-down rings so that I can use those same filters on my smaller lenses. This is much more cost effective than having ND filters for each lens size.

Let us know if you have more questions!

Thanks!

Best,

Todd

Hi Dominic,

Thanks for your question!

Technically, yes, you can leave a VND filter on all the time but you generally wouldn't want to because it will always be darkening your scene to some extent. You cannot dial the VND filter to "zero ND." You will also have a degradation (maybe imperceptible) in sharpness as you are adding more glass elements between your sensor or film and your subject.

Thanks for reading!

Best,

Todd

Hi Thomas,

Great question. I guess the "challenge" of an ND filter with a wide angle lens is the threat of vignetting, especially if stacking filters. If you are using an ultra-wide-angle lens and stacking an ND filter on a UV filter or stacking more than one ND filter on a UV filter, you'll likely start to get vignetting.

To help battle this, I would remove the UV filter when using the ND filter and try to avoid stacking by getting heavier ND filters so that you don't have to stack when you want to go darker.

The dreaded X with the VND filters effects all lenses, not just wide-angle glass.

I hope that helps! Let us know if you have more questions.

Thanks for reading!

Best,

Todd

Hi j p.,

Good question and, no, you don't. Huge oversight on my part, so I will amend the above text, but what you can do (and what I do) is buy filters for my largest diameter thread size lens (77mm in my case) and then get step-up/step-down rings for my smaller lenses. There is a risk of vignetting if stacking filters, but it works just fine to get a stepping ring to put a 77mm filter on a 52mm thread lens.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Step-Up-Rings/ci/420/N/4026728361

Thanks for your question and I apologize for the oversight!

Best,

Todd

Hi Roy,

This is the moment when I kick myself for not having thought of that earlier! Where were you 6-months ago? :)

Thanks for the help and thanks for reading Explora!

Best,

Todd

HI Nitish,

I won't disagree there.

Ironic that the term "shutter speed" doesn't refer to a speed, but a duration of time and that, in itself, can cause confusion. I will add some text to make it a bit more clear.

Thank you for the note and thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading and for the kind words, Alexandre!

Hi sainikhil,

I think that, in the circumstances of that chart, that the two terms could be used interchangeably.

Do you think?

Best,

Todd

Hi Rich,

Sorry for the delay. I actually do not work at B&H anymore, but was bored (not really) and thought I would "check the mail." :)

If I follow your question, yes, there is a disadvantage by using ND-Circular Polarizers. VND filters are basically two CP filters stacked. If you turn them too "far" you get a dreaded X pattern on the image.

Check out this article: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/variable-nd-filters-what-are-you-paying-for

Best,

Todd

Hi Monica,

Thanks for your question. I guess that all depends on how much darkening you are looking for. Your 0.6 GND filter gives you 2-stops of reduction. A 0.3 gives you 1 more stop, a 0.9 gives 3 more, and a 1.2 gives 4 more.

I would suggest the 1.2 for a 6-stop reduction when combined, or a 2-stop or 4-stop when used separately.

Let me know if you have follow-up questions!

Sorry for the delay in replying. We were on holiday!

Thank you, David! And, thanks for reading Explora!

Hi Roy,

 

Good morning! Thanks for the kind words on my article!

 

Good questions, but I will start from the bottom up…

 

You can stack circular filters as long as the filters have front threads (most do…there are exceptions). The possible negative side-effect of stacking circular filters is vignetting, especially with wide-angle lenses like the 16-35mm…so I wouldn’t stack more than 2 filters on that lens, but you can easily experiment to see what you can get away with. Also, many filters are marketed/sold as “thin”…look for those when you can.

 

If you were going with circular filters, you could get 82mm filters and then a step-down 82-77mm ring so that you can use the 82mm filters on the 77mm lenses. This might also help battle the vignetting a bit as the filters are wider than the lens front element, but sometimes the step-up/down rings add unwanted thickness to the setup.

 

Note that not all vignetting is objectionable or unwanted. Some photographers employ this to their advantage or they can remove/reduce it in post-processing.

 

The other option is a rectangular/square filter holder and rectangular/square filters…popular for wide-angle landscape photography, but not really used much in the telephoto world. Also, these are less portable than the circular filters and take up more space in your kit bag. An advantage is the ability to vary the position of the filter to achieve flexible graduated ND effects.

 

One alternative to stacking is investing in heavy ND filters. You can stack a bunch of filters to reach 24-stops, or you can just get a single 24-stop ND filter. The advantages to this is that you 1) aren’t stacking and 2) are reducing the amount of glass you are shooting through as each air/glass interchange effects image quality.

 

And the tough question…which brand(s)? Yes, you can get dizzy looking at love/hate reviews online all day long. Sometimes you just have to go for it and make a decision. B+W is a top brand and great value with their filters as is Hoya, Haida, NiSi, and Tiffen. Yep, I just named 5 brands to narrow your search. Oops. Regardless, my experience with filters is that, if you want quality, stick to the middle or upper price points and you will be fine. 

 

And, lastly, starting out, I would use a polarizer and 6-Stop ND filter…and add a 10-Stop if you wish later on.

 

Thanks for reading Explora! Let me know if you have follow-up questions!

 

Best,

 

Todd