NDx1000

martinturner

martinturner

martinturner

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27 Jun 2007
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Finally bit the bullet and bought a B+W NDx1000 filter. Have been wanting to do some long exposure work during the day. (its a very very strong ND filter)

Now, when I bought it the website had a prominent notice stating that it was imperative not to look through it at direct sunlight through viewfinder or holding it up as you will damage your eyesight.

My question is, how serious is this? Is it a case of prolonged exposure? a quick glance at the sun and i'm blind? Not that I am going to do so, but in those times where I may forget the filter is on the lens. Or if someone else picks up my camera and looks through viewfinder. TBH, you cannot see through it anyway, so the first instinct would be to immediate look away.

Anyone got any info on this?

Thanks
 
I'd take a stab that it's a paranoia warning. While the filter is strong it probably isn't strong enough to take direct exposures of the sun (eclipses etc) without causing eye damage.
 
Yeah afaik it's just to stop people from thinking they can use it for staring at the sun.

I've used a 6 and 10 stop quite a bit (check my website/deviant art page - website might not be accessible atm, DNS issues).

Generally you'll need to compose the shot before you put the filter on because you can barely see anything with it attached. Also, shoot RAW as you may get a slight warming colour caste. The main issue is that the metering may not work properly. Have only used one on my D200, but the auto metering tends to underexpose by about 2 or 3 stops, so you'll need to use manual mode.

I've done enough long exposure work now that I can pretty much guess at the right settings from how the light is, but you may want to meter without the filter on then do the maths in your head.

ie. a shot that's metered at 1 second without the filter on will need to be doubled 10 times = 1024 seconds.

HOWEVER! Before you go out and do that make sure that your filter is actually giving the full 10 stops. My current B+W 10-stop only actually gives me about 6 stops - I have no idea why.
 
King4aDay said:
Yeah afaik it's just to stop people from thinking they can use it for staring at the sun.

I've used a 6 and 10 stop quite a bit (check my website/deviant art page - website might not be accessible atm, DNS issues).

Generally you'll need to compose the shot before you put the filter on because you can barely see anything with it attached. Also, shoot RAW as you may get a slight warming colour caste. The main issue is that the metering may not work properly. Have only used one on my D200, but the auto metering tends to underexpose by about 2 or 3 stops, so you'll need to use manual mode.

I've done enough long exposure work now that I can pretty much guess at the right settings from how the light is, but you may want to meter without the filter on then do the maths in your head.

ie. a shot that's metered at 1 second without the filter on will need to be doubled 10 times = 1024 seconds.

HOWEVER! Before you go out and do that make sure that your filter is actually giving the full 10 stops. My current B+W 10-stop only actually gives me about 6 stops - I have no idea why.
Click to expand...
What he said! Although that 6 stop thing is a bit odd :confused:
 
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