10stop Netural Density Filter.

I intend to buy a 10 stop Circular Netural Density filter so that I can take some long exposer shots in the water. Which filter would you recomend and where will i get it. Some adive from you will be very helpfull. Thanks.
Hussain

I have a B+W 10-stop ND and am very happy with it. I have to add, however, that it's rather rare that I need it to slow down my shutter speed to a 1/4 or 1/2 second (about the right shutter speed for an exposure of moving water if you want to retain some hints of detail). I often find a polarizer, sometimes stacked with a 3-stop ND if the sun is bright, is adequate. The 10-stop ND is uniquely suited to creating a very smooth or smoky look with ocean shots, as it slows down the shutter speed enough (sometimes to 30 seconds or more) to capture several wave breaks against the beach, etc.

Incidentally, if you want to see what a 10-stop ND can do to the ocean in midday, check out today's post on QT Luong's blog (www.terragalleria.com/blog/). That should make clear why I say it's overkill in many situations, though it's an essential tool if you're shooting coastal scenes outside of early morning/evening and this is the effect you're going for.

Thank you Phil for your quite reply. I visited the site www.terragalleria.com and saw the pictures. Yes this is what I am looking for. To take pictures of the ocean right in the middle of the day using a 10 stop filter. To get a more blur picture should I add a 3 stop ND soft filter as well or jist one 10 stop filter is fine. ?? Please comment.

2. Should I go for B+W or Lee filter ? Where will I get a circular 72mm filter? (Since I do not have a square filter holder but I do intend to buy one).

Hussain

I had in the past the Hoya ND400 and the BW 10stop ND's with 77mm diameter. In fact I still owe them but I would suggest you before buying these expensive filters to reconsider your choice once again. In fact it is not practical approach as far as I can say from my experience. With these filters you have of course to focus before attaching them as they are too dark to make the AF work and impossible to focus manually too. Any slight movement close to the lens focus ring when attaching the filter and after a long exposure you will get an image that is not in focus. I would therefore strongly suggest you to get a square filter. I made that choice last year when I decided to buy the Lee Big Stopper square filter. Now it is very easy for me to focus manually as I just move slightly up the filter and a second latter without touching the AF ring of my lenses I slide the filter. Lee Big Stopper is very highly demanded filter and the waiting time can be very long but you should check also with the Hitech filter making now their own version to be used with lee holder or a different one to be used with Hitech holder : http://teamworkphoto.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1047_78_768_272&zenid=fher1m8aiehsnci8aoe03oeki5

Thanks Maciej for the advice. Let me think it over again. you rightly said after focusing there is a chance to touch the ring and get the shot out of fucus. Let me see what I sould go for. If I were to go for Lee Big stopper do I need to buy the Lee filter holder or any chinese brand filter holder will do?? Please advice.

Lee holder is excellent and is the most practical I had. I had Cokin P in the past, Hitech and now I use Lee and sometimes Hitech. You can think about the latest one and get it too from the site I mentioned before. This is where I bought mine.. You can get there a wide angle adapter ring too ...

Maciej makes a good point about the use of circular versus P or other filters requiring a holder. I personally use only circular filters but can see the advantage of using a filter holder with a 10-stop ND. The circular filter does tend to make adjustments to composition, focus, etc., difficult or impossible once you've got it on the lens. One option if you prefer circular filters is to purchase a variable ND, such as one made by Singh-Ray, as you can dial it to a brighter setting to focus, etc., and then twist it back to the darker end of the spectrum when ready to shoot. They are very expensive, however, and their thickness makes them more likely to vignette on a wide angle lens.

Indeed the only issue I was getting with Variable ND filters is a nasty cross effect when using at maximum ND filtering with wide lenses 16 to 24 mm on my full frame camera. Now as regards the costs you can also take a look at an interesting review of Lee Big Stopper and Hitech 10 stop ND . Now there is also a Pro version that I wrote about before you can see the test here

I rarely shoot in the middle of the day, so a 10 stop ND filter would be virtually useless in my bag. Shots taken in bright sunlight rarely succeed photographically speaking. I would guess that 90% or better or most successful landscape shots are taken in the magic hour, at sunrise and sunset.

This was taken mid day with a big stopper http://kinghamphotography.zenfolio.com/latest/h358d81e#h358d81e not a good image Rodney? I love mine and it opens up opportunities to shoot in the middle of the day and create unique images. I had the B+W and it was ok, the thing about it is it gives a magenta cast to the image that is hard to remove in post (fine if you're only doing black and white). The big stopper gives a blue cast instead which is easy to remove with a simple white balance adjustment

Lee big stopper is virtually impossible to get at this moment. I've the B+W 10 stop filter, which I find can be useful from time to time --- not only for seascape, but also useful for travel photography. It does have a strong color cast but can be removed during post processing.