QUESTION ABOUT ND (?) FILTERS....

[jhaquett]

I would like to start taking some shots of the water that I fish with a slow shutter speed. I have the option on my camera but whenever I try to use it the pictures turn out WAY overexposed (many times they are just white). I saw online that an ND filter can stop this. Can I get one of these for a point and shoot camera? If so, how much are they? If not, what can I do to stop this overexposure (I've already tried lowering the iso as far as it will go). Thanks.

[Amador]

ND filters come in two formats- screw-in and square/rectangle that are made to slide into a filter holder. You can acheive some good results by hand holding the square kind in front of your lens, but you have to very carful that light does not leak in between the filter and the lens.

[bolden]

First of all, what camera do you have?

Once that is known it should be easy to find something for you.

[jhaquett]

Samsung digimax S700

[bolden]

Can i take back when i said it would be easy?

Anyway, i looked for a little bit and actually could not find any circular style nd filter for your camera. You could get a square filter like amador mentioned, but that would probobly be too much of a hastle.

Maybe you should pm Adam Grace, since i believe he works in a camera shop, and has done some cool things with his p&s.


Good luck.

[jhaquett]

Hey man thanks for the advice and the effort 8)

[Jay Murakoshi]

I'm using both the square and cir pol. on my cameras. I've been experimenting alot with the squares due to the fact that with the ND filters, especially the square ones, I can accomplish what I need.
I'm not to familar with P&S cameras but here's what I do.
I hand hold the ND filters with my left hand, this gives me the leeway to move the filter up, down and side to side. One critical thing is to get the LINE centered and straight, especially on landscape shots. Then you can use your preview button too see exactly where the midline is.
Oh yeah, I forgot too mention the camera has too be on a tripod.

Come to think about it, I don't think this will work on P&S.

Jay

[Amador]

Good advice Jay, this is how I hold my filters as well.

Keep in mind, he is looking for regular ND filters; not GND's. This method should work fine with his camera.....assuming that it has full manual functions.

Speaking of manual functions; if you can set your ISO to the lowest setting and close you aperature, you should be able to get some good results as well.

[jhaquett]

I'll try that. I think I know how to close the aperture. I am not at all experienced in photography :oops:

[Adam Grace]

I just searched for a Samsung S700, this should look like your camera.

http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/assets/7458.gif

If this is your camera you most likely have no manual control. If you have no manual controls you cannot take a picture like what you are talking about.

If you have the Fuji S700,

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/finepix_s700-review/camera-front-angled.jpg

then you would have some manual controls.

The aperature control botton is usually labeled as "Av", or just an "A", that setting allows you to conrtol only the aperature and not the shutter speed. Let the camera pick the correct shutter speed for that situation/picture. Make sure that the number is high like 16 or above. The smaller the number the more "closed" the aperature becomes, and the more your depth of field increases.

I beleive that you could hand hold a ND filter with both cameras but the Samsung would not allow you to control the aperature.

[jhaquett]

That's my camera and I DO have manual control.

I have full shutter control from 1/1500 to 8 second speeds.

The aperture only has two options, F 2.8 and F 7.1

Neither of these options works outside (completely white screen), but it works okay indoors.

I have the opposite problem for high shutter speeds indoors! I try to take a picture of my dog playing fetch indoors with a 1/1500 shutter speed with either aperture option & a high (or low, whichever) iso and it is a black screen.

[Amador]

That's my camera and I DO have manual control.

I have full shutter control from 1/1500 to 8 second speeds.

The aperture only has two options, F 2.8 and F 7.1

Neither of these options works outside (completely white screen), but it works okay indoors.

I have the opposite problem for high shutter speeds indoors! I try to take a picture of my dog playing fetch indoors with a 1/1500 shutter speed with either aperture option & a high (or low, whichever) iso and it is a black screen.

Hmm. sounds like your manual controls are limited. I am surprised that a camera manufacture would give you full shutter control, but not aperture since one really can't work without the other.

a 7.1 aperture isn't really going to what you are looking for; it's not small enough(let's too much light in) unless you are shooting in dim conditions.

2.8/7.1 could easily be listed as indoor/outdoor or low light/daylight.

As for your white screen; you are just over-exposing. Try speeding up the shutter until your image appears.

If you are interested in leaning more about exposure; this is a fantastic book that is easy to understand.

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated/dp/0817463003/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8161509-3016061?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193178007&sr=8-1



Cheers,

Chris

[jhaquett]

Thanks Adam. The problem with speeding up the shutter is that by the time it looks good I won't get that active water effect I'm looking for! :?

Looks like I'll just to continue taking pictures like I used to. Thanks for the help guys.

[jbird]

You could probably accomplish what you want if you went to the river early or late in the day....during low light. You can get a good "stretchy" water effect with a shutterspeed as fast as 1 1/2 to 2 seconds.

Jay