shooting at 2.8 1/200 iso 100 in daylight with strobes!

[RianFlynn]

hey friends,

I have been trying think of ways to get a shallow dof using strobes when shooting outside in the day!

Its a $400 filter, but its pretty cool!

http://www.singh-ray.com/varind.html

Rian

[Mike R]

I use their GND filters. I wish I had an extra $400 for that one.

[Hermes]

The Vari-ND has been discussed a lot and it has its limitations for such a huge pricetag.

A basic 0.6 ND and a Polariser should be enough to get you f/2.8 in even the brightest sunlight anyway

[SkipD]

The Vari-ND is really nothing more than two polarizing filters stacked together. That functionality could be duplicated with two conventional linear polarizers or, better yet (for autofocus and autoexposure cameras), one linear polarizer stacked on a circular polarizer.

My choice would be to use high quality conventional neutral density filters rather than a permanently stacked set.

Additional idea: Just think how much of a problem it might be to clean dust off of the inner surfaces of a permanently stacked pair of filters (which is what the Vari-ND is, of course).

[RianFlynn]

yeah i think i'm going to get a nd 1.8 filter and shoot at F1.8 or iso 50 1.4 on my 35mm

this should make for some cool looks!

[RianFlynn]

good call SkipD

[Hermes]

yeah i think i'm going to get a nd 1.8 filter and shoot at F1.8 or iso 50 1.4 on my 35mm

this should make for some cool looks!

Get weaker filters you can stack - 1.8 is too powerful for 99.9% of situations in my experience I use a 0.6 and a 0.9 along with a polariser and that's enough for me to shoot my 50L and 85L wide open if I need to. Don't forget that NDs also slow your autofocus so you only want to use the necessary amount.

[RianFlynn]

i like to shoot at 2.8 iso 100 1/200 and be 2 stops or more under exposures in los angeles sunshine. is 1.8 to dark for that?

[Hermes]

It might be JUST bright enough in very clear, 12 noon sunshine, but what are you going to do if you want to add a polariser or when the light starts dropping over the afternoon (or if you want to shoot at another time of day completely when there is less sunshine.) - you'll have far too much ND on your lens and no way to reduce it in steps.

If you get a 0.6 and a 1.2, you can use them individually as well stack them - that gives you the option of having 2 stops, 4 stops or 6 stops of ND.

[RianFlynn]

good call. i'm going to bring my camera to the store tomorrow and play :)

[btmlinedan]

maybe i got a bad copy, but my nd8 filter makes all my shots look un-crisp.

I'm not sure the relation of how the nd filter reacts to different aperture and letting flash light in- but i really wish my camera went down to iso 25 or something. the 5d's 50 is appealing, but not enough to drop the 40d and make the jump.

the 1/200 sync never really helps me out either : /