Can you use speedlite with ND filter?

I am pretty sure there are waaaaaay better examples bu there is a 3 stop ND with 1 speedlite on the camera. With 2 or 4 speedlites you might achieve a better result.

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bobbyz wrote in post #16005113
Let us say my flash gives me f16 at distance I am shooting, ISO100, Max power on flash. Sunny 16 gives ambient at f16, 1/100, ISO100. So tell how ND filter helps.

Power of the flash helps you kill ambient. ND filter just lets you shoot at wider aperture that is all. I can shoot at f32 if I got power to burn. And if I had camera which could sync at any shutter speed then ND filter will be worthless for portrait shooters using strobes.

I guess a better way of saying it would be that an ND filter will not affect the balance between ambient light/speedlight light. But the blanket statement "it doesn't kill ambient, period" is misleading

windpig wrote in post #16005023
Uh, Leo, that was pointed out by the brainiac in post #2

Yes, but the question of overcoming the sun is only relevant if that's what the OP wants to do. And he didn't say whether that's what he wants or not.

bobbyz wrote in post #16005113
Let us say my flash gives me f16 at distance I am shooting, ISO100, Max power on flash. Sunny 16 gives ambient at f16, 1/100, ISO100. So tell how ND filter helps.

Power of the flash helps you kill ambient. ND filter just lets you shoot at wider aperture that is all. I can shoot at f32 if I got power to burn. And if I had camera which could sync at any shutter speed then ND filter will be worthless for portrait shooters using strobes.

If I want to shoot at f/5.6 instead, I can use the 3x ND filter to compensate for the increase in the light reaching the image sensor. That's how the ND filter helps in this case. And using the ND filter has no effect on the light intensity required from the flash.

PacAce wrote in post #16005380
If I want to shoot at f/5.6 instead, I can use the 3x ND filter to compensate for the increase in the light reaching the image sensor. That's how the ND filter helps in this case. And using the ND filter has no effect on the light intensity required from the flash.

Agree. But it doesn't kill ambient. Whether you shoot at f5.6 or f16, resulting ambient in the shot is same.

davidmtml wrote in post #16005305
I guess a better way of saying it would be that an ND filter will not affect the balance between ambient light/speedlight light. But the blanket statement "it doesn't kill ambient, period" is misleading

Misleading how? Like you said ND filter doesn't change flash to ambient. So whether you use ND filter or not would not change anything. That is what I am saying. Ambient will look same at f16 without filter vs ambient at f2.8 with a 5 stop filter.

If an ND filter could keep you from going into HSS mode prematurely then it could be useful.

bobbyz wrote in post #16005500
Agree. But it doesn't kill ambient. Whether you shoot at f5.6 or f16, resulting ambient in the shot is same.

You can, if you wanted to, by keeping the aperture the same. Of course, then the flash would need to be 3 stops (or whatever value the ND is) brighter if you want to keep the flash lighting the same with just the ambient lighting reduced.

PacAce wrote in post #16005368
Yes, but the question of overcoming the sun is only relevant if that's what the OP wants to do. But he didn't say whether that's what he wants or not.

You're right Leo, I made a leap when I assumed the ND filter use