Hoya X8 ND Filter question.

I don't understand this fully yet. One goal of mine is to shoot my 1.4 lens as open as possible at 1/200th. Will I achieve this?

Do the math, its not hard and it depends on what light you are working on but here is the process. Start with the sunny 16 rule. On a sunny day your exposure will likely be 1/ISO at f16. So at ISO 100 your max apeture without a filter would be F11 (one stop less than f16 at 1/100). An ND 8 is a 3 stop reduction so walk backwards 3 stops down the scale (f8, f5.6, f4) so on a bright day an nDX will get you to F4 at ISO 100. Your camera would likely go to ISO 50, so that would be one more stop to 2.8. You are still 3 stops shy of 1.4. Now if you arent doing mid day sun you get more lattitude.

I *almost* see what you're saying. I'll have to study that a bit.

But you've basically answered my immediate question. Thanks!

Dan Kearley wrote in post #16094448
I *almost* see what you're saying. I'll have to study that a bit.

But you've basically answered my immediate question. Thanks!

Its not that complicated really. Grab your camera and take a shot at your lowest ISO you want to use at 1/200 of a second. The get a list of the full fstops. And then just go down the scale the number of stops your filter will do. Getting all the way to 1.4 with ND filters is a challenge as a filter that strong will likely kill your ability to focus, if not compose.

that's a very good explanation but I can tell you without calculations that you're going to want at least 6 stops.

http://maxsaver.net …-ND64--6-stop-Filter.aspx

Dan Kearley wrote in post #16094448
I *almost* see what you're saying. I'll have to study that a bit. !

If you don't want to do math, just 1) go outside with the setup (in representative light), 2) with your camera on M, set your desired ISO and shutter, 3) dial aperture down until exposure reads 0 (centered), 4) dial the aperture up to the target value (1.4), counting the number of ticks as you go, 5) divide the number by three*.


* if exposure increments is set to 1/2, divide by two

ed rader wrote in post #16095006
http://maxsaver.net …-ND64--6-stop-Filter.aspx

Oh thank you, I've been trying to find some 82mm ND filters for the 24-70 II. I love the price, but I've never used the site before. Is maxsaver.net pretty reputable?

[QUOTE=code137;1609521​1]Oh thank you, I've been trying to find some 82mm ND filters for the 24-70 II. I love the price, but I've never used the site before. Is maxsaver.net pretty reputable?[/quote]

very.