Which grade of ND filter for sunny enviromental protraits

I was out in the bright sun the other day with my 50L and it was up against the 1/8000 wall fairly regularly. I switched to ISO 50 which made it usable. I also have a CPOL filter on order which should make it more versatile in bright light. I'm going to stop short of getting an ND filter.

However, regardless of all that, one thing I found was that shooting in harsh bright sunlight generally sucks... So in my case, if the shutter speed is blinking, it probably means the light is to harsh and I'm wasting my time anyway.

My 6D maxes out at 1/4000 and I have not tried iso 50 yet. But I should not need to.
This ND4 is the perfect solution.

VirtualRain wrote in post #16831786
I was out in the bright sun the other day with my 50L and it was up against the 1/8000 wall fairly regularly. I switched to ISO 50 which made it usable. I also have a CPOL filter on order which should make it more versatile in bright light. I'm going to stop short of getting an ND filter.

However, regardless of all that, one thing I found was that shooting in harsh bright sunlight generally sucks... So in my case, if the shutter speed is blinking, it probably means the light is to harsh and I'm wasting my time anyway.

DO NOT USE ISO 50!!! That is for video purposes only. It kills data from your RAW images. The circular polarizer is only 1 2/3 stop reduction in light, so if you need 2 or 3 stops, it won't be enough.

Use ISO 100 minimum, and if you are using a 3 stop neutral density, you are using a circular polarizer, and you're at 1/8000 still blowing out highlights, then it means it's time to buy a 10 stop ND and you'll get nicely exposed shots at about 1/500 second -- almost within the strobe sync speed.

catclaw wrote in post #16831872
DO NOT USE ISO 50!!! That is for video purposes only. It kills data from your RAW images. The circular polarizer is only 1 2/3 stop reduction in light, so if you need 2 or 3 stops, it won't be enough.

Use ISO 100 minimum, and if you are using a 3 stop neutral density, you are using a circular polarizer, and you're at 1/8000 still blowing out highlights, then it means it's time to buy a 10 stop ND and you'll get nicely exposed shots at about 1/500 second -- almost within the strobe sync speed.

A 10 stop filters is pretty much unusable for environmental portraits. Its too dark to focus through. Its fine for landscapes but not for portraiture.

gonzogolf wrote in post #16832376
A 10 stop filters is pretty much unusable for environmental portraits. Its too dark to focus through. Its fine for landscapes but not for portraiture.

Haha I was totally joking about photographing portraits with a 10 stop ND. Although, I can't imagine it would be too dark if the necessary shutter speed at 100 ISO was 1/500 as I calculated. Photographing a bikini model at high elevation on a cloudless day with the landscape completely covered in snow at f/1.2 sure would push your camera's limits though.

catclaw wrote in post #16832386
Haha I was totally joking about photographing portraits with a 10 stop ND. Although, I can't imagine it would be too dark if the necessary shutter speed at 100 ISO was 1/500 as I calculated. Photographing a bikini model at high elevation on a cloudless day with the landscape completely covered in snow at f/1.2 sure would push your camera's limits.

If you cant see through it to focus, then the rest is sort of mute.

gonzogolf wrote in post #16832395
If you cant see through it to focus, then the rest is sort of mute.

I've been able to see through a pinhole lens cap before using my viewfinder in extremely bright environments. And that was at f/155 which was 5.5 stops beyond f/22. It's just a matter of how incredibly bright the scene is, to determine whether you can see anything or not.

catclaw wrote in post #16831872
DO NOT USE ISO 50!!! That is for video purposes only. It kills data from your RAW images. The circular polarizer is only 1 2/3 stop reduction in light, so if you need 2 or 3 stops, it won't be enough.

Use ISO 100 minimum, and if you are using a 3 stop neutral density, you are using a circular polarizer, and you're at 1/8000 still blowing out highlights, then it means it's time to buy a 10 stop ND and you'll get nicely exposed shots at about 1/500 second -- almost within the strobe sync speed.

ISO 50 is fine... yeah, you lose a bit of dynamic range so I wouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary but without any other choice the other day, it worked out just fine... images were not ruined nor did it break my camera.

Here's a shot at ISO 50, f/1.2, 1/5000 where the shutter speed was blinking at me at ISO 100. It turned out great... plenty of dynamic range for a snap shot. Of course, if I had my polarizer, I wouldn't have needed ISO 50, but in a pinch it worked great.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/n3pL​mV

gonzogolf wrote in post #16636843
Keep in mind that anything darker than 4 stops or so makes it difficult to focus and see clearly through the viewfinder.

This may not be accurate. I had the eg-s screen in my 6D since before I got the ND filter.
(great upgrade best $22 I spent, Buy One )
The viewfinder is not adversely affected by the ND filter.
However, using the DOF preview make the viewfinder unusable. This is when it gets extremely dark, ND8.
Just make sure you check and recheck your aperture often depend on each photo you take because.
the eg-s screen with my 50L makes every shot 'appear' at f1.2 in the viewfinder.

Thank you to everyone for your help. I realized I did not post my final update for the thread.

For my 24L II I chose the ND4 over the ND8 because I intended to shoot at f1.4-f5.6 as my go-to sunny environmental portrait lens and leave the filter on it. Even at f5.6 and iso 800 the images seem clear and accurate. I agreed, the ND2 would Not have been enough with my max SS at 1/4000 on my 6D.

For my 50L I decided to get an ND8 as I intend to shoot with this lens at f1.2 or f2.8 99% of the time. I spent all of Sunday walking around my town, handheld at f1.2 from 10:00am-2:00pm with no issues. Many shots at f1.2 were still at SS 1/2000 with the ND8

These were great recommendation guys! I could not be happier.
On a side note: The ND8 filter does not make my viewfinder look any dark, however I have the eg-s screen in my 6D before getting it and I would not recommend using the DOF preview button at all.
The eg-s screen + the ND8 + DOF preview button makes the viewfinder almost black past f5.6
But there is always liveview for landscape shots for course.

Have you ever considered getting a variable ND filter? I have the Hoya variable ND filter (77mm) and it's wonderful. I shoot wide open (f1.4) all the time with it during sunny days, and I need the shutter speed to drop to 1/200 to use flash. I've pushed the ND filter to its limits though, I think it's 8 stops of light or something? The viewfinder was fairly dark and you'll need a camera with a good focus system like a 5D III.

^ While a variable ND filter seems like a great idea at first, I decide to just get one grade to test out for each lens, also rather than a step down ring as well. I like what I got and if I find it to be something I am constantly using from now on; I will look into a broader option.

For me fixed ND is better route as simpler math. Also ISO50 is fine, and if I am using strobes when shooting in the sun, I can control my DR. ISO50 helps as I can make do with 3 stop filter instead of 4 stop. If I was shooting f1.2/f1.4 then I will use 6-8 stops.