Calculating Long Exposure Times Using ND Filters

[@PhotoPills]

Need help taking long exposures with lens filters? Comment below! 👉 And check our super detailed Long Exposure Photography with lens filters guide: www.photopills.com/articles/long-exposure-photography-with-lens-filters-guide

[@CINEMATIK]

You forgot to mention about exposure value. I was waiting for that tutorial so long. And you didn’t say anything about it. Would be nice to see a tutorial for it.

[@PhotoPills]

@@CINEMATIKThe exposure value is just a number that tells you the light you have in the scene. Check this article to learn more about it and how to calculate it: www.photopills.com/articles/exposure-photography-guide#step8

[@CINEMATIK]

PhotoPills thank you

[@ekneler10844]

I am becoming addicted to photopills. Thank you so much for the incredible effort in educating all of us in so many different subjects. Gracias

[@PhotoPills]

Thanks so much Eduardo!

[@mokhan4748]

I thought I would never get the hang of PhotoPills, but now, after watching your videos, I am beginning to understand. Thank you.

[@PhotoPills]

Thanks so much!!

[@hamzatigrine8834]

I can easily say that this is the best app I own on my smartphone. You guys deserve a Nobel price 😄

[@PhotoPills]

Hahahaha... Thank you Hamza!

[@dougblunt1044]

I appreciate these emails so much! Photopills solves so many pesky problems in the field, and really helps with pre-planning. Thanks for helping us to understand how to use these wonderful tools better!!

[@PhotoPills]

Thanks so much Doug ;)

[@PepsetScotPassionChiens]

Really interesting tutorial. Thanks a lot.

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you!

[@fulinfoong5890]

Very clear and helpful video on how to get the exposure time for landscape photos. Thank you.

[@PhotoPills]

Thanks so much!

[@douglasmulcahy1778]

As always, a great tutorial. I would love to see a follow-up on using both ND and GND filters and what factors one needs to consider. I might as well throw in a request to talk about reverse GND situations as well. Thanks for a great product...best money ever spent at app store.

[@PhotoPills]

Thanks for the suggestions and feedback! We'll get there. In the meanwhile you have everything you need (including how to use GND and reverse GND filters) in the long exposure photography with lens filters guide: www.photopills.com/articles/long-exposure-photography-with-lens-filters-guide

[@scrapcathy868]

When we can travel around the world again I hope to do a class with you. I love PhotoPills but have so much to learn.

[@PhotoPills]

That would be cool! I hope we go back to normal soon. Stay safe!

[@roytabucanon4349]

Awesome really helps me understand thank you Sir for this

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you Roy!

[@cvtees16videos]

Thanks for the Info little by little I’m getting the hang of it stay safe!

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you!

[@glennvanderheyden987]

Outstanding! Thank you

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you Glenn!

[@petermacc6439]

Perfect! Thank You.

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you Peter!

[@lucapace8136]

Thank you so much for your time in explaining. I wanted to ask if you could imagine being a film photographer... how would you achieve the calculations....thank you !

[@PhotoPills]

In film photography the reciprocity law doesn't work as in digital format. In film there's the reciprocity failure that depend on the film type.

[@lucapace8136]

@@PhotoPills so to compensate , i should then add the reciprocity failure correction to the end of the ND filter exposure length time ? thanks for the replying, its very appreciated.

[@PhotoPills]

@@lucapace8136 Yes, but that's not easy. The failure is not fixed, it depends on the time and film typel

[@lucapace8136]

@@PhotoPills Thank you very much for helping, have a fantastic day

[@ws8592]

Great video! Thanks.

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you!

[@jameslaskin7668]

Hello and thank you for a great lesson on ND filters and the exposure calculator - will be trying a sunset photo as soon as it stops raining in Vancouver!!! I received for Xmas a set of KASE ND filters 3, 6 and 10 stops. I have downloaded your guide and will do the test as you have described - hoping that filters by KASE should be spot on??? 1) I noticed on your app the the 10 stop setting has 2 choices ND1024/3.0 and ND110 - confused? Thanks James

[@PhotoPills]

You'll get the same result with both ;)

[@jameslaskin7668]

@@PhotoPills Cool, thank you for the prompt response.

[@DmitryRukhlenko]

What about adding a ND Filter to Aperture, ISO, Shutters speed in Calculate options? So that I can enter my current settings and desired shutter speed, and then the closest ND filter number is shown. E.g. I have f8, shutter speed 1/30, iso 100. I want to have a shutter speed of 2-3 sec for nice water blur. I enter 3 sec as the target shutter speed and get ND64 as a suggested filter. Or another variant - make shutter speed visible when selecting ND filter in Equivalent settings and update it when ND filter is changed in real time without need to click OK. Does it make sense? The point is to select the right ND filter for the result we want, not to calculate the necessary shutter speed (it is usually calculated correctly for filters brighter than ND1000 in camera)

[@PhotoPills]

Hi Dmitry! Thanks for the suggestion. The workaround in the current version is to just change the ND filter till you get the shutter speed you wanted. But what you propose is something we can study for a future update 😀

[@hjheister]

Great advice. Thank you!

[@PhotoPills]

Thanks!

[@tdw4675]

Great video my friend, I hope this i'snt a stupid question, but why cant you simply use your histogram or EV scale on the camera to help determine the correct shutterspeed?

[@PhotoPills]

Thank you! How do you use your histogram with a 1min exposure? I means, the calculator helps you save time, the goal is to quickly find the exposure time that works. And don't iterate that much :)

[@conxitapararolsplanella846]

Gràcies per la vostre ajuda!!

[@PhotoPills]

Merci!

[@Krinyo666]

How about calculating not fix exposure, nt for long exp. time, but when we do videos what we want do with wide apertures? Going 10 meters on a street there are variable exposures under a sunlight or undrer a shade etc.. It is said the used shutter speed must be the double the set fps. So if I want use 24fps for video the shutter speed must set to 1/50s. And if I want use f2.8 aperture I have to set my iso to that value, from where my camera can changes from down and above if needed for exposure.. And I have to use for it an ND filter, because under sunlight at f2.8 and at iso400 shutter speed is for example between 1/1000 and 1/2000s. When starting settings are f2.8 1/50s, iso400 and an x value Nd filter, can my camera correct only with changing iso value the exposure if needed? When I go to brighter place it has 2 steps down to go to iso100, and more steps for above. And I don't want to use variable Nd filters, because many videos shows, tha variable filters are usually, non linear filters. However this is the best option for what I'm talking about or what should we do?

[@JohnDAlmonte]

This calculator is super helpful. I'm not sure if makes a difference, but the aperture values on Fujifilm are slightly different than what's on the app. 3.6 instead of 3.5 6.4 instead of 6.3

[@PhotoPills]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@ridermedusa4289]

How useful is this compared to mirrorless cameras evf? I like this app because of other applications but since mirrorless are so good with predicting the outcome of the image before being taken is this still needed?

[@PhotoPills]

We just love ND filters to shoot long exposures :)

[@FairfieldFogey]

Please can you tell me how to allow PhotoPills to send notifications so I can have an alarm on your timer. Thanks.

[@PhotoPills]

You need to switch on Notifications for PhotoPills in the main settings of your phone.

[@hjillikins]

thank you for your advise I do photography long exposure at the beach near me Byron Bay NSW

[@I_Mackenzie]

Thanks, I mostly get it. One thing I wanted to confirm is the +Ev value is the total EV value for the shot? I was thinking at first that Ev value was the exposure compensation I need to set if I was in aperture priority mode?

[@PhotoPills]

Hi Ian, the EV is the Exposure Value. It's simply a number representing all combinations of aperture, shutter speed and ISO that produce the same exposure (capture the same amount of light). You'll find more info in our Exposure Guide: www.photopills.com/articles/exposure-photography-guide#step8 Exposure compensation is a just a button that allows you to add/remove stops (or fraction of stops) to the exposure calculated by the camera.

[@I_Mackenzie]

PhotoPills Thanks for clarifying that for me. I love the content btw and the app of course. 😊

[@PhotoPills]

@@I_Mackenzie Thanks!

[@ksnmurthy4476]

Hi Rafael, appreciate your effort to give the information. In the process lot of confusion also there .There was a confusion created in the step 3. I did not get you. What data you are filling in the second row? From where you got them? For me in my app the second row does not show aperture . It shows shutter speed button, ISO , and ND filter selection button. But you have aperture button in the second row? How come. Any version change ? Do I need to update. In the last you made a mess of it. How come after entering the details the final photo will come like test shot? If so why you need a ND filter? It’s not clear. Can you send it in detail text? It’s a mess.You confused me more. Already PhotoPills is a big confusion and complicated and overwhelmed, you added some more mess to it. Please clarify. Thanks

[@PhotoPills]

You need to choose as parameter to calculate "shutter speed" at the top.

[@ksnmurthy4476]

@@PhotoPills but why my app looks different from yours shown in the video?

[@PhotoPills]

@@ksnmurthy4476 Choose "Shutter speed" as the field to calculate and you'll have the same exact option that in the video

[@tomkerley9923]

I love these videos and the app! Can I ask, when calculating the exposure in the test shot, is there any reason that you would not just select the f stop that you plan to take the long exposure with? Is there a benefit to using a wider aperture for the test shot and then stopping down when calculating the new shutter speed? Thanks!

[@PhotoPills]

Using a wider aperture will give you faster shutter speeds, and this reduces the trial and error when nailing your test photo exposure. But other than that, you can use the aperture you wish to use in the final photo too.

[@tomkerley9923]

@@PhotoPills makes perfect sense now! Thank you!

[@gburleson321]

How many stops do you add for a polarizer?

[@KenToney]

Any where from 1 to 1.5 depending on how much you have it set

[@PhotoPills]

If you put the polarizer on for the test photo, then you don't need to add any extra stops to when calculating the exposure time using your ND filter.

[@josenodarse6998]

Can someone recommend a light meter app?

[@PhotoPills]

mmm... nothing comes to mi mind now...

[@joeavedu]

Not sure what I might be overlooking. Your to take a test photo then you get the "equivalent" exposure below. That I understand. When I tried that with my camera on "Aperture" setting and then set to my ND 400 (8.2/3) I am told to set to 27sec (Test photo 2.8 - 1/15 - ISO 1000 = Equivalent 2.8 ISO 1000 27sec) My photo comes out underexposed? What am I over looking? I am sure it is user error. Thanks in advance.

[@joeavedu]

I think I figured out what I was doing wrong..need to change my camera setting to "bulb"

[@PhotoPills]

@@joeavedu With a bit of practice you'll get it right :)

[@fredkrieger278]

Very helpful. Noticed you weren't wearing glasses.

[@dalestoltman3204]

Can you use this calculator with a Variable ND filter. Is there any relationship with the markings on the variable filter that could be equal to i.e. an ND 8 as an example. Just got the PhotoPills app.

[@PhotoPills]

If the Variable ND filter doesn't have marks or something to know how many stops it has, I think it will be difficult to use the calculator.

[@dalestoltman3204]

@@PhotoPills it does have Min and 17 dashes or marks that get larger as you get to Max. I think it goes 1.3 to 8. I am just trying to figure out the middle ones. I would like to shoot the sunset and milkyway. Think I may have to go with a specific ND filter.

[@veyvey877]

Thx u

[@PhotoPills]

:D

[@I_Mackenzie]

After reading the guide on Long Exposure Photography with lens filters guide I am still a little bit confused. I have a 3 stop GND and I want to capture the water moving. If it is still dark enough, I can set a long enough shutter speed to get the silky water but I don't have to make any futher compenesation for the GND as this just stops the top half of my image getting blown out. Is that correct?

[@PhotoPills]

That's correct. The guide explains that you have to compensate if you use an ND filter, not a GND filter. In fact, when using a GND with an ND filter, you already expose the text shot using the GND to compensate the light.

[@I_Mackenzie]

PhotoPills Thank you for clarifying that. 😊

[@PhotoPills]

@@I_Mackenzie Thanks Ian!

[@Ferangnl2009]

What about a variable ND filter, how to work with it and how to figure out the real density of your variable ND filter?

[@PhotoPills]

If it's not calibrated, then the only option is to do some tests and mark the variable ND to know the stops it has at different values.

[@samuelchong5994]

and if I have 2 lens ?

[@PhotoPills]

what do you mean?

[@roadshoulderphotography683]

what happens if you use say a 10 stop filter with a 3 stop Graduated ND...do you add 10 +3 for 13 or is it something different ?

[@maximoliverpennickut4490]

10+3=13

[@PhotoPills]

You take the test shot using the GND, to balance the lights and shadows. So the settings you use before using the ND filter is for an image taken only with the GND filter. When working out the equivalent shutter speed you just need to take into account the ND filter.

[@PhotoPills]

@@maximoliverpennickut4490 No, in this case the question is not about stacking ND filters, it's using a GND with an ND. If the case was a ND 10 stops + ND 3 stops, yes, the answer would be 13 :)

[@KenToney]

I would take a shot with the 10 ND to get the land and shadows right then without changing settings then add 2 or 3 stop grand for skies, I prefer a 2 stop.

[@florianhuehne1103]

is there an English language version of this ?

[@PhotoPills]

This video is in English...

[@BP-mx1sv]

what

[@PhotoPills]

:D

[@juangarcia1974]

Compre tu app y lo único que quiero es aprender a usarla pero me gustaría que tus intentos de bufón mediocre los guardes para otras ocasiones y solo te enfoques en lo relevante de estos vídeos.

[@PhotoPills]

Hola Juan! Si quieres aprender a utilizar PhotoPills aquí tienes una clase completa: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWrVeGRuiZ2ZjpY

[@juangarcia1974]

@@PhotoPills muchas gracias!