Lee Filters is getting a new neutral density filter called the Super Stopper. It reduces light to your camera by 15 stops, meaning an ordinary 2-second exposure will take over 17 hours to expose through the filter.
At the IBC 2015 trade show in Amsterdam, which just wrapped up a couple of days ago, the camera gear company Genus was showing off a prototype of a groundbreaking new product: an electronically controlled neutral density (ND) filter adapter. It was a Canon EF to Sony E lens adapter that had a dial that lets you adjust the level of ND filtration electronically.
Dan Chung of News Shooter filmed the short video above in which Genus shows off the prototype. Chung calls it "one of the most impressive things we saw at IBC this year," and "the holy grail of DSLR filmmaking."
This week, Cokin has announced a new lineup of mineral glass neutral density (ND) filters to fit within its Creative Filter System for photo and video cameras. Consisting of an adapter ring, filter-holder, and a number of various filters available from the company, the system allows photographers and videographers to modify the color, contrast, and saturation of their images. The new ND filters, called the ‘NUANCES’ range, feature a special new coating process to ensure a uniform result.
You've probably seen star trail photos before, but how about a "moon trail?" A Finnish photographer named Janne shot this beautiful photo earlier this week as the rising moon streaked across the sky. Janne was shooting with a Nikon D800 and 100-300mm lens at 300mm, f/8, and ISO 100. The trick behind the shot was a 10-stop neutral density filter, which greatly cut down the amount of light hitting the sensor and allowed Janne to shoot a 2258-second exposure -- that's a whopping 37.6 minutes!
Fotodiox is adding a new piece of gear to its impressive lineup of adapters and accessories. It’s called the Vizelex ND Throttle, and it’s a Sony E-mount to Canon EF-mount adapter that comes with a variable ND filter that’s capable of ND2 all the way up to ND10 (10-stop difference) built right in.
Graduated ND (neutral density) filters have been a staple of landscape photography for a long time now, but if you've never taken the time to learn how these simple but useful tools work, this solid video guide will run you through the basics and then some.
GoPros are popular little action cams. Between the company's brilliant marketing and the well-liked hardware, it’s not difficult to see why they decided to go public. But as impressive as the little cameras may be, they do have their limits. Most notably: the lack of exposure controls when it comes to capturing something.
To help combat that problem and also spice up the action cam footage being captured, Lee Filters has announced a new line-up of holders and filters for GoPro’s latest Hero models.
CJ Kale and Nick Selway long ago fell in love with Hawaii and founded Lava Light, a photography gallery focused on capturing the ever-changing landscape created by an active volcano and crashing waves -- and sometimes both together when the conditions are just right. And if swimming with fire and dodging lava bombs weren’t challenging enough, these photographers believe in creating their images completely in-camera.
Balancing exposures between sky, water and lava can be incredibly tricky. Luckily, Lava Light has shared some tips to help you get the shot without combining exposures or using HDR.
French optical filter company Cokin has launched a new line of lens filters under the brand name Pure Harmonie. The new filters are unique in that they're the thinnest and lightest in the world -- the UV filter in the set measures only 3.3mm (~0.13in) thick!
Silent World is a project by Paris-based artists Lucie & Simon that shows post-apocalyptic views of famous locations around the world. All but one or two of the people in each location are removed from the scene. Rather than use multiple exposures and compositing the images to remove moving objects (e.g. people and cars), they chose to use a neutral density filter -- one that's normally used by NASA for analyzing stars -- in order to achieve extremely long exposure times during the day.
Runners in broad daylight aren't often captured as motion blurs, but that's exactly how Flickr user Justin (just big feet) shot the London Marathon. Just stick a neutral density filter or two onto your lens to restrict the amount of light entering your camera, allowing you to shoot at slower shutter speeds.
What is a variable neutral density filter?
The neutral density bit means it is a filter simply designed to block some of the light getting into a camera. The variable bit means it is variable - you can control the darkness of the filter just by twisting one part of it. A proper variable neutral density filter can cost £100 or more!