It’s become quite customary for most people to wish for things during the Christmas season. Some dream of driving off in a new car, some want to get their hands on the latest smartphone, and some others, like me, have wish for gear…photography gear, that is.
I’ve also got a wish list of sorts, arranged from the most affordable to the most expensive. I’ll be posting the items on the list over the next few days, with item #1 to be revealed on Christmas day.
Yesterday, I posted Item #8, Panasonic DMW-BCJ13 Battery for the LX5.
Today we look at Item #7: LX5 Lens Adapter + Hoya Pro1D ND8 Filter. I found an [local] online seller that sells an LX5 Kiwifotos Lens Set for P2,500…
…and another that sells the Hoya Pro1D ND8 Filter for P1,100.
Item #7 then, costs P3,600 total.
Have you ever seen a photo of waterfalls where the water looks so smooth? Or perhaps a photo looking up a building with a blur of clouds in the background? That effect can be had by using a slow shutter speed when taking the shot.
Shutter speed refers to the length of time the camera lets light into its sensor. When you take a shot at a fast shutter speed, such as 1/2000ths of a second, you could freeze motion. Action shots of basketball players mid-air and about to dunk, for example, require fast shutter speeds. On the other hand, shooting at a slow shutter speed does the opposite: it captures motion.
A slow shutter speed, say 1 second, means the camera’s sensor is exposed to light for that same amount of time. Of course, more light is recorded by the sensor at that speed compared to a 1/2000 shutter speed. This is why our cameras, set to auto, would generally use fast shutter speeds when we’re out shooting in a bright place, like in a park on a sunny day, and then use slower shutter speeds when indoors in a not so well-lit room.
So how do you shoot a waterfall on a sunny day when you want to produce one that looks like those stunning waterfall images you see over the web where the water looks so smooth? Well, you need to capture motion, so a slow shutter speed is needed. However, use a slow shutter speed in a sunny day and you might have an overexposed image, because it’s just too bright to use that slow of a shutter speed.
Enter the ND filter. ND filters are designed to cut/reduce light getting through your lens (when used, these are positioned in front of the lens). ND stands for “Neutral Density,” which means that these filters only affect the brightness of your photo, not the color. ND Filters come in varying degrees, with some cutting out as much as 10 stops of light. By using ND filters (they reduce light), one could use slower shutter speeds (which allows in more light and allows capturing of motion) even on a sunny day. With this, getting the kind of waterfall shots that you see over the web would become closer to reality.
I want to try out shooting with an ND8 filter (this would cut down 3 stops of light), so I need to be able to attach the thing to my Panasonic Lumix LX5. To do that, I’ve got to have a lens adapter that screws to the camera on one end and allows stuff to be screwed onto it on the other end. With a lens adapter, I could attach filters and other lenses that match its size. The KiwiFotos Lens Set includes the lens adapter I’d need, as well as a lens hood, a lens cap plus UV and CPL filters. The Hoya Pro1D ND8 Filter seems to have positive reviews and is affordable, which is why I chose it for this wish list.
So there you have it: Item #7 on my wish list, an LX5 Kiwifotos Lens Set and a Hoya Pro1D ND8 Filter that could be bought for P3,600.
Have you tried using ND filters? Got ideas for when you try shooting with one?
JrMlz 
I couldn’t be without my CPL filter, given that it’s the only effect that can’t be replicated in post it’s an absolute must have.
Hey John, thanks for the tip!
I did a quick search on CPL filters and found they’re really cool. The lens set in the wish list has one, although its quality is probably not so good.
How do you use your CPL filter? Do you only use it when shooting your landscape?