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ND filter for 50D?


Patrick Cooper

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It's been ages since Ive shot on super 8. And I can't remember if an ND filter is necessary when shooting 50D outdoors on a sunny day. Obviously, it would be necessary for faster film stocks. I vaguely recall when I shot on Kodachrome 40 years ago, I was around mid aperture on a sunny day with the daylight filter in place (effective asa speed 25.) And I remember once having to shoot wide open at f1.4 in the morning on an overcast day with K40. So considering that, an ND filter may not be necessary for 50D? Plus I would generally be deliberately overexposing it anyway (opening up the aperture wider than the indicated reading) since it's negative film.

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Well,  a neutral density filter is useful when you think you have too much light and don’t want to overexpose the film.  50D has at least 2 f-stops of exposure latitude either way; but you may need a bright, sunny day for proper exposure with this stock.  Reversal films; such as Ektachrome, Plus-X or Tr-X have less exposure latitude.  Usually around 1/2 an f-stop.  A ND filter could be really useful here; but you could also shoot in slow motion to get a faster shutter speed.  Another reason to use ND filters is to open the aperture wider for shallow depth of field.  There are varying degrees of ND filters that would need varying aperture settings.

Edited by Roger Haney
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Taking the "Sunny 16" rule as reference your speed should be the reciprocal of the ISO of your film, in this case 50D has an ISO of 50 which is extremely close to 1/48th of a second the shutter speed you get when shooting 24fps with a 180° in that case if the sun is behind you your aperture should be f16 which is kind of limiting, so if you want to have more artistic results a ND filter is a good idea.

Now, most Super 8 cameras don't have a shutter angle of 180° some of them have 220° which allows more light to reach the film, so depending on the shutter speed of your camera you could have to shoot at f22. Never assume that 180° is a standard because you see that everywhere. That's an standard on professional 35mm and some 16mm cameras.

Super 8 was originally created to shoot 18fps if you are planing to shoot at that speed or if that's the only speed your camera can shoot then that's another variable on your exposure, is just a third of a stop, but those are the factors that make the difference.

It's impossible to know the conditions where and when you are going to shoot, but I think is a great idea to a have a ND filter at hand.

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