dppaskewitz said:I am by no means an expert. I have used other NDs more than the Big Stopper, but the principles are pretty much the same. I concur with you and have only a few additional thoughts.
I use M mode almost all the time (except, for example, from a moving train), because that is what I am getting used to (makes much more sense to me than exposure compensation, for example). I suppose Av would also work, but that seems to me to be an extra step, once the aperture is set in M anyway. Concur on RAW (if using LR, I don't see the need to shoot anything else). I use back button focus. Then, if I remember not to push the back button after focusing, however I have focused (that is, using either camera mode or tweaking with the focus ring in Live View), I am set with focus and don't need to switch back and forth to manual focus.
I do use 100 ISO unless I am using other NDs than the Big Stopper, for example 2 stops plus 3 stops, and need another stop slower. Then I use 50 ISO. I haven't thought of or tried your idea of pushing ISO and adjusting exposure time.
I tend to use an app to check depth of field because my eyesight isn't great. I do use live view and 10X magnification when possible (i.e., when there isn't a glare problem I can't overcome).
I don't follow you on the shutter speed being 1024 times whatever the camera said without the Big Stopper (at set ISO and aperture). I find either the Big Stopper card or a phone app. will give the answer.
I'm not sure what you mean by inputting the ISO and aperture. Aren't those already in the camera? Don't you just adjust the shutter speed by the 10 stops (or so, depending on your Big Stopper)?
I've been just counting out the seconds when I need to go to bulb, but the EXIF data generally tells me I got it wrong (I didn't give it as much time as I thought I did), so I like your idea of using the cell phone timer. Or investing in a cable release with timer (so many gadgets, so little money).
DPP
Great stuff, thanks.
A few responses:
- I always forget about back button AF. I'm too stubborn to switch, but yes, that would cleverly solve the shutter button refocus problem I referred to.
- ND 3.0 = 10 stops, right? That's 2^10 (i.e. 1,024) times less light getting through, so that's your shutter speed multiplier, isn't it? My phone app says 1000x for a 3.0 ND, and the Lee card would seem to corroborate that: http://www.speedgraphic.co.uk/Portals/1/product/images/prd8e36ed5a-8cf0-430f-a76c-22bcdd6e3154.jpg
- "Inputting ISO and aperture" means that I leave M or Av mode (whatever mode I framed the shot in) and go to Bulb. Switching settings (especially away from Av) often moves things back to what I last shot manually, which usually means I lose my settings. I have to do to bulb usually b/c my exposures are often longer than 30 seconds and all modes other than Bulb caps at 30s, I thought. Bulb mode is basically M without a shutter speed input, so all you need is ISO and aperture -- that's where the statement came from.
- A
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