If you’re packing a digicam for a visit and attempting to work out whether or not an ND filter is definitely worth the house within the bag, the reply is sure, with one caveat: which ND. Variable, fastened, magnetic, sq. slot-in. Three stops, six, ten. Completely different filters do totally different jobs, and the incorrect choose is the one which stays within the bag as a result of it doesn’t match any lens you truly personal.
I’ve been taking pictures with ND filters since I went skilled fifteen-odd years in the past. Lengthy sufficient to know which of them earn their house in a journey bag and which keep on the shelf at house. That is the eight I’d pack in the present day, why, and the way to decide on between them for the best way you truly shoot.
Fast Verdict
In order for you one filter for one journey and wish to cease studying: the Ok&F Idea Nano-X Variable ND with its built-in round polariser is the most-versatile single filter on this information. It covers ND2 to ND32 (one to 5 stops), it features a CPL, and at round 77mm it prices roughly $70 USD. One filter, two jobs, one lens thread. Examine present worth on Amazon.
If you’re travelling particularly to shoot panorama, you need a fastened six-stop as a substitute and also you need a polariser alongside it. The Breakthrough X4 ND 6-stop plus an honest round polariser is the cleaner two-filter reply. Round $150-$240 USD for the X4 relying on dimension, plus your CPL of alternative. Breakthrough’s X4 spec web page covers the format particulars.
Why these two and never, say, the Lee Massive Stopper? As a result of Lee is a specialist instrument, good at one factor (ten-stop daylight lengthy exposures) and quiet the remainder of the time. A primary ND for journey ought to earn its house each day, not on the one morning every week the sunshine will get attention-grabbing. We’ll get into the remainder of the slate beneath.
How an ND Filter Earns Its Place in a Journey Bag
That is the half most filter roundups skip and the half that decides whether or not the filter you acquire truly comes on a visit.
Journey equipment lives or dies on weight, thread compatibility, and how briskly you possibly can swap one thing in or out in conjunction with a highway in low mild. A filter that matches one lens, sits in its personal field, and requires you to unscrew a hood and a UV protector earlier than it goes on the lens is a filter you cease reaching for after week two.
Three sensible factors to suppose by means of before you purchase something.
First, match the filter to your greatest entrance ingredient. In case your journey equipment is, say, a 24-70 f/2.8 (82mm thread) and a 16-35 f/4 (77mm thread), purchase the 82mm filter and a 77mm-to-82mm step-up ring. The step-up ring is six or seven kilos and lives on the smaller lens completely. One filter, two lenses, no thread roulette in a hostel at 4am. The lure is shopping for a 77mm filter “as a result of that’s what matches the lens I exploit most” after which carrying a second 82mm filter for the vast lens. Two filters, two instances, two instances the spend. Step-up rings exist for a cause.
Second, determine between magnetic and screw-in for the best way you truly shoot. Magnetic methods sound fiddly till you could have performed a dawn shoot with chilly fingers, after which they sound like the apparent reply. The trade-off is that magnetic methods are brand-locked: a Kase Revolution magnet doesn’t speak to a Freewell V2 mount. Should you go magnetic, you commit to at least one ecosystem. We get to the professionals and cons of every main system beneath.
Third, take into consideration whether or not you truly need an ND or a polariser. Half the individuals who suppose they need an ND filter truly need a round polariser, and half of the remaining need each. If you’re taking pictures waterfalls, lush inexperienced forests, or coastlines with reflective water, you most likely need each. The Fast Verdict Ok&F choose has the CPL in-built for precisely this cause. We get into the polariser-vs-ND choice intimately beneath.
For the remainder of the journey equipment that goes alongside the filters, our companion guides cowl the digicam physique, the lens set, and the journey tripod to assist all of it.
What an ND Filter Does, in One Paragraph
An ND, or impartial density, filter is a chunk of darkened glass that reduces the quantity of sunshine reaching your sensor with out affecting color. Sun shades for the lens, in impact. The purpose is to allow you to use a slower shutter velocity (to blur shifting water, for instance) or a wider aperture (for shallow depth-of-field in shiny daylight) than the scene would in any other case permit.
The “impartial” bit is the objective: ideally the filter adjustments publicity and nothing else. In follow, some filters add a solid (Lee’s Massive Stopper is famously cool), some impart slight inexperienced or magenta tints in shadow, and a few are shut sufficient to impartial that you’d by no means understand it was on the lens. In order for you the total physics walk-through, our deep-dive companion information on what ND filters truly do covers it in depth.
Skogafoss, Iceland. 13s, f/7.1, ISO 100. The traditional Iceland waterfall, with a six-stop ND.
Polariser, ND, or Each? The Resolution Most Travellers Get Fallacious
Most travellers shopping for their first filter conflate ND and CPL. They’re totally different instruments that resolve totally different issues. The excellent news is the choice tree is brief.
If you wish to minimize reflections from water, glass, or moist leaves, or saturate a blue sky, you need a round polariser (CPL). A CPL prices you about 1.5 to 2 stops of sunshine as a facet impact, however its job is reflection management and saturation, not sluggish shutter speeds.
If you wish to sluggish shutter velocity or open aperture in shiny mild, you need an ND filter. NDs don’t have an effect on reflections or saturation. They cut back mild.
In order for you each, which is the widespread case, you could have three choices. An extended-exposure waterfall shot in the course of the day normally desires a CPL to chop the glare off moist rocks plus an ND to pull the shutter lengthy sufficient to silk the water.
A mixed VND-plus-CPL filter (the Ok&F Nano-X on this information is the apparent instance; the Freewell V2 Hybrid is one other)
Stack a CPL on prime of an ND (works positive; provides a fraction of cease)
Use a magnetic system the place you possibly can click on a CPL on underneath or over the ND in seconds
Should you solely ever purchase one filter for journey and you can’t determine between a CPL and an ND, purchase the mixed Ok&F Nano-X. It does each jobs adequately, has a built-in CPL, and saves you from shopping for two filters whenever you solely had funds for one. If you’re on the level the place you realize you want each filters acting at their greatest, purchase them individually.
Variable ND vs. Mounted ND, in Observe
Variable NDs are handy. You rotate the entrance ring, the publicity adjustments. One filter, many cease strengths. The trade-off is actual and value understanding earlier than you spend.
Each VND is constructed from two polarising layers rotating towards one another. Past a sure cease depend, that creates a visual cross or X-pattern throughout the body, extra pronounced on wider focal lengths. The hinge level is round 16mm on full-frame: shoot a VND vast open at five-plus stops on a 16mm lens, anticipate to see the X. Push to 24mm or longer and you’ll normally run a VND proper out to its prime finish with out it displaying.
The premium VNDs (PolarPro’s Version II split-range design, Ok&F’s Nano-X with its mechanical cease limits) work across the physics by capping the rotation vary. PolarPro splits its Peter McKinnon Version II into two filters: a 2-to-5 cease variant and a 6-to-9 cease variant. The advertising line is that “preset cease ranges guarantee your content material by no means will get the infamous X cross-polarisation.” Learn that as: we’ve got capped the vary so you can’t by accident rotate previous secure territory inside every variant. It’s honest framing, but it surely doesn’t imply the 6-to-9 cease variant is X-pattern-free at its prime finish on vast lenses. It means the splits cease you from blundering into the artifact inside their respective ranges.
When VND wins for journey: video work, the place you’re continuously adjusting publicity for altering mild and a hard and fast ND would imply swapping filters each 5 minutes. Run-and-gun stills the place you would not have time to swap. Multi-purpose journey the place you need one filter to cowl three or 4 cease situations.
When fastened wins: you realize precisely what you wish to do (a six-stop or ten-stop lengthy publicity for a selected photograph), and also you need the cleanest doable consequence with no danger of artifacts. Panorama work in good mild, with time to arrange the shot.
My very own equipment is a 3-stop, a 6-stop, and a 10-stop fastened, plus a CPL. No VND. The X-pattern on vast lenses bothers me sufficient that I’d reasonably carry three fastened filters and swap because the shot wants them. That’s one photographer’s choice. For run-and-gun stills or video work, the place publicity adjustments sooner than you possibly can swap glass, the VND case is actual.
The Eight Filters Price Packing, at a Look
Costs within the desk are manufacturer-listed at time of writing. UK retailers (Wex Picture Video, Park Cameras) are usually related in kilos; Amazon costs fluctuate. Final up to date Could 2026.
The Eight Picks, in Element
1. Ok&F Idea Nano-X Variable ND + CPL
That is the Fast Verdict choose and the filter I’d put in a journey bag if I might solely put one in. It’s a variable ND overlaying ND2 to ND32 (one to 5 stops), with a built-in round polariser, in a round screw-in mount. Two filters in a single piece of glass.
What you get to your cash: 28-layer multi-coated Japanese AGC glass, an aviation aluminium body with a serrated edge for grip, waterproof and scratch-resistant remedy on each side. Ok&F’s cease vary tops out at 5, which retains you beneath the X-pattern hazard zone on wider focal lengths. The CPL is built-in, so the filter rotates twice: as soon as to set polarisation, as soon as to set ND power. Takes a second to be taught.
Spec
Worth
Filter kind
Variable ND + built-in CPL
Cease vary
ND2-ND32 (1-5 stops)
Format
Round screw-in
Sizes
37, 40.5, 43, 46, 49, 52, 55, 58, 62, 67, 72, 77, 82, 86, 95mm
Glass
Japanese AGC optical glass
Coatings
28-layer nano-coating, anti-reflection, waterproof, scratch-resistant
Body
Aviation aluminium, serrated edge
Guarantee
30-day no-reason return
Worth
~$72.99 USD (52mm), scales as much as ~$120 at 95mm
Greatest for: First-filter travellers, anybody who desires one piece of glass to cowl each the CPL and ND jobs. Day by day-driver lens, run-and-gun taking pictures.
Be careful for: 5 stops is the ceiling. If it is advisable drag a shutter to 30 seconds in mid-morning solar, you need extra. The built-in CPL means rotating two controls; not troublesome, however takes a couple of minutes to internalise.
Examine present worth on Amazon
2. PolarPro Peter McKinnon Signature Version II VND
PolarPro’s video-leaning premium VND, offered in two variants: a 2-to-5 cease and a 6-to-9 cease. Purchase whichever vary covers your taking pictures; some shooters carry each. Equivalent specs throughout the 2 ranges in any other case.
The development is a step up from the Ok&F: PolarPro calls it Cinema Collection glass and the body is unusually slim, which issues at 16mm the place each millimetre of filter depth is one millimetre nearer to vignetting. The clicked cease limits provide you with tactile suggestions at every finish of the vary, so you realize with out wanting that you’ve got hit the utmost and mustn’t rotate additional. That mentioned: as lined above, the wide-angle X-pattern continues to be an optical impact you can’t engineer away. On the 6-to-9 cease variant on the prime of its vary on a 16mm lens, you will note it.
Spec
Worth
Filter kind
Variable ND, split-range
Cease vary
2-5 stops or 6-9 stops (separate purchases)
Format
Round screw-in
Sizes
49, 67, 77, 82, 95mm
Glass
“Cinema Collection” optical glass
Coatings
Anti-reflection, scratch-resistant
Guarantee
PolarPro Journey Assurance
Worth
$149.99 per variant, all sizes
Greatest for: Hybrid shooters who pull stills and video on the identical journey and need a single VND per scene kind. Video work the place the haptic stops prevent re-checking the entrance of the lens.
Be careful for: You might be shopping for twice if you’d like full vary. The wide-angle X-pattern on the 6-9 variant will not be a bug, it’s a wide-VND tax. Producer web page: PolarPro Version II.
Examine present worth on Amazon
3. Breakthrough X4 ND 6-Cease
The fixed-ND I’d choose if I have been beginning a journey equipment from scratch and needed one fastened impartial for daytime long-exposure work. Six stops is the candy spot for journey: sufficient to pull a shutter to a few seconds in noon mild, quick sufficient to not want a tripod-and-cable-release ritual each time.
Breakthrough has earned a repute amongst panorama and long-exposure photographers for unusually impartial color rendering. Their X4 is constructed on SCHOTT B270 optical glass, with a 16-layer MRC coating and a brass body that doesn’t bind on the lens thread the best way cheaper aluminium frames generally do. Bryan Carnathan at The Digital Image has rated it above the Singh-Ray Mor-Slo for neutrality. Breakthrough’s personal “flattest transmission curve” advertising is their very own spectrometer declare reasonably than an impartial lab discovering, however the field-test consensus broadly backs the sensible finish of it: minimal solid even at six to 10 stops, with out the cool lean of the Lee Massive Stopper or the nice and cozy lean of older B+W formulations.
Spec
Worth
Filter kind
Mounted ND
Cease strengths
3, 6, 10, 15 stops obtainable
Format
Round screw-in (sq. 100mm and 150mm offered individually)
Sizes
39 to 112mm (full vary)
Glass
SCHOTT B270
Coatings
MRC16 (16-layer multi-resistant coating), nanotec nano coating each side
Body
Precision-machined brass, double-threaded traction body
Guarantee
25-year Ironclad Assure
Worth
$149-$239 relying on dimension (6-stop)
Greatest for: Travellers taking pictures panorama, coast, or metropolis structure the place a daytime two- to ten-second publicity makes a photograph. Anybody who desires a hard and fast ND with as near no solid as you should buy.
Be careful for: Stacking two X4s for greater cease counts can introduce a solid that neither produces solo. If you wish to go previous six stops with Breakthrough, purchase the ten-stop X4 as a substitute of stacking.
Authoritative spec supply: Breakthrough X4 ND product web page.
Examine present worth on Amazon
4. Lee Massive Stopper (LEE Parts + LEE100)
Lee’s Massive Stopper has been the reference ten-stop ND since 2011. The cool blue solid it imparts will not be a defect; it’s a recognized attribute of the formulation, and Lee themselves acknowledge it on their very own data base. Their wording: “the slight blue solid is well eliminated in submit manufacturing utilizing the color temperature slider, however numerous photographers go away it unchanged.” Loads of long-exposure photographers lean into the cool blue really feel reasonably than correcting it.
Two variations to decide on between. The LEE Parts Massive Stopper is the round screw-in model, in 67/72/77/82mm. The LEE100 Massive Stopper is the unique 100x100mm sq. slot-in, which matches right into a LEE100 holder. The sq. model is a bit cheaper and provides you the inspiration of a square-filter system if you wish to add grads or different ND strengths later. The screw-in is quicker to deploy, and lighter to hold, and has no holder to lose.
Spec
Parts (screw-in)
LEE100 (sq.)
Filter kind
Mounted ND
Mounted ND
Stops
10
10
Format
Round screw-in
100x100mm slot-in
Sizes
67, 72, 77, 82mm
100x100mm
Glass
Excessive-end optical glass, multi-coated
Optical glass
Holder wanted
No
Sure (LEE100 holder + adapter ring)
Worth
£228 (77mm)
£121.20
Greatest for: Panorama and seascape lengthy exposures, the place you need a full ten stops to pull a shutter into the 30-second-plus territory in daylight. Sq. model in case you are constructing a system; screw-in if you’d like one filter that simply works.
Be careful for: The cool solid. If you’re stacking it with a CPL, that provides additional blueness in some shadows. White-balance shift in uncooked is a one-slider repair; simply remember you can be doing it.
Examine present worth on Amazon
5. Hoya ProND EX 8 (3-Cease)
The funds entry-level choose within the slate. Hoya has been making inexpensive round screw-in NDs for many years, and the ProND EX is their current-generation line. A 3-stop fastened ND is the proper starter power: sufficient to sluggish a shutter by three steps (1/500s turns into 1/60s, say), which is helpful for the average water-blur shot or for letting you open up a lens in shiny mild. Not sufficient to do the dramatic 30-second daytime lengthy publicity, which is what the 6- and 10-stop filters are for.
The ProND EX makes use of Hoya’s ACCU-ND know-how to maintain color as impartial as their funds worth level permits, with a water- and oil-repellent entrance coating, in a low-profile body designed to play properly with wide-angle lenses. It’s a round screw-in throughout all sizes, which makes it the pure start line for a journey equipment in case you are not able to decide to a magnetic system or a sq. holder.
Spec
Worth
Filter kind
Mounted ND
Stops
3 (ND8)
Format
Round screw-in
Sizes
49, 52, 55, 58, 62, 67, 72, 77, 82mm
Coatings
ACCU-ND IR-cut, water- and oil-repellent
Body
Low-profile (wide-angle pleasant)
Worth
~$40-70 USD relying on dimension
Greatest for: First-time ND patrons who need a round screw-in fastened at a worth that isn’t painful if the filter ultimately strikes on to a second lens. Mild water blur, daytime wider-aperture work.
Be careful for: Three stops is your entire vary. If you end up wanting extra, you’ll purchase a second filter reasonably than rotate. Hoya additionally makes 6- and 10-stop variants in the identical line if you wish to commit additional.
Examine present worth on Amazon
6. Kase Revolution Magnetic Equipment
Kase’s current-generation premium magnetic system, which has changed the long-running Wolverine line. Two sensible upgrades make this the system value shopping for in case you are going magnetic on the prime finish: the filter rings are colour-coded by power (so you possibly can pull the proper one out of a pouch with out wanting), and the entrance of each filter has a threaded ingredient. The threaded entrance issues as a result of it permits you to stack a screw-in filter on prime of the magnetic, or connect a lens hood, which earlier magnetic methods wouldn’t allow you to do.
The equipment meeting is typical of the magnetic-system playbook: a magnetic adapter ring screws onto your lens thread, and the filters snap onto the adapter. Kits sometimes embrace a CPL plus three NDs (3-, 6-, and 10-stop) and an adapter ring, with non-compulsory extras for grads. Affirm the present equipment composition at Kase’s magnetic-filters web page as their equipment configurations rotate.
Spec
Worth
Filter kind
Magnetic equipment (CPL + a number of NDs)
Stops
CPL + 3, 6, 10 typical equipment composition
Format
Magnetic
Sizes
67, 72, 77, 82, 95mm adapter rings (varies by equipment)
Glass
Tempered optical (Kase “Revolution” designation)
Body
Color-coded rings, threaded entrance ingredient
Holder system
Kase Revolution magnetic (not cross-compatible with Wolverine or different magnetic methods)
Guarantee
Kase 1-year restricted
Worth
~£300-400 for a typical full equipment
Greatest for: Photographers who do numerous cold-weather or low-light work the place discovering the proper filter in a pouch with gloves on issues. Anybody committing to a magnetic ecosystem on the premium finish.
Be careful for: Model lock-in. When you decide to Revolution, your filters don’t work on another magnetic system. The funding is actual; if you happen to change manufacturers later, you change the entire stack.
Examine present worth on Amazon
7. Freewell V2 Hybrid Magnetic VND/CPL
Freewell’s V2 magnetic system, in its hybrid VND-plus-CPL configuration. Three to seven stops of variable ND, with the polariser in-built, all on the V2 magnetic mount. The attention-grabbing trick is the built-in CPL: you rotate the entrance for ND, and also you rotate the rear for polarisation, independently. Two jobs, two controls, one filter.
It isn’t the costliest magnetic system on the market, and it’s not attempting to be. The V2 ecosystem is mid-priced in comparison with Kase Revolution; the lifetime guarantee towards manufacturing defects is a helpful sweetener. The hybrid choose particularly is what you purchase if you’d like one magnetic filter that does each the CPL job and the VND job.
Spec
Worth
Filter kind
Variable ND + built-in CPL, magnetic
Stops
3-7
Format
Magnetic (Freewell V2 mount)
Sizes
82mm base; adapter rings for 55, 58, 62, 67, 72, 77mm
Glass
German optics
Coatings
Multi-layer, scratch/water/mud/oil resistant
Weight
56g (filter unit)
Guarantee
Lifetime towards manufacturing defects
Worth
$149.99 primary, $229.99 Professional Equipment, $309.99 Mega Professional Equipment
Greatest for: Travellers who need a magnetic system however can’t stretch to Kase Revolution. Anybody who particularly desires the VND-plus-CPL combo in magnetic kind.
Be careful for: V2 will not be backwards-compatible with earlier Freewell magnetic methods. In case you have older Freewell filters, they don’t snap onto V2. The hybrid filter is one piece of glass doing two jobs; for the cleanest CPL or the cleanest ND consequence independently, separate filters nonetheless win.
Examine present worth on Amazon
8. NiSi Medium GND8 0.9 (3-Cease Grad)
A graduated ND will not be the identical as a full ND. The highest half of the glass is darkish, the underside half is evident, and there’s a transition in between. The job is to carry again a shiny sky so it doesn’t blow out whereas protecting the foreground uncovered. Fashionable sensor dynamic vary has made grads much less important than they have been a decade in the past (you possibly can get better rather a lot from uncooked), however for sundown coastlines and harbour scenes the place the sky is six stops brighter than the foreground, a grad nonetheless does one thing uncooked can’t.
NiSi’s Medium GND8 0.9 is a 3-stop graduated ND with a “medium” transition, which implies the dark-to-clear gradient is gradual reasonably than sharp. Helpful when the horizon will not be a clear straight line: a little bit of mountain, a row of buildings, something that breaks the road. NiSi’s NC Nano coating handles reflections, water, and finger oils effectively, and the IR-cut know-how of their formulation avoids the magenta solid that some grads add to shadow areas.
Spec
Worth
Filter kind
Graduated ND, medium transition
Stops
3 (GND8, 0.9 density)
Format
Sq. slot-in (100x150mm featured)
Sizes
75×100, 100×150, 150×170, 180x210mm (2mm thick)
Coatings
NiSi Nano Coating, IR-cut
Holder system
NiSi System 100 (or third-party 2mm-compatible)
Worth
€109 (100x150mm, EUR through nisioptics.ie)
Greatest for: Coastal sundown and dawn shooters, harbour scenes, anyplace with a shiny sky over a darker foreground. Add it after you already personal a full ND.
Be careful for: Grads want a sq. holder system (NiSi System 100 or appropriate). Not a screw-in. If you don’t have already got a sq. system, this isn’t your first ND buy. The NiSi UK web site is at the moment not responding; cross-check pricing at Wex Picture Video or Park Cameras in case you are shopping for from the UK.
Authoritative spec supply: NiSi GND filters.
Examine present worth on Amazon
Magnetic Programs for Journey Images
Three magnetic methods are value contemplating for journey: Kase Revolution (lined above), Freewell V2 (additionally above), and Breakthrough’s newer Magnetic X4 line. All three resolve the identical downside: altering filters in chilly, moist, or low-light circumstances the place unscrewing a round filter is fiddly. They resolve it barely in another way.
Kase Revolution is the premium choose of the three. Color-coded rings, threaded entrance (so you possibly can hood or stack), essentially the most polished {hardware}. The equipment worth displays this.
Freewell V2 is the mid-priced possibility. Stable construct, a lifetime guarantee, and the built-in VND/CPL hybrid that no different magnetic system on this slate presents. You hand over the colour-coded rings and the threaded entrance of Kase.
Breakthrough Magnetic X4 is for photographers who already personal Breakthrough X4 screw-ins and need the identical glass in magnetic kind. Identical SCHOTT B270, identical MRC16 coating, identical neutrality repute, however on the Breakthrough Mark II magnetic mount.
The cross-system honesty: none of those magnets speak to one another. A Kase Revolution magnet won’t maintain a Freewell V2 filter. Should you go magnetic, choose a system and keep there. The price of switching is the price of the entire equipment once more.
Another factor: magnetic filters can come unstuck. Not typically, but it surely occurs, normally when the lens factors sharply downward, or in chilly circumstances the place the mount adhesive has stiffened. Carry a backup screw-in or a microfibre pouch in case a filter goes for a quick swim. It doesn’t occur typically. It occurs typically sufficient to plan for.
Earlier than and After: A Decade with ND Filters
That is what these filters truly appear to be within the area. All of the comparability photographs beneath are the identical scene with and with out an ND filter; the long-exposure shot makes use of one of many filters on this information. Full EXIF in every caption so you possibly can see the shutter velocity change.
Hengifoss, Iceland
No ND. Canon EOS 6D, EF 17-40 f/4L at 33mm. f/8, 1/60s, ISO 100. The water freezes mid-fall, the shot reads as documentary.
With ND. Canon EOS 6D, EF 17-40 f/4L at 40mm. f/14, 25s, ISO 100. A six- to ten-stop ND drags the shutter lengthy sufficient for the water to silk out. Identical waterfall, fully totally different temper.
The third model, with an individual (me!) standing within the body for scale, at 10 seconds at f/8 ISO 100. Lengthy sufficient for the water to blur, quick sufficient to maintain them sharp in the event that they stand nonetheless. Which I nearly managed.
Sandwood Bay, Scotland
No ND. Canon EOS 6D, EF 17-40 f/4L at 17mm. f/13, 1/200s, ISO 100. Waves frozen mid-crash, foam seen.
With ND. Identical lens, identical focal size, f/13, 13s, ISO 100. The Atlantic turns right into a mushy pewter sheet, the rock outcrops anchor the body.
Bakers Seaside, San Francisco
No ND. f/7.1, 1/100s, ISO 100. The Pacific is uneven, particular person waves are seen.
With ND. f/11, 30s, ISO 100. Six-stop ND. The water smooths to mist, the Golden Gate anchors the body within the distance.
Florida Keys, Dawn over the Pier
No ND. f/16, 1/15s, ISO 100.
With ND. f/9, 169s (almost three minutes), ISO 100. A ten-stop ND in pre-dawn mild provides you the long-exposure clouds and the silk water without delay. The pier turns into a graphic line.
Stalker Fortress, Scotland
No ND. EF 70-200 f/2.8L II at 70mm, f/2.8, 1/250s, ISO 400. Sharp, quick shutter, telephoto compression.
With ND. EF 17-40 f/4L at 17mm, f/6.3, 60s, ISO 100. Six-stop ND. The clouds streak, the loch glasses out, the citadel reads as a everlasting factor towards a shifting sky.
London Eye, Blue Hour
No ND. Lumix G6, 14-42 equipment lens at 14mm, f/3.5, 1/60s, ISO 3200. Handheld blue hour, the wheel reads as a wheel.
With ND. Identical digicam, f/20, 20s, ISO 160. The wheel turns into a circle of sunshine, the river turns into glass. The blue-hour ambient stays within the sky.
Rock Arch, Santa Cruz, California
No ND. Canon EOS 6D, EF 17-40 f/4L at 34mm. f/8, 1/30s, ISO 100. Documentary, uneven water, the arch reads as rock.
With ND. Canon EOS 6D, EF 70-200 f/2.8L II at 75mm. f/13, 129s, ISO 100. Telephoto compression, a ten-stop ND, two minutes of publicity. The water turns to mist, the arch turns right into a silhouette. This shot was featured on the Nationwide Geographic homepage, a really proud second in my pictures profession.
Different Frames Price Seeing
Havasu Falls, Arizona. 13s, f/10, ISO 100. The turquoise water reads higher with the lengthy publicity than with out.
Shoshone Falls, Idaho. 15s, f/7.1, ISO 100. The “Niagara of the West” with a six-stop ND on it.
Kirkjufell, Iceland. 120s, f/8, ISO 200. Two minutes of ten-stop ND in low mild. The clouds streak, the ocean blurs, the mountain stays.
The Solar Voyager sculpture, Reykjavik, at dawn. 120s, f/13, ISO 100. The Faxaflói bay loses its texture, the sculpture stays sharp.
Shanklin Seaside, Isle of Wight. 20s, f/10, ISO 100. UK summer season vacation pictures, with an extended shutter.
New York at sundown. 30s, f/16, ISO 100. The skyline reads sharper for the lengthy publicity, the river goes glassy.
Purchase This If: Journey Situations
Your journey
What to pack
Why
First journey with a critical digicam, need one filter
Ok&F Nano-X VND + CPL
Covers polariser and ND duties in a single piece of glass, five-stop vary is a lot for daytime water blur
Two-week landscape-focused journey (Iceland, Patagonia, Scottish Highlands)
Breakthrough X4 6-stop + a separate CPL
Cleaner consequence than a VND, six stops is the candy spot for daytime lengthy exposures, CPL handles reflections and saturation independently
Specialist long-exposure journey (dawn/sundown coastlines, harbours)
Lee Massive Stopper (10-stop) + a 3-stop or 6-stop for shorter shutters
Ten stops drags shutter speeds to 30s-plus in daylight; a shorter ND for in-between circumstances
Video-heavy journey (vlog work, run-and-gun)
PolarPro Version II 2-5 cease, optionally the 6-9 cease second variant
Consistently-changing publicity wants a VND; haptic cease limits stop X-pattern surprises
Chilly-weather or low-light journey the place filter swaps with gloves on matter
Kase Revolution Magnetic Equipment (or Freewell V2 if funds is tighter)
Magnetic mount is quicker than screw-in; colour-coded rings on Kase allow you to discover the proper filter in a pouch by contact
Finances-constrained, simply wish to attempt ND filters
Hoya ProND EX 8 (3-stop)
$40-70 entry, round screw-in, current-generation Hoya glass, no holder system wanted
Have already got an ND, wish to management shiny skies on coast sunsets
NiSi Medium GND8 0.9 (3-stop grad)
Holds the sky again with out affecting foreground; medium transition matches non-flat horizons
What We’ve Realized From a Decade of Travelling With Filters
Some issues that took us longer to be taught than they need to have. Go these ahead.
Purchase the dimensions to your greatest lens and step-up the remaining. Two step-up rings value roughly the identical as a espresso. A second filter prices $70 minimal. Resist the temptation to purchase duplicates.
The Lee Massive Stopper solid is a part of the filter’s character, baked in by design. Lee themselves acknowledge it on their very own data base. White-balance it out in uncooked if you’d like impartial, or lean into the cool blue really feel. Both alternative is a legitimate artistic name.
VND X-pattern is a bodily limitation of the design. No VND escapes it totally. The premium ones (PolarPro Version II, Ok&F Nano-X) constrain the vary so you can’t by accident rotate previous it. Sub-$40 VNDs don’t; you possibly can rotate one all the best way to a black body, and the X-pattern exhibits up effectively earlier than you get there. Pay sufficient for the constrained vary.
Filter instances pay for themselves on the third journey. Unfastened filters in a bag pocket get scratched and misplaced. A pouch with elastic loops, or a tough case with foam slots, justifies its value the primary time you would not have to interchange a £200 piece of glass that lived subsequent to a steel lens cap for a month.
Compose first, filter second. A six-stop ND won’t save a boring composition; it can simply provide you with a long-exposure model of a boring composition. Arrange the shot, examine it with no filter, then add the filter to sluggish the shutter. Cuts ten minutes of squinting by means of a black ten-stop attempting to focus.
Pre-focus earlier than screwing on a ten-stop. Ten stops is darkish sufficient that contrast-detect autofocus stops working by means of it. Focus first, change to handbook, then put the filter on. Identical with checking white steadiness: a ten-stop will deceive your digicam’s auto-WB on day one in all a visit. Set a customized white steadiness with the filter off in case you are not taking pictures uncooked.
Bracket the lengthy publicity. In case you have time, shoot the identical scene at three exposures: a reference at no filter, one at your goal shutter velocity, and one a step slower. Storage prices nothing. Re-shooting from London does.
The ND will not be the limiting issue for picture high quality, the tripod is. A 20-second publicity on a wobbly tripod is a 20-second publicity of nothing particularly. Spend on the tripod earlier than you spend on the second filter.
Magnetic filters can come unstuck. Pointed sharply down, in chilly climate, or after an unintended knock, the magnet generally lets go. Not typically. Usually sufficient to consider it earlier than you do it.
For broader panorama approach that goes alongside ND work, our panorama pictures suggestions information and long-exposure pictures information are the pure subsequent reads.
Continuously Requested Questions
Do I would like an ND filter for journey pictures?
Not strictly. You may journey with out one. However if you happen to ever wish to blur shifting water, easy out a sky, or use a large aperture in shiny noon mild, you want both an ND or a slower-than-handholdable shutter, and the slower shutter hardly ever works in daylight with out the filter. For many journey photographers taking pictures past pure documentary work, an ND is among the highest-impact equipment you possibly can carry.
What’s the distinction between a hard and fast ND and a variable ND?
A set ND has one cease power: a 6-stop is at all times 6 stops. A variable ND covers a variety (sometimes 1-5 or 2-7 stops) and also you rotate the entrance ring to set the power. Variable is extra handy; fastened is technically cleaner as a result of it has no rotating polariser layers, which implies no X-pattern artifact at excessive cease counts on vast lenses.
Should you solely purchase one filter for journey, variable is normally the proper choose as a result of it covers extra conditions. Should you particularly need a long-exposure panorama filter and you realize your cease depend prematurely, fastened wins.
Are sq. ND filter methods definitely worth the holder?
For journey, principally no. Sq. methods (Lee100, NiSi System 100, Kase K100) are highly effective if you end up stacking grads and full NDs together, however they add bulk, fragility, and time to a setup. For journey, a round screw-in or a magnetic equipment is normally the higher reply. The exception is grads: a graduated ND solely actually is smart in a sq. system as a result of it is advisable place the gradient relative to the horizon.
What cease power ND ought to I purchase first?
A 3-stop is the secure starter (Hoya ProND EX 8 on this slate). It should allow you to blur water in low mild, open up an aperture in shiny mild, and never catch you out with white steadiness shifts. A 6-stop is the candy spot for precise long-exposure work in daylight (Breakthrough X4 6-stop). A ten-stop is a specialist instrument; good in the proper arms, typically left within the bag within the incorrect ones.
If you’re shopping for with no different filters but, the Ok&F Nano-X variable ND covers 1-5 stops in a single piece of glass, which sidesteps the query.
Will an ND filter have an effect on my picture high quality?
A very good ND filter, used inside its design envelope, mustn’t. The most cost effective filters can introduce color casts (cool, heat, or magenta), vignetting on vast lenses, or a slight lack of sharpness if the optical coatings are poor. The premium picks on this slate (Breakthrough X4, Lee Massive Stopper, Kase Revolution, NiSi grad) are on the level on the worth curve the place picture high quality shouldn’t be a fear.
The 2 actual image-quality dangers are: stacking too many filters without delay (can introduce reflections), and pushing a VND previous its secure vary on a large lens (X-pattern).
Can I exploit an ND filter for video?
Sure, and a variable ND is normally the proper choose for video. Video work advantages from a relentless publicity that matches a selected shutter angle (sometimes 1/50s for 25fps work, 1/60s for 30fps). In shiny daylight, meaning it is advisable drop numerous mild, and a VND permits you to do this with out swapping filters as circumstances change.
The PolarPro Version II is particularly engineered for video. The Freewell V2 Hybrid is the extra inexpensive video-friendly possibility.
How do magnetic filter methods examine to screw-in?
Magnetic is quicker to swap and simpler to make use of with gloves on. Screw-in is barely safer (no danger of a magnet letting go) and is system-agnostic (any filter in your thread dimension works).
For journey the place you modify filters typically or shoot in chilly climate, magnetic wins on workflow. The trade-off is model lock-in: a Kase Revolution magnet solely takes Kase Revolution filters. Should you go magnetic, plan to remain in a single ecosystem.
Are ND filters value it for smartphone or compact cameras?
For smartphones, typically not, aside from devoted mounts like Second’s. For compact cameras with built-in lenses, search for a filter thread on the lens barrel; if it has one, a primary 3- or 6-stop screw-in is workable. For many compact cameras and smartphones with out exterior filter mounts, software-based ND simulation (long-exposure mode, stay composite) provides a close-enough consequence with out the additional glass.
Wrapping Up
In case you have learn this far and nonetheless need a single suggestion: the Ok&F Idea Nano-X Variable ND with built-in CPL is the filter to start out with. 5 stops, two filter jobs in a single piece of glass, round $70 for a 77mm. Should you outgrow it, you’ll know what to purchase subsequent. If you don’t outgrow it, you could have spent $70 and bought a filter that works.
If you wish to go additional into the craft of long-exposure pictures and the approach that goes alongside the filters, my on-line journey pictures course covers the total workflow: composition, publicity, filter use, post-processing, and the sector techniques that flip a filter buy right into a portfolio of photographs. The course covers all the pieces from digicam fundamentals to superior methods, with suggestions in your pictures as you’re employed by means of it.
For extra on the pictures equipment that pairs with these filters, check out our greatest journey cameras, greatest lenses for journey pictures, and greatest digicam luggage for mountaineering and backpacking guides. For the approach behind the pictures, our long-exposure pictures information, panorama pictures suggestions, and seaside pictures suggestions are the following reads. And the deep-dive on what ND filters truly do covers the physics in correct element.
Glad taking pictures. Drop a remark when you’ve got questions or if there’s a particular filter or state of affairs I’ve not lined.
