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You want to show the water flowing, but the shutter speed is too fast, so it stops the water movement. Should you just give up on shooting with slow shutter speeds during the day?
This is where the ND (Neutral Density) filter is useful. It reduces the amount of light that enters the lens. There are various types of ND filters, such as the ND2, ND4 and ND8 (LUMIX optional accessory). The ND2 reduces the amount of light to 1/2, the ND4 reduces it to 1/4, and the ND8 reduces it to 1/8.
As a result, when shooting at a shutter speed of 1/250, an ND2 will slow it down to 1/125, an ND4 will slow it down to 1/60, and an ND8 will slow it down to 1/30.
The ND8 filter can be used with LUMIX.
- Reduce the aperture. The greater the F value, the less light will enter the lens.
- Set the ISO to a low level. When the ISO is high, the shutter speed is faster.
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In bright places where you can only slow down the shutter speed a certain amount, you can lower it more by decreasing the intensity of the light entering the lens. This lets you express the flow of water in mountain streams, waterfalls and fountains.
Fully opening the aperture under clear skies often results in overexposure. Mounting an ND8 filter reduces the light intensity by three stops. In other words, when fully opening an F2.8 aperture, the light is suppressed to the same level as an F8 aperture.
The strong sun rays reflected from the ocean in summer and ski slopes in winter frequently result in overexposure even when you reduce the aperture or raise the shutter speed. Mounting an ND filter suppresses the light intensity to prevent fading.
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