Lucius Loc: Denver, Colorado

Will a 10 stop ND filter allow you to soften the sun and take better pictures during times with high and bright sun light?

What is a very good ND filter you would recommend?

B&H has an ND filter by Schott glass. Does anyone have experience with this filter?

Lucius Loc: Denver, Colorado

B&H filter I mentioned is a Breakthrough

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Breakthrough Photography filters are excellent. I use their CPL and UV all the time, and have the 2X ND on order.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

You want to. ...SOFTEN the sun?
Do you mean reduce/soften shadows?
An ND filter will darken everything evenly, so the ratio of light to shadow remains the same.

Softening shadows will require a large diffuse light source. Think what happens when you have high, light overcast or for more diffuse light, a cloudy day.
The sun is HUGE but it's so far away, it's a point source of light causing hard, well defined shadows.

An ND filter will allow you to use a wider aperture, giving you less depth of field, like throwing the background out of focus in a portrait. I've never needed to do that with my camera.

What is the subject matter of your photograph?
The solution to your issue may vary depending on what you are shooting.

Lucius Loc: Denver, Colorado

I want to shot landscape during the middle of the day. Will the ND filter soft the sun and make it like an over cast day? I use a nikon D750 with a 2.8 24 to 70 and 70 to 200

Lucius Loc: Denver, Colorado

Also, I want to use it on such things a flowers to shot at a very low shutter speed and increase the detail

Lucius Loc: Denver, Colorado

That is lower the shutter speed

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

As I said I my post, it will not.
Why mid-day? Usually the worst time.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Lowering the shutter speed will not directly increase the detail. In fact, if you lower it to the point that camera shake is noticeable, then it will decrease the detail. Now if you mean that by lowering the shutter speed, you can consequently lower the ISO or increase the f stop (decrease the aperture) within reason to increase the depth of field, then maybe; but since you're shooting in bright sunlight, you should be able to accomplish all the things you need to increase detail, namely: (a) use an adequate shutter speed to prevent blur from cameras shake (b) use an appropriate aperture to produce the depth of field you want without going so far as to soften the image from diffraction, (c) use the minimum ISO that will allow (a) and (b). Finally, consider using a tripod, and if using a slow shutter speed, use a remote shutter release and mirror lock up.

As an example, using the old "sunny 16 rule" (and this will obviously vary depending on conditions) In bright sun, you would shoot at 1/100 at ISO 100 at f16 as a starting point. Since f16 may be small enough to degrade the image due to diffraction, then you'd probably start at 1/400 sec., ISO 100 and f8. Leaving the ISO at 100, that gives you plenty of room to raise the fstop if necessary to give you the DOF you need without dropping the shutter speed too far. And if you need less DOF or your lens is sharper at f5.6, just raise the shutter speed to compensate - no ND filter needed.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

This book, Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, should be a great help.

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

No, the ND filter will not reduce contrast only exposure. The contrast between the sun lit areas and the shadows will remain the same.

Lucius Loc: Denver, Colorado

Thanks all. What I want to do is use a tripod and incrase the lenght of time for the shutter speed. I will adjust the apature to incrase the shutter speed to what I want. I want to a shot with 5 to 10 seconds of shutter speed. This should make the picture shaper.

Second, as I am traveling sometimes I am out in the middle of the day and I want to take better pictures during harsh sun light in the middle of the day. So, can I use the ND filter to create the light of a shady or over cast day?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

No it won't. You seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding. Have you ever captured an image at 5 seconds? Outdoors? The details will be lost in the subject movement.

An ND filter is like sunglasses. They block the light at various amounts, specific to the class of the filter. Yes, you can shoot at a lower shutterspeed and / or a wider aperture. But striving for multiple seconds or even less than 1/100 of 1 second isn't going to give you better detail.

If you want to lighten the shadows at mid day in daylight, you need to use your flash to 'fill in' the shadows - fill flash.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Not happening with an ND filter!
It will only change your exposure; the quantity of light, not the quality of light.
To change the quality of light you need to modify it before it hits the subject.
As CHG_CANON suggested, fill flash will help with closer objects, like the flowers, etc. or you could use the translucent panel from a diffuser like this:(http://m.ebay.com/itm/361610271074) but they will not work with traditional landscape photographs.
I understand not being able to pick the time of day, mid-day usually sucks.


Now, you could resort to using HDR and get detail in both the shadow and highlight areas, but that's a different topic and requires some more knowledge of exposure... and most people tend to over-do it.
Read the book I suggested so you understand exposure in normal situations first.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City