Neutral filter

Neutral filterBasic Information
Neutral grayscale mirrors have multiple densities to choose from, such as ND2, ND4, ND8 (which require adding one, two, and three exposures respectively), and can also be used in combination with multiple neutral grayscale mirrors.

Neutral filterpurpose
The main purpose of using an ND lens is to prevent overexposure. If the light is too bright, it is difficult to choose a slower shutter speed for shooting. In this case, using an ND lens to reduce the amount of light entering the lens allows for shooting with a slower shutter speed. For example, if you need to shoot outdoors in strong sunlight, or if you need to use a longer exposure time and slow shutter speed to capture waterfalls under normal lighting conditions to show special effects such as blurred water flow, you need an ND lens.

Special neutral grayscale mirror
Gradient mirror
The structure of this filter consists of a transparent lens in the lower half, gradually transitioning upwards to other shades such as gradient gray, gradient blue, gradient red, etc. It can be divided into gradient color mirrors and gradient diffuse mirrors, and in terms of gradient form, it can be further divided into soft gradient and hard gradient. "Soft" refers to a larger transition range, while the opposite refers to a smaller transition range, both of which need to be selected according to the characteristics of the creation. Gradient lenses are often used in landscape photography to deliberately achieve a certain expected color tone in the upper part of the photo, while ensuring the normal color tone of the lower part of the photo.
Gray gradient mirror
The most commonly used gradient mirror is the gray gradient mirror, abbreviated as GND mirror, which transmits half of the light and blocks half of the light entering the lens. It is mainly used to obtain the correct exposure combination allowed by the camera under shallow depth of field photography, low-speed photography, and strong light conditions, and is also commonly used to balance tone. GND mirror is used to balance the contrast between the upper and lower or left and right parts of the picture, and is commonly used to reduce the brightness of the sky and minimize the contrast between the sky and the ground. It can effectively darken the brightness of the upper sky while ensuring normal exposure of the lower part, making the transition between light and dark in the work soft and highlighting the texture of clouds effectively. GND mirrors come in different models and have varying gray levels, gradually transitioning from dark gray to colorless. They are usually used after measuring the contrast of the image, and are exposed according to the metering value of the colorless part, with necessary adjustments made.
Color gradient mirror
One of the most commonly used color gradient mirrors is a sunset mirror, which transitions from deep orange to light orange to enhance or create a sunset effect, portraying the atmosphere of dusk in the shooting scene.

use
If the light is too strong during shooting, we must reduce the aperture, but this leads to the inability to obtain the necessary exposure combination. If we use an ND lens at this time, we can solve this problem. It can only reduce the amount of light passing through the lens without affecting the color tone. On the surface, the color tone of this filter gradually transitions from gray to black, and the larger the number, the stronger the ability to reduce the amount of light passing through. In addition, when there is a strong contrast in light brightness in the image, a GND mirror can be used to achieve a balanced exposure of the image.