Neutral density filters

Could anyone please tell me if an nd8 would be suitable for use in sports mode with a 40 -150 lens on an Olympus e420

What would you want to do with it?

Thanks for the reply,my mate started sidecar racing last year & i went along to get some photos,but as you would expect the action was frozen,ive seen images using neutral density filters that show motion.which filter number would i need & would it affect the camera in sports mode whilst panning
Thanks
Steve

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Originally Posted by stevearthur900

Thanks for the reply,my mate started sidecar racing last year & i went along to get some photos,but as you would expect the action was frozen,ive seen images using neutral density filters that show motion.which filter number would i need & would it affect the camera in sports mode whilst panning
Thanks
Steve

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If you're looking for motion in your images, try a slow shutter speed like 1/60 of a second and pan on the bike and sidecar as they go by but make sure you keep it very steady. The bike with be a sharp image but the background will have blur to it from the panning of the camera and that will give you a sense of motion in your image. I'm not sure what a neutral density filter in terms of showing motion but maybe somebody knows somehting I don't.

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Originally Posted by fidgety

If you're looking for motion in your images, try a slow shutter speed like 1/60 of a second and pan on the bike and sidecar as they go by but make sure you keep it very steady. The bike with be a sharp image but the background will have blur to it from the panning of the camera and that will give you a sense of motion in your image. I'm not sure what a neutral density filter in terms of showing motion but maybe somebody knows somehting I don't.

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Well, if it's a really sunny day, maybe he cannot get down to 1/60 sec without the filter??? - TF

You could go with a higher shutter speed and panning to still get the effect you want. The difference is going to be learning manual settings instead of trying to use "Sports" mode. When you use any auto setting the camera is going to try to get what it considers a good exposure and that won't necessarily be the result you are looking for.

A high quality Circular Polarized (CP) would do you as much good to start as a ND filter. CP's provide at least 1 to 2 stops that allow a slightly larger aperture at a given shutter speed. Then you can also have the added benefits of variable glare control and mild Dynamic Compression if you need it in intense light such as high noon or shooting into the sun.

For that blur of motion with action good panning technique is a must to learn.

Thanks to everyone for thier replies,certainly got some things to try now

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Originally Posted by dhyravy

You could go with a higher shutter speed and panning to still get the effect you want. The difference is going to be learning manual settings instead of trying to use "Sports" mode. When you use any auto setting the camera is going to try to get what it considers a good exposure and that won't necessarily be the result you are looking for.

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dhyravy's post has the key piece of information in this thread. The Sports mode tries to keep the shutter speed as high as possible in order to freeze action. So if you pan, it's going to speed up the shutter speed even more. And if you add a neutral density filter, the camera will probably just increase the sensitivity resulting in really noisy images.

What you need to do is start shooting in the shutter priority mode. Try 1/125th of a second and see how that works. For fast motorsports, that's usually about as slow as you want to go. You can use that as a starting point and try slower and faster so you can see the variations. And please post some photos so we can see and offer more tips :)