shutter settings for using ND filter

[mudman]

i have bought a circular ND filter, and i am trying to work out how to set the camera settings
a couple of online sites say 30 seconds at f22 and 400 iso
when i try these settings the camera system seems to override them and gives a more 'correct' exposure
i was trying things during the day, so suspect the lighting conditions were too bright for what i was trying to achieve.
when i look through the view finder i can see the filter has darkened the scene, but when i look through live view
the scene is quite bright, don't think this would affect the results. just mentioning it in case
any and all advice would be appreciated
cheers

[Filter]

I don't believe there is any one setting for using ND filters, it really depends on what you want to achieve. When I shoot with my ND's my settings for say landscapes are the same as they are for a normal shot with the exception of the exposure time. My camera, the EOS R has a max exposure time of 30 seconds as per most cameras, I use the camera light meter to create the correct exposure up to 30 seconds. At a point where not enough light can be achieved with your particular ND then bulb mode in conjunction with a ND calculater app will be needed. Or if your good with math there are calculations available.

[ameerat42]

Muddy, use Manual mode.

[mudman]

thanks Am, the thought did occur to me
thanks filter for your comments
much appreciated

[MarkChap]

ND filters aren't magic, they just reduce the light passing through the lens and onto the sensor
Metering with an ND is just the same as without
So if you are using one of the Auto type settings, the camera will try and achieve a neutral exposure
Manual mode will allow you to set what you want

[Hawthy]

I haven't used an ND Filter for a while, but from memory I would set the correct exposure without the filter using Aperture priority. Then I would shift to Manual, keep the aperture the same and adjust the shutter by the required stops. For a 4-stop filter you would lengthen the shutter speed by four stops. For a 10-stop filter it is ten stops. On my camera (a Nikon D5100) every three clicks on the dial wheel is one stop, which is an easy way to count the stops. This is assuming that you want a long exposure type of shot.

If you want to decrease depth of field, I assume you set exposure using Shutter speed priority. Then keep the shutter speed the same and enlarge the aperture by the required stops. I haven't done this, so don't take this as gospel.

[arthurking83]

....
i was trying things during the day, so suspect the lighting conditions were too bright for what i was trying to achieve.
when i look through the view finder i can see the filter has darkened the scene, but when i look through live view
the scene is quite bright, don't think this would affect the results. just mentioning it in case
.....

This is normal, and I reckon would be set by default by the manufacturer.
Hopefully your K1 has the option to change the settings.
I had a quick scan through the manual, but couldn't find the info to change it. But I'll relay the info for Nikon cameras to see if there is something similar on your K1.
(maybe the K1 manual I have isn't the full version too).

In Lv mode, the preview image will be set to auto gain mode. What this means is that no matter the exposure settings, the rear LCD is set automatically to adjust it's brightness(gain) to show a brighter(ie. non black!) preview image.

eg. say you're at home in not very bright conditions. (we keep ISO to manual and low value .. lets keep this at ISO100) If you set your lens to f/22 and shutter speed to 1/1000s, we know in not bright light this will be a black exposure.
The rear LCD can(I don't know about the K1) either show you this black scene, but will be set to actually show you an image.
On a Nikon with Lv mode, if you press the OK button on the rear of the camera, it then switches this rear LCD mode to 'manual' mode which switches from this auto gain LCD to non auto gain mode.
So now with the Nikon camera, the example settings above shows a totally black review image on the Lv screen! :th3:
So, to get an image back on the live/re view screen we need to open up aperture and slow down shutter speeds. This can be manual mode or any of the Semi-Auto modes.
Now, as we change aperture from f/22 to say f/1.8 the rear LCD starts to show an image(basically a live preview of exposure .. sort of!) same with shutter speed. As we slow it down to say 1/60, it starts to show a brighter image.

Auto gain on the rear LCD is handy for dark scenes where you can see a thing via the VF, but's it's not magic! In this auto gain mode the quality of the review image suffers due to noise. Any gain on any digital imaging device introduces noise! Same with the digital image sensor, same with the digital review screen. So as you auto brighten an image in a dark scene, you get noisy looking pixels .. easy to see as you zoom in a bit on the rear LCD.

Sorry I can't help with specific info on how to do this on a K1, no info in the manual I have on how to change this setting. And I can't even confirm if the K1 has the ability to change this setting. I would doubt that it can't tho .. fairly high end camera with more features per dollar than just about every other manufacturer out there.

Note: this rear screen auto gain setting has nothing to do with exposure modes too. That is, if you shoot in full manual mode, the brightness of the live preview is almost certainly still set to auto and adjusts itself. At some point in exposure settings auto gain just can't show an image(eg. 1/8000s and f/29 in zero light! :D)

if I find out how to set auto gain to off, I'll update this post.