What's the difference between a FL-D filter and an ND filter?












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What's the difference between a FL-D filter and an ND filter? I see that FL-D is to improve light, but so is ND. What exactly is the difference?










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  • 1




    Related: Is a fluorescent filter worth using, and how and when?
    – scottbb
    Dec 5 at 22:05






  • 2




    See also: Are there reasons to use colour filters with digital cameras?
    – scottbb
    Dec 5 at 22:06






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    To improve light? Where do you see this?
    – osullic
    Dec 5 at 23:30










  • @osullic Sales literature stops marginally short of outright lying. "improve light" in their secret code means "the photo will look more like the lighting was what you want it to be"
    – Carl Witthoft
    Dec 6 at 14:43
















1














What's the difference between a FL-D filter and an ND filter? I see that FL-D is to improve light, but so is ND. What exactly is the difference?










share|improve this question




















  • 1




    Related: Is a fluorescent filter worth using, and how and when?
    – scottbb
    Dec 5 at 22:05






  • 2




    See also: Are there reasons to use colour filters with digital cameras?
    – scottbb
    Dec 5 at 22:06






  • 1




    To improve light? Where do you see this?
    – osullic
    Dec 5 at 23:30










  • @osullic Sales literature stops marginally short of outright lying. "improve light" in their secret code means "the photo will look more like the lighting was what you want it to be"
    – Carl Witthoft
    Dec 6 at 14:43














1












1








1







What's the difference between a FL-D filter and an ND filter? I see that FL-D is to improve light, but so is ND. What exactly is the difference?










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What's the difference between a FL-D filter and an ND filter? I see that FL-D is to improve light, but so is ND. What exactly is the difference?







lens filters






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edited Dec 6 at 0:08









xiota

7,98321447




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asked Dec 5 at 21:44









David

91




91








  • 1




    Related: Is a fluorescent filter worth using, and how and when?
    – scottbb
    Dec 5 at 22:05






  • 2




    See also: Are there reasons to use colour filters with digital cameras?
    – scottbb
    Dec 5 at 22:06






  • 1




    To improve light? Where do you see this?
    – osullic
    Dec 5 at 23:30










  • @osullic Sales literature stops marginally short of outright lying. "improve light" in their secret code means "the photo will look more like the lighting was what you want it to be"
    – Carl Witthoft
    Dec 6 at 14:43














  • 1




    Related: Is a fluorescent filter worth using, and how and when?
    – scottbb
    Dec 5 at 22:05






  • 2




    See also: Are there reasons to use colour filters with digital cameras?
    – scottbb
    Dec 5 at 22:06






  • 1




    To improve light? Where do you see this?
    – osullic
    Dec 5 at 23:30










  • @osullic Sales literature stops marginally short of outright lying. "improve light" in their secret code means "the photo will look more like the lighting was what you want it to be"
    – Carl Witthoft
    Dec 6 at 14:43








1




1




Related: Is a fluorescent filter worth using, and how and when?
– scottbb
Dec 5 at 22:05




Related: Is a fluorescent filter worth using, and how and when?
– scottbb
Dec 5 at 22:05




2




2




See also: Are there reasons to use colour filters with digital cameras?
– scottbb
Dec 5 at 22:06




See also: Are there reasons to use colour filters with digital cameras?
– scottbb
Dec 5 at 22:06




1




1




To improve light? Where do you see this?
– osullic
Dec 5 at 23:30




To improve light? Where do you see this?
– osullic
Dec 5 at 23:30












@osullic Sales literature stops marginally short of outright lying. "improve light" in their secret code means "the photo will look more like the lighting was what you want it to be"
– Carl Witthoft
Dec 6 at 14:43




@osullic Sales literature stops marginally short of outright lying. "improve light" in their secret code means "the photo will look more like the lighting was what you want it to be"
– Carl Witthoft
Dec 6 at 14:43










2 Answers
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11














An FL-D filter is a color correcting filter to make fluorescent lighting appear more daylight-ish to your film/sensor. An ND (neutral density) is for reducing the amount of light seen by your film/sensor with no (ideally) color modification, which is why it's termed neutral. Most FL-D filters I've seen have a noticeable color tint to them, while an ND filter is just gray.






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    7














    FL-D (and other color correction) filters are not used as much in digital photography as they were in film days. Furthermore, there many different types (and hence color casts) of fluorescent lighting today than were available thirty years ago. Unless a fluorescent color correction filter is matched to the color of the fluorescent light, it can have a different color cast result than intended. It's so much easier to control white balance in camera (or in post, if shooting raw images) than it is to deal with filters, in general.



    That's not to say that color correction filters are useless. I'm generally an advocate of getting the shot as correct as possible in camera, to reduce what needs to be done in post. There are plenty of situations where it might make sense to use color correction filters. See also: Are there reasons to use colour filters with digital cameras?



    ND filters just reduce the amount of light coming into the lens, with (ideally) no color cast. Say you are shooting outdoors on a bright day, and want to capture an image with shallow depth of field. That requires you to shoot your lens with a wide aperture. But that means there's a lot of light coming through a wide aperture. You can't get your ISO usefully much lower than 100, so your only means to control exposure to use a fast shutter speed. But if your shutter isn't fast enough (or for some reason you want a slow shutter, such as trying to create some blur), then you need a way to reduce your exposure. That's where ND filters come in. Think of ND filters as the real-world exposure control slider in Photoshop.






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      2 Answers
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      11














      An FL-D filter is a color correcting filter to make fluorescent lighting appear more daylight-ish to your film/sensor. An ND (neutral density) is for reducing the amount of light seen by your film/sensor with no (ideally) color modification, which is why it's termed neutral. Most FL-D filters I've seen have a noticeable color tint to them, while an ND filter is just gray.






      share|improve this answer


























        11














        An FL-D filter is a color correcting filter to make fluorescent lighting appear more daylight-ish to your film/sensor. An ND (neutral density) is for reducing the amount of light seen by your film/sensor with no (ideally) color modification, which is why it's termed neutral. Most FL-D filters I've seen have a noticeable color tint to them, while an ND filter is just gray.






        share|improve this answer
























          11












          11








          11






          An FL-D filter is a color correcting filter to make fluorescent lighting appear more daylight-ish to your film/sensor. An ND (neutral density) is for reducing the amount of light seen by your film/sensor with no (ideally) color modification, which is why it's termed neutral. Most FL-D filters I've seen have a noticeable color tint to them, while an ND filter is just gray.






          share|improve this answer












          An FL-D filter is a color correcting filter to make fluorescent lighting appear more daylight-ish to your film/sensor. An ND (neutral density) is for reducing the amount of light seen by your film/sensor with no (ideally) color modification, which is why it's termed neutral. Most FL-D filters I've seen have a noticeable color tint to them, while an ND filter is just gray.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered Dec 5 at 21:49









          twalberg

          2,322512




          2,322512

























              7














              FL-D (and other color correction) filters are not used as much in digital photography as they were in film days. Furthermore, there many different types (and hence color casts) of fluorescent lighting today than were available thirty years ago. Unless a fluorescent color correction filter is matched to the color of the fluorescent light, it can have a different color cast result than intended. It's so much easier to control white balance in camera (or in post, if shooting raw images) than it is to deal with filters, in general.



              That's not to say that color correction filters are useless. I'm generally an advocate of getting the shot as correct as possible in camera, to reduce what needs to be done in post. There are plenty of situations where it might make sense to use color correction filters. See also: Are there reasons to use colour filters with digital cameras?



              ND filters just reduce the amount of light coming into the lens, with (ideally) no color cast. Say you are shooting outdoors on a bright day, and want to capture an image with shallow depth of field. That requires you to shoot your lens with a wide aperture. But that means there's a lot of light coming through a wide aperture. You can't get your ISO usefully much lower than 100, so your only means to control exposure to use a fast shutter speed. But if your shutter isn't fast enough (or for some reason you want a slow shutter, such as trying to create some blur), then you need a way to reduce your exposure. That's where ND filters come in. Think of ND filters as the real-world exposure control slider in Photoshop.






              share|improve this answer


























                7














                FL-D (and other color correction) filters are not used as much in digital photography as they were in film days. Furthermore, there many different types (and hence color casts) of fluorescent lighting today than were available thirty years ago. Unless a fluorescent color correction filter is matched to the color of the fluorescent light, it can have a different color cast result than intended. It's so much easier to control white balance in camera (or in post, if shooting raw images) than it is to deal with filters, in general.



                That's not to say that color correction filters are useless. I'm generally an advocate of getting the shot as correct as possible in camera, to reduce what needs to be done in post. There are plenty of situations where it might make sense to use color correction filters. See also: Are there reasons to use colour filters with digital cameras?



                ND filters just reduce the amount of light coming into the lens, with (ideally) no color cast. Say you are shooting outdoors on a bright day, and want to capture an image with shallow depth of field. That requires you to shoot your lens with a wide aperture. But that means there's a lot of light coming through a wide aperture. You can't get your ISO usefully much lower than 100, so your only means to control exposure to use a fast shutter speed. But if your shutter isn't fast enough (or for some reason you want a slow shutter, such as trying to create some blur), then you need a way to reduce your exposure. That's where ND filters come in. Think of ND filters as the real-world exposure control slider in Photoshop.






                share|improve this answer
























                  7












                  7








                  7






                  FL-D (and other color correction) filters are not used as much in digital photography as they were in film days. Furthermore, there many different types (and hence color casts) of fluorescent lighting today than were available thirty years ago. Unless a fluorescent color correction filter is matched to the color of the fluorescent light, it can have a different color cast result than intended. It's so much easier to control white balance in camera (or in post, if shooting raw images) than it is to deal with filters, in general.



                  That's not to say that color correction filters are useless. I'm generally an advocate of getting the shot as correct as possible in camera, to reduce what needs to be done in post. There are plenty of situations where it might make sense to use color correction filters. See also: Are there reasons to use colour filters with digital cameras?



                  ND filters just reduce the amount of light coming into the lens, with (ideally) no color cast. Say you are shooting outdoors on a bright day, and want to capture an image with shallow depth of field. That requires you to shoot your lens with a wide aperture. But that means there's a lot of light coming through a wide aperture. You can't get your ISO usefully much lower than 100, so your only means to control exposure to use a fast shutter speed. But if your shutter isn't fast enough (or for some reason you want a slow shutter, such as trying to create some blur), then you need a way to reduce your exposure. That's where ND filters come in. Think of ND filters as the real-world exposure control slider in Photoshop.






                  share|improve this answer












                  FL-D (and other color correction) filters are not used as much in digital photography as they were in film days. Furthermore, there many different types (and hence color casts) of fluorescent lighting today than were available thirty years ago. Unless a fluorescent color correction filter is matched to the color of the fluorescent light, it can have a different color cast result than intended. It's so much easier to control white balance in camera (or in post, if shooting raw images) than it is to deal with filters, in general.



                  That's not to say that color correction filters are useless. I'm generally an advocate of getting the shot as correct as possible in camera, to reduce what needs to be done in post. There are plenty of situations where it might make sense to use color correction filters. See also: Are there reasons to use colour filters with digital cameras?



                  ND filters just reduce the amount of light coming into the lens, with (ideally) no color cast. Say you are shooting outdoors on a bright day, and want to capture an image with shallow depth of field. That requires you to shoot your lens with a wide aperture. But that means there's a lot of light coming through a wide aperture. You can't get your ISO usefully much lower than 100, so your only means to control exposure to use a fast shutter speed. But if your shutter isn't fast enough (or for some reason you want a slow shutter, such as trying to create some blur), then you need a way to reduce your exposure. That's where ND filters come in. Think of ND filters as the real-world exposure control slider in Photoshop.







                  share|improve this answer












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                  answered Dec 5 at 22:18









                  scottbb

                  19.2k75591




                  19.2k75591






























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