Obviously it was a thing for film cameras, but now that everything is digital, something like “just make the picture darker” seems extremely easy to do with software
quick edit, I know what ND filters are for and how to use them, no need to explain. it just seems to me that it could be engineered in a way that doesn’t require them, which is what I’m asking about
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Wanted to add something here that I’m not sure was mentioned yet:
(I’ll come at this from a video perspective and not photography, but the principles are the same). So ISO on a camera does adjust the sensor’s sensitivity light, absolutely, but lowering that ISO is not always optimal. Cameras generally have a “native” ISO setting that produces the best results, and changing from that setting, either higher or lower, produces less than optimal results.
Say your camera’s native ISO is 800. Ideally, you would capture every shot at this setting. So on a very bright day, you certainly could lower the ISO, but to achieve better results it’s preferable to use ND’s to cut the light. Since generally you’ve also set the aperture to the exact setting you want, say f2.8, and shutter generally has to stay at the same setting (say 1/48), so the only variable you can play with is ND.
No you may ask WHY does lowering the ISO not produce the best results? That’s a more complicated question that I personally can’t answer very well, but I can add a few things. A digital camera sensor collects light into its pixels, which is translated into electric signal. There is a certain electric voltage passed through the sensor, and the exact voltage thay produces the least amount of digital “noise” is generally considered to be that sensor’s “native” ISO – think of it like an audio signal that is at 0 decibels if gain. Decreasing or increasing ISO is just changing the “gain” of the signal, like going to -6db or +6db. It is not making for a better quality signal, it’s just boosted.
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