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Need some advice from some photogs. I know that the UV filter is probably the most basic filter that most people use in day-to-day photography. I use one, and it is great for lense protection. Since I am new to DSLR photography, I would like to see some examples from you guys using other filters, most importantly the polarizing filter and other ones that actually make a difference in the outcome of the photo. Can you post some examples?
What are your thoughts on different filters? What are the ones you use the most? Which ones are better for different situations? I am deciding on what filters to get, and I think that the circular polarizing is the next one I buy, because what I have read about them makes it sound like it would benefit me. Thanks in advance!
i dont use a uv filter and never saw the need for one with digital ...only filter i use on a regular basis is a good quality nikon thin polarizer ... i also use singhray graduated density filters when needed...i believe in never buying cheap inferior filters and i dont believe in just plunking a piece of glass in front of my lens like thats going to protect it...
my lens hood provides all the protection ill ever need. good modern glass is very scratch proof and to just stick a piece of glass over my lens is not something i want to do just for so called protection... in all the years i never had a reason to protect the lens other then a lens hood and we shoot every single weekend.
I've found CPL (Circular Polarizer to be most useful). I don't have comparative shots readily available but here is one used for deeper sky...
CPL works great to reduce glare from water (or any reflective surface for that matter). I may have to dig up an example or two, but if you're taking picture of a shallow lake, pond or rivulet and want the pebbles/rocks to show thru, may be fish etc, it can come in handy. Will try to post an example later.
A set of neutral density, and gradual density filter can also come in handy. I would have recommended softener as well, but with many photo editing software, it is almost unnecessary.
Last edited by EinsteinsGhost; 05-26-2010 at 07:21 PM..
I love the circular polarizer filter. Funny you should ask this question right now. The other day my oldest son had the same exact question so I took a couple photos to show him the difference the polarizing filter makes. Excuse the photos, they are totally uninspired and frankly suckish, but they do illustrate the difference a CPL can make. The first set is of a small pond and the glare of the sun through heavy fog on the surface and the second shot is the same pond from the same spot a couple seconds later when I dialed the CP filter to cut some of the glare.
The third and fourth shots are of a small river here and while it would have been a much more dramatic difference if I had kept at a 90 degree angle to the direction the sun was shining, you can still see the difference in how it makes the contrast, color, and sky pop a bit more. None of these has been altered, and are straight out of the camera.
I also like the ND graduated filters for some shots. Problem is that I would have to pore over a bunch of recent photos and try to job the memory of which ones I used one on. I have slipped badly when it comes to writing down some of the aspects of a shot if I do something different with it. These I remembered to write down because I took them with the specific purpose in showing my son what a CP filter does.
I don't use UV filters, but I do use circular polarizing lenses or filters (CPL). ND filters are good for shooting water falls and such (look at other photos above) what you want to create a sort of "milky water effect" in the photo. CPL's, like ND filters reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor, but not as much as ND filters. What a polarizer does is to block some of the light being reflected toward the lens, sort of when wearing fishing polarizing eyeglasses (without the glasses, the light reflected on the water's surface would somewhat blind you, and you can't see the fish in the water). Put the glasses on, and the light does not blind you as much, allowing you to see below the water's surface. At the same time, a CPL also enhances the whiteness of the clouds, and the blueness of the sky:
You can see the river bottom in the foreground (thanks to a CPL), since a lot of the "blinding light" was blocked:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/Rayfromalaska/IMG_2303.jpg (broken link)
But you should not leave this filter attached to the lens where there is insufficient light (early morning, late afternoon, evening...), because it robs the lens of light from 1 to 2 f-stops.
thanks for starting this thread and I hope it keeps going until I have some time to look at what I have and ask you wonderful photographers about them.....I bought a med bin full of filters very reasonable as well as lot of other things from the widow of a professional photographer....many lens filters I know but there are "softners" (look like tiny raindrops on the filters) and graduated numbers of these....many many colored filters and many again...I have no idea....I will get time months from now when I get back from my trip soooo....will bump this thread sometime in late Aug/Sept for help!
Blueflame, if you have that many and are unsure what they do, your trip is the perfect place to test a few
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