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Little help filtering through the madness!


11 years 8 months ago #250945 by Boonezilla
Hey guys, I have been looking at and taking a ton of images, and I have decided that I would like to start playing around with filters (because they can change an image so dramatically and they are typically not insane amounts of money)... So help me out, what filters do you own, which ones could you not live without, what ones are fun to play with and why?
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11 years 8 months ago #250971 by rmeyer7
My only "must have" filters are a CPL and a graduated ND. The CPL's main purpose is to eliminate glare, and it also helps you avoid overexposure in shots where you're contending with harsh daylight and give you great color in skies. (Just to give an idea, if you wear a good pair of polarized sunglasses on a sunny day, look around and note how colors look and how glare disappears. A CPL does this in your pictures.)

The grad ND allows you to take landscape photos without blown out skies, without darkening the foreground of the shot. The outer edge (usually positioned at the top to darken the sky) of the filter is darkest, and the darkening fades toward the middle of the filter until there's none at all. Another variation is a reverse grad ND (which I don't have but I want...), where the darkened part is right in the middle and it fades out toward the edge. That's useful for sunrises and sunsets where the sun is right on the horizon.

If you like shooting moving water, you might also want to look at a dark (8 or 10 stop) ND filter. There are some folks on this forum who use those, and they post some great photos produced with them.
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11 years 8 months ago #250973 by icepics
I've used a polarizer outdoors to cut thru the glare/haze. I've mostly used red, orange, etc. for B&W film photography. I also have a few special effect like star, multi-image, etc. that are fun to play around with.

I'd think about what you want to accomplish so you can get a filter that will best meet your needs. They're not that expensive necessarily, but it might be worth getting one good quality filter than a bunch of less expensive lower quality filters - depends on how you'd use them. Ones that I've bought for fun that were used/vintage and inexpensive, I don't leave on the lens or tighten too much so there's less risk of them getting stuck.
Sharon
Photo Comments
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11 years 8 months ago #250980 by john_m
I have UV/CPL/and a 8stop variable ND filter. The UV sits and collects dust pretty much. The CPL and the variable ND are my typical go to filters. Just remember, not all filters are created equal. Buy cheap, get cheap.
Nikon D200
Nikon 50mm f1.8D, Tokina 28-80 f2.8, Nikon 75-300, Sigma 18-200, Nikon SB-600, Nikon SB-25, Promaster triggers
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11 years 8 months ago #251092 by Boonezilla
ok sounds good, thanks for the input... what would be a good brand worth checking out? I like the idea of the variable ND filter to slow everything down, and recompose a reletively plain image, but the graduated seems like fun also, I definitely need to work on some sunrises/sets... I guess I'm just going to have to go ahead and buy a couple to get used to shooting with it and to acutally comprehend thier capabilities...
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11 years 8 months ago #251094 by Screamin Scott
Most filter effects can be duplicated in post. That said, the above suggestions of CPL & ND filters is what you'll want to get as those are hardest to duplicate in post, if they even can be at all...As for graduated ND's., it best to get the Cokin or Lee square or rectangular filters as they can be positioned where you need them. A circular one that screws on the front of your lens is very limiting...Other than those filters, the only other one in my bag is a Hoya R72 for shooting IR images...IR can be done in post, but it isn't as effective...
Scott Ditzel Photography

www.flickr.com/photos/screaminscott/
Photo Comments
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11 years 8 months ago #251112 by rmeyer7
:agree:
Scott's filter suggestions are great ones. I personally use a screw-on graduated ND and it can be a bit of a pain sometimes. Especially when I decide to shoot a vertical composition and have to reposition it. Lee filters are great, I don't have any experience with Cokin but I hear they're good.

BW and Hoya are also worth a look IMO. Just don't go cheap! If that means you start with one filter instead of two, my vote would be for a CPL just because I feel I get more use out of it than my NDs.
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