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Graduated Neutral Density Filter or Circular Polarizer Filter?


12 years 6 months ago #153756 by bhless
What kind of filter is preferable to be inside a photographer's camera bag? A Graduated Neutral Density Filter or Circular Polarizer Filter?
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12 years 6 months ago #153787 by rmeyer7
I think it depends what you're going to use it for, or in what situations you're going to use it.

If you're going to be shooting scenes that have tough contrast throughout, the CPL will do more for you than the Graduated ND.

If you're shooting scenes like a sunset, where you have bright tones in the sky and shadowy tones below, the Graduated ND will work better for you because it only darkens part of the frame. It also helps when you're shooting at a less than optimal time of the day. You can darken your skies a bit, where normally they'd be completely blown out. This allows you to get a more even exposure when there's more sunlight than you want. I have a few images taken in those situations that are usable simply because of my GND filter.

If you want to darken an entire frame, to capture motion in water for example, you might want a standard (not graduated) ND filter - a really dark one. That can also come in handy when you want shallow depth of field from a wide aperture but there's too much light to achieve it without eliminating some light.
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12 years 6 months ago #153809 by chasrich
:goodpost: :agree: Well said.
“Amateurs worry about equipment, professionals worry about money, masters worry about light, I just make pictures… ” ~ Vernon Trent
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12 years 6 months ago #153854 by Baydream

chasrich wrote: :goodpost: :agree: Well said.

A big +1 on that. Very well put. If I could only have one, it would be the polarizer but I'm lucky enough to have all three for exactly those reasons.
Shoot, learn and share. It will make you a better photographer.
fineartamerica.com/profiles/john-g-schickler.html?tab=artwork
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12 years 6 months ago #153875 by Office Guy
Personally I use a polarized filter often, but would recommend having both in bag.
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12 years 6 months ago #153894 by Stealthy Ninja

Office Guy wrote: Personally I use a polarized filter often, but would recommend having both in bag.


Yeh why not have both?! :thumbsup:
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www.aevansphoto.com
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12 years 6 months ago #154105 by Beagle
I have neither, is that a bad thing?
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12 years 6 months ago #154204 by rmeyer7

Beagle wrote: I have neither, is that a bad thing?

Well, Matthew (MLK Studios) will tell you that's an excellent thing :rofl:
(Just a friendly joke, he always recommends shooting without filters. And for plenty of good reasons :) )

Honestly, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Filters are useful in a lot of situations, but I think what's even better is to be good enough at photography that you rarely need to use them.
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12 years 6 months ago #154279 by bhless
@ beagle.. me also neither have I, :whistle: just read an article about filters that's why I posted this topic here to get some ideas.. I should say I agree with rmeyer7's last line..:judge:
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12 years 6 months ago #154333 by Joves
Both are totally different animals as rmeyer said. The important thing is dont go with cheap filters, they are poorly made and will screw up images. You want ones that are multi-coated to kill internal glass reflections.
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12 years 6 months ago #154411 by icepics
Well Matthew knows his stuff. I don't think you necessarily need either one. I have a circular polarizer but don't use it often since I don't do much outdoor landscape type photos. I found it useful on occasion outdoors since it polarizes light (obviously that's why the name!). I never tried an ND filter although it seems to have some specific uses; a filter that dark would cut the light coming into your camera and more often I think you probably want a decent amount of light. I've more often used a red filter when shooting B&W film outdoors but I do just as well most of the time w/out it.

If there's not a specific reason you feel like you'd benefit from either one I don't know that it would be worth getting one just to have it in your camera bag. Once you find yourself thinking that a filter might help for a particular purpose then it may be beneficial to get one or the other.
Sharon
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