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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> What Filters Have You Got?
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 09/17/2005 02:47:31 PM · #1
Just got a Hama Polarizer circ. today havnt really got a chance to try it out yet. Are they good for using all the time or do you only use it in certain instances?

Any others filters you have that you would recommend, please share with me.

Thanks
 09/17/2005 02:52:25 PM · #2
I have a linear polarizer, graduated gray, graduated blue, graduated pink, graduated mauve, sunset, graduated fog, graduated tobacco, a warming filter, a 4 point star filter, 2 diffusers in different strenghts, and a neutral density. They are all Cokin P filters. I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

June

Message edited by author 2005-09-17 14:52:55.
 09/17/2005 02:54:25 PM · #3
Circular polarizer
Warming filter
UV filter
Neutral density filter
 09/17/2005 02:54:28 PM · #4
If you're shooting color, IMO the polarizer is all you need on a dSLR and it's extremely useful, virtually a necessity. Some say that UV/haze filters are a real plus, but modern sensors supposedly have that built in. I've never noticed a difference with my haze filters. I have polarizers for all my lenses except the 10-22mm, which is so wide that poalrization produces distinct gradations across the sky.

However, I only use the polarizer when it produces a visible result or, rarely, when I need to reduce the light entering the lens; in other words, it can act like a ND filter if you need one, though it's not very extreme.

If you like to do long exposures in bright light, then a set of ND filters can be worthwhile.

If you like to shoot in B/W mode with the D-70, then the gamut of red-orane-yellow-green filters would work exactly as they do for B/W film, but you can do all this in PS by shooting color and converting to B/W via channel mixer.

Warming filter can be simulated by adjusting white balance, and you have more control that way. Especially if you shoot RAW, where you can adjust WB in post-processing easily.

R.

Message edited by author 2005-09-17 14:55:43.
 09/17/2005 02:57:15 PM · #5
Whats the difference between linear and circular polarizers

Message edited by author 2005-09-17 14:58:41.
 09/17/2005 03:00:07 PM · #6
Originally posted by sebx:
Whats the difference between linear and circular polarizers


Circular polarizers work with the autofocus of a digicam. Linear may confuse it.
 09/17/2005 03:00:09 PM · #7
Originally posted by sebx:
Whats the difference between linear and circular polarizers


Supposedly circular is better because the linear polarizers somehow screw with your auto focus, but I've never had any problems.

June
 09/17/2005 03:02:21 PM · #8
ah ha i see.

Cheers the for the advice there bear_music appreciated.

Im quite interested in getting a ND Filter to.
09/17/2005 03:08:52 PM · #9
I use a circular polarizer and a UV/haze filter currently. I'd love to get an IR filter one day.. those pictures look so surreal!
 09/17/2005 04:09:17 PM · #10
Originally posted by bear_music:
If you're shooting color, IMO the polarizer is all you need on a dSLR and it's extremely useful, virtually a necessity. Some say that UV/haze filters are a real plus, but modern sensors supposedly have that built in. I've never noticed a difference with my haze filters. I have polarizers for all my lenses except the 10-22mm, which is so wide that poalrization produces distinct gradations across the sky.
R.


bear_music, Isn't that the idea of a UV/Haze filter though? There is suppose to be no noticable difference. Basically the filter is simply meant to serve as a lens protector?

Question on the ND filter: What effect should be expected of the final image when used for long exposures in bright light?
 09/17/2005 04:16:06 PM · #11
Forgot to also ask: What are/is the advnagtage to slim ring filters, if any, as apposed to standard ones. These cannot be stacked, can they? Or would you even consider more then one filter at a time?
 09/17/2005 04:39:04 PM · #12
Originally posted by drydoc:
Forgot to also ask: What are/is the advnagtage to slim ring filters, if any, as apposed to standard ones. These cannot be stacked, can they? Or would you even consider more then one filter at a time?

Most (not all) of the slim filters can't be stacked, because they lack threads on the front end. The reason for slim filters is to avoid vignetting on very wide angle lenses. That's more of a concern with full-frame and 1.3x-crop cams than with 1.6x-crop cams, and varies with the lens design.
The only time I might stack filters is a polarizer and ND or two ND filters. Don't know if I'd ever consider stacking more than two filters, but have never done so.
The filters I consider useful for digital photography, in order of how often used:
- Circular polarizer (essential!)
- Neutral densith (ND). 3-stop, and 5-stop, maybe even a more powerful one.
- Graduated ND. Very useful, but best to use something like a Cokin filter that can be both rotated and moved vertically to place the graduation off-center. Can be imitated very well in situations hwere multiple exposures can be combined

Those are all the general-purpose filters I'd recommend. There are others that may be useful for special purposes:
- IR. Only if you're into IR photography. Much preferable to attempting to recreate the effect in post-processing.
- Solar filter. Special, very high density ND filter for shooting the sun. Don't use anything not specifically sold as a solar filter.
- Broadband nebular filter. Also known as a "light polllution filter." Used for astrophotography; cuts down certain ranges of wavelengths, and lets nebulae show up better. Hard to find in sizes other than those made for telescopes, and somewhat expensive.
 09/17/2005 06:48:09 PM · #13
Originally posted by bear_music:
If you like to shoot in B/W mode with the D-70, then the gamut of red-orane-yellow-green filters would work exactly as they do for B/W film, but you can do all this in PS by shooting color and converting to B/W via channel mixer.

I can see a problem with some colors, because the channels in the channel mixer are not equal; specifically, the Blue channel is usually extremely noisy. Wouldn't that make some effects better-shot with a color filter in grayscale?
 09/17/2005 06:54:41 PM · #14
Neutral Density filter
Circular Polerizer
2 Graduated Neutral Density filters
 09/17/2005 06:58:55 PM · #15
Two circular Polarizers
80A filter
R72 filter
ND+8 filter
Diffuse light filter
 09/17/2005 07:09:51 PM · #16
Originally posted by GeneralE:
Originally posted by bear_music:
If you like to shoot in B/W mode with the D-70, then the gamut of red-orane-yellow-green filters would work exactly as they do for B/W film, but you can do all this in PS by shooting color and converting to B/W via channel mixer.

I can see a problem with some colors, because the channels in the channel mixer are not equal; specifically, the Blue channel is usually extremely noisy. Wouldn't that make some effects better-shot with a color filter in grayscale?


Nope. You are correct that the blue channel is often noisier, and this will be true no matter what filter is on the cam. By adding a blue filter, you cut down on the light the cam has to work with in the red and green channels, which will increase noise in those channels, but will not reduce it in the blue channel (since you're working with the same amount of light).
09/18/2005 12:36:02 AM · #17
Originally posted by drydoc:
Originally posted by bear_music:
If you're shooting color, IMO the polarizer is all you need on a dSLR and it's extremely useful, virtually a necessity. Some say that UV/haze filters are a real plus, but modern sensors supposedly have that built in. I've never noticed a difference with my haze filters. I have polarizers for all my lenses except the 10-22mm, which is so wide that poalrization produces distinct gradations across the sky.
R.


bear_music, Isn't that the idea of a UV/Haze filter though? There is suppose to be no noticable difference. Basically the filter is simply meant to serve as a lens protector?

Question on the ND filter: What effect should be expected of the final image when used for long exposures in bright light?


Not exactly. A UV/Haze filter minimizes the blue cast in the sky where as the polarizer deepens the blue in general. Yes, both are often used as a protective filter.

As for the ND filter question, the effect is just controlling the light such as when shooting a waterfall at a long exposure. It simply allows you to do it without overexposing the shot.

Message edited by author 2005-09-18 00:57:32.
 09/18/2005 01:19:01 AM · #18
Originally posted by kirbic:
Nope. You are correct that the blue channel is often noisier, and this will be true no matter what filter is on the cam. By adding a blue filter, you cut down on the light the cam has to work with in the red and green channels, which will increase noise in those channels, but will not reduce it in the blue channel (since you're working with the same amount of light).

I was thinking more of trying to mimic the effect of a yellow filter; I thought that would involve undue reliance on the Blue Channel when using the color mixer. But I don't really have any experience with using filters (and not that much with the Channel Mixer!) so I'm not surprised if I've got it mixed-up.
 09/18/2005 01:30:26 AM · #19
Originally posted by GeneralE:
Originally posted by kirbic:
Nope. You are correct that the blue channel is often noisier, and this will be true no matter what filter is on the cam. By adding a blue filter, you cut down on the light the cam has to work with in the red and green channels, which will increase noise in those channels, but will not reduce it in the blue channel (since you're working with the same amount of light).

I was thinking more of trying to mimic the effect of a yellow filter; I thought that would involve undue reliance on the Blue Channel when using the color mixer. But I don't really have any experience with using filters (and not that much with the Channel Mixer!) so I'm not surprised if I've got it mixed-up.


Think of it this way: when you put a filter in front of a lens you are passing a higher percentage of light in the portion of the spectrum that matches the filter's color, and blocking some portion of light from the filter's complementary color. So a deep red filter passes through all the red light and very little of the blue or green light. A yellow filter passes through more of the red/yellow/orange range (the warm colors) and less of the blue/green range (the cool colors), but the effect is relatively small compared to the dark red filter.

Anyhow: to mimic a deep red filter in photoshop B/W conversion you take nearly all your information from the red channel and little of it from green or blue (assuming you're working RGB). To mimic a yellow filter, you take proportionally more info fromt he red channel and proportionally less from blue & green channels, but not as extreme a mix as for the 'red" filter effect.

A little more red = yellow filter, middling high red = orange filter, maximo red = deep red filter, like that. So you don't need to worry about blue channel noise much. Nevertheless, if you put things out of balance in ANY set of proportions, you WILL get noise. The total of the 3 channels should approximate 100%.

R.

Message edited by author 2005-09-18 01:31:18.
 09/18/2005 01:37:09 AM · #20
all I have is uv filters.
All i want is polarizer, nd, and a grad nd filter, Then Id be set I think.
 09/18/2005 01:40:32 AM · #21
If I took a "normal" photo, and wanted to make it look like it's shot with a blue filter, wouldn't I then be turning down the Red and Green and raising the amount of Blue relative to the others? If I'm making a grayscale of that, it seems like it would be noisier than shooting with a blue filter in B&W, or in color and just making a straight conversion to Grayscale Mode.

I'd feel more sure of myself if we could converse in the CMYK colorspace -- I'm much more used to visualizing that.
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