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Filters
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Was looking at http://www.stawiarz.com/ from the sites thread and marvelling at the photos there and it reminded me of my ignorance on the topic of filters. I’m picking up my nikon d80 in a couple of weeks and was wondering could someone give the ‘fools guides to filters’. ……or are such dramatic skylines thanks to photoshop? hope these questions aren’t too broad to answer,
CheersYou won’t get skies like that using filters. They look far too artificial and unnatural to me – I don’t particularly like most of them :cry:
As to your question on filters – with digital one doesn’t need as many filters as one might need with film as you no longer have to worry about colour balancing filters (or contrast filters if using black and white film). However, there are two types of filter which even digital shooters should not be without. The first of these is a polarizer and the second is the graduated neutral density filter, of which there are many types and strengths – best to have a collection of a few useful ones, strong and weak, hard edged or soft edged. The effect of a polarizing filter is impossible to reproduce after you’ve taken the shot. The graduated neutral density filters could arguably be dispensed with as it’s possible to reproduce their effect (often much more accurately) in something like Photoshop – however, I would prefer to use a filter rather than doing it afterwards, because it’s just so much easier and quicker to get it right first time!
Hi Asterix,
Polariser filter – will deepen some blue skies and allow you control of reflections (under certain conditions). It’s also useful if you want to open the aperture a bit on bright days (short DoF stuff)
Graduated neutral density filters – will allow a darkening of skies to bring a shot into range of the digital sensor.
An 80a (or other pale blue) filter can be used to “balance” the colour in tungsten light. Although the camera can do this internally, it has to amplify the blue channel to do it (introduces noise).
Si
Filter info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filter_(photography)
Good tip about the 80a filter Si.
One other filter type that springs to mind as being useful is the full neutral density filter. These are probably of most use to landscape photographers whose shots feature moving water in them. A neutral density filter will reduce the overall exposure thereby enabling the use of a much slowe shutter speed in order to blur moving water.
Cheers for the advice lads, I’m a bit more informed now! I went to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filter (thanks allinthemind!) and I think the section on the Polarizer filter is the effect I have been wondering about and anxious to shoot myself. So, considering i have a nikon d80 with 18-200mm VR what would be my next step in terms of getting my hands on a polarizer to mount on the camera, or are they standard for DSLR’s and what sort of price am i looking at?
Thanks again for the advice, much apppreciated!I think the 18-200mm has a 72mm thread, it will say on the front of the lens or on the box. You just pop in to your local camera shop and ask for a 72mm polariser, the Hama one is decent for starting off. To use it, you just screw it in and turn the front parft of it until you see the tell tale signs that it is working, I usually keep turning until the blue parts of the sky darken, the glare from wet grass is reduced, reflections from water start to dissapear or by looking at the meter which will show a longer exposure in Aperture Priority mode or a wider aperture (smaller F number) in Shutter Priority. After getting used to how the filter works you will be able to spot when the filter is at its maximum effect, but you will find that it works best when the sun is either to your left or right shoulder and the filter has almost no effect when pointed towards the sun except to lengthen the exposure.
cheers Cian,
I’m picking up my camera and lens next week in Conn’s, could i presume they stock 72mm polarizers or should i ring ahead? What sort of price would they be? (Say that Hama one you mentioned)Conns usually have a good supply of the standard filters, if they dont have one Jessops around the corner will. The polarisers are pretty expensive as filters go, I think you’ll end up paying around ?50 for a half decent one at 72mm. I’ve never tried Jessops own brand polarisers but they might be a cheaper option.
If you want to buy the Cokin filter holder for grad grey and neutral density filters, get the ‘P’ holder even if the ‘A’ size fits your lens, they may also have Cokin kits in Jessops for digital SLR’s but I wouldn’t bother with those as they usually come with cheesy filters that are no longer required with digital cameras anyway. Just get the adapter ring that fits your lens and the holder, the ND Grad P120 is a good starting point for ND Grad Grey filters, once you use it you’ll never tolerate bland white skies again! The filter holder kit and adapter ring will probably cost around ?10-?15 and another ?15-?20 will get you the P121 or P120 ND Grad. These two are my most used filters, I rarely use the polariser now but I feel naked going anywhere without my Cokin Grads! The Cokins scratch like a cat with fleas so you have to treat them well, I’m upgrading to Lee filters in the next few weeks though.
ok cheers Cian, in what way is the Grad filter different than a polarizer then? its just i was a little thrown at the end of your comment that you don’t use the polarizer anymore and now you only use the Grads? What does a polarizer give me that a Grad doesn’t and viceversa?
Cheers for your help..Also get a UV filter to screw onto your lens.
Leave it on all the time to protect the lens.
If it scratches, just replace it. If your lens scratches, you’ll need to replace a lens!The grad grey filter only does one thing really, if you place the dark part over the sky it allows you to keep detail in the sky, instead of plain white on a cloudy day you can see the clouds while still having a good exposure for the ground. Sometimes you have to choose either a nice sky with a dark landscape or a nice landscape with a plain white sky, the grad grey hopefully helps to get both in the one photo. The filter itself has a clear half and a dark half, you usually place the dark half over the sky and blend it in with the horizon by moving the filter higher or lower in the holder. You can tilt the grad gery if one part of the sky is brighter or even turn it upside down on the rare occasions when the foreground is brighter than the sky.
The polariser is a totally different beast, providing your not using a very wide angle it works over almost the entire image and allows you to get deeper colours in the sky and landscape, it wont help blance the exposure when the sky is very bright and the landscape is dark though like the grad grey above, it also helps cut out reflections from glass and water. You can also use the polariser as a neutral density filter when you want to use longer exposure times to blur water etc.
I dont really use the polariser that much because its most useful when you’ve got a blue sky with fluffy clouds and strong sunlight. It doesn’t do very much in the darker, gloomier weather I usually photograph in now plus I dont do a lot of lake/sea shots. On cloudy, dark days all the polariser will do is make your shutter speeds longer whereas the grad grey is very important, allowing me to balance the sky and landscape better.
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