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Lens Filters
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neilwhite wrote:
Hi guys, just on the subject of filters, I was in a local shop looking to get an ND Grad filter and was told not to bother that once i had photoshop that there was no need for filters of any sort. Is he telling me porkies or can i get the same effect with photoshop?
Same thing happened to me a while back in the infamous Galway Camera Shop. I went in asking did they have any or get any ND Filters. The guy serving said he wasnt interested in getting any in. he said that as nearly everyone was digital it didnt make sense to stock them.
I then said I was one of three people that wanted to get them but he still wouldnt budge – crazy!!!
neilwhite wrote:
Hi guys, just on the subject of filters, I was in a local shop looking to get an ND Grad filter and was told not to bother that once i had photoshop that there was no need for filters of any sort. Is he telling me porkies or can i get the same effect with photoshop?
Hi Neil,
Yes and no. You can’t replicate a polariser in Photoshop, so a polariser is a must. If you want to cut the amount of light entering the lens, then an ND is useful, though if you’ve got a polariser, it’ll lengthen your exposure by 1-2 stops also.
As regards other filters, I really don’t see any need for coloured filters on digital. Shoot in raw, and you can adjust the white balance later, which is effectively what the various 80/81 filters did for film.
ND grad filters still have their place. You can achieve this effect in PS by bracketing your exposure (or processing a raw image 2 or more times with different exposure compensations) and combining the results in PS. I use layer masks with gradient fill, and have had very good results. This approach can have the advantage that since your transition line doesn’t have to be straight, you can avoid darkening bits of the image you don’t want darkened (thing V shaped valleys etc)
Where grads still become invaluable, is where you have to take bracketed images where things are moving, eg trees or reeds on a windy day, or waves perpendicular to the line of your split. These conditions are at best difficult, and at work next to impossible to replicate in PS.
As the others have said however, if you can get the results in camera, so much the better. Unless you’ve got a V shaped valley situation, then taking a shot with a grad will make your life easier later on. If you have the filters, you have the luxury of being able to make the choice.
John
Thanks for that John, I had a feeling my local shop were not exactly blessed with a whole lot of knowledge on the whole filter thing.
Just to reply- if you use filters with great quality – you really dont loose too much light-and you still protect your 1000eu lens! IMHO using B+W filters is great idea. I agree if you put whatever on the lens – it takes light and change the quality-but if I had a lens worth 1000eu I would go for B+w filters MRC ,3mm.
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