Comments on: Filters

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 23:14:12 +0000

Subliminal messages – YOU NEED IT – You need it – you need it. It’s only money….

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 10:31:35 +0000

Thanks all for your comments and suggestions. I might have to dust off my polarizer and give it a try or two the next time I’m near some water. For now, I think that I’ll take a voluntary budget freeze and skip purchasing any new filters or camera stuff until I encounter a real need.

By: micki

micki — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:10:35 +0000

I use my polarizing filter a good 90% of the time when shooting landscapes. I also use my grad filters (the Grad ND 3 the most) as well as my ND 8 fiters. Those are the filters I use when shooting low and slow with my ISO 25 and 50 films. Of course I use the red and polar when shooting infrared, and I bought an infrared opaque filter I’m learning how to use. I’ll almost always use a filter when shooting b&w, usually red, and I use green when shooting people and brown nature scenes. BTW, I’ll use up to three grad ND’s if I want to hold back the sky AND the water in a scene.

By: Sebastian

Sebastian — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:31:26 +0000

I’ve recently been doing some night shots and a flashlight definitely helps. Not only in getting your focus to work but for making sure you’re not standing in an ant pile

On filters, I have a ND filter a polarizer and thats about it. ND comes in handy doing shots where you need a lot of motion. The polarizer just makes things pop for me so I use it maybe 30% of the time.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:19:53 +0000

I use circular polarizers but they aren’t the Singh Ray, they are so expensive! I also have grad ND’s but I have the Conkin and I don’t like them. The light seems to bounce between the filter and the lens giving a sort of hazy look to the photos. I’ve tried several things to avoid it but it just seems to happen anyway.

I would love to try the Singh Ray but I think I have to hit the lottery first. My most used lenses are 77mm. I just bought a new lens a couple of weeks ago and that’s eaten up my photo budget for a very long time.

This is a very stunning photo the blues are awesome.

By: Photo Buffet

Photo Buffet — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:18:52 +0000

Paul, the lack of a filter sure didn’t hurt your photo there. It’s breathtaking! I can’t imagine how a filter could have helped that one.
However, I do know that polarizers are helpful when shine or glare is a problem. Shots in bright, sunny locations around water are hard to capture, and a polarizer can help. That’s the only filter I own right now, and it’s rarely used, simply because my main focus the past year has been macrophotography. (I suppose a polarizer would help there, if sunlight was bright–tips, anyone?)

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:57:52 +0000

Paul – I have the gold/blue also. I don’t use it all that much because I believe it really requires specialized situations to make it look good. But when the situation presents itself, it can be quite nice.

By: Intern

Intern — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:23:23 +0000

stunning shot Paul …
love it!

your nature shots are the best!

By: Thomas

Thomas — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:04:15 +0000

I only use a standard type of polarizer and a ND filter. Fortunately, most of my lenses take a 77mm filter, so I don’t have to buy them twice. Well, there’s my macro lens which has a smaller filter mount, so I had to buy a 2nd polarizer. But that’s about it, I don’t use any other filters.

I would love to try the Gold-Blue polarizer – but it sounds an awful lot of money for just giving it a try. Even more so for the variable ND-filter. So far, one ND plus the standard polarizer (if I need to give the ND an even more shading) worked perfectly fine for me.

I’m currently thinking of whether I should invest in a (set of) graded ND-filters, perhaps from Cokin to remain somewhat flexible. I can get most of the effect of such a filter from an according RAW-development, but the less I have to post-process, the more time I have for shooting…;)