Filters

[SAWYER]

Give me a rundown on them. I don't own one and know nothing of them besides seeing them mentioned in threads.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

There are a few big types:

UV: more or less a clear filter, good for protection

CPL: Circular Polarizer, these can help get rid of glare/reflections on glass or water, can also help darken the sky and make some colors more punchy

ND: Neutral Density, these decrease the amount of light getting to your sensor and allows for slower shutter speeds, good for instances when you want to show motion blur but it's too bright outside to get a slow shutter speed to get that motion blur

Split ND: Split Neutral Density, filter in which the top half is a darkened neutral density filter and the bottom half is clear, allows for the successful capture of landscapes in which the dynamic range between sky and earth is too wide for the camera to capture. Using a Split ND, the bright sky gets darkened using the top half while the lower half remains unaffected, resulting in a picture without a blown out sky or underexposed ground.

Quality:

Fully Multicoated filters are what you should be looking at.
Good brands include Hoya, B+W, Heliopan, and Cokin. Get their multicoated filters if you can (For Hoya, these are SMC, HMC, and Pro1)
Aluminum rings can be hard to screw off the lens. Brass is supposed to be easier to screw off. This would only be a big deal for CPLs.

Retailers:

http://hvstar.net/
plus all your other standard photo places like Adorama and B&H

Other:

Step Up and Step Down rings are adapters for your filters. For example, a 77mm filter will fit a lens with a 77mm filter diameter (this is not the same as focal length, which is also expressed in millimeters). If you have a lens with a 72mm filter diameter you can purchase a 77 -> 72mm step up ring so that the 77mm filter can mount on the 72mm lens (and 72mm lens "steps up" to the 77mm size). Using these can make using the standard lens hood impossible.

 

[soydios]

^^^
FBB wins (again)

the old color-correction filters are no longer needed with digital: you can do color correction in post-processing.

 

[Billb2]

After you've mastered using your camera, they can be the next step, but if you can't take great shots now, they will only screw thing up.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
There are a few big types:

CPL: Circular Polarizer, these can help get rid of glare/reflections on glass or water, can also help darken the sky and make some colors more punchy

Just an additional note: CPLs do a great job removing glare from foliage. Without one, you'll often see a subtle glare from leaves, and by using one, the leaves are green, not greyish, or dull, green. CPLs will NOT remove glare from metal, like a tin roof or playground equipment.

I really need to get a good one already.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: AndrewR

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
There are a few big types:

CPL: Circular Polarizer, these can help get rid of glare/reflections on glass or water, can also help darken the sky and make some colors more punchy

Just an additional note: CPLs do a great job removing glare from foliage. Without one, you'll often see a subtle glare from leaves, and by using one, the leaves are green, not greyish, or dull, green. CPLs will NOT remove glare from metal, like a tin roof or playground equipment.

I really need to get a good one already.

Haha I ended up just giving in and buying a 72mm Hoya HMC CPL instead of an el-cheapo one.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: 996GT2

Originally posted by: AndrewR

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
There are a few big types:

CPL: Circular Polarizer, these can help get rid of glare/reflections on glass or water, can also help darken the sky and make some colors more punchy

Just an additional note: CPLs do a great job removing glare from foliage. Without one, you'll often see a subtle glare from leaves, and by using one, the leaves are green, not greyish, or dull, green. CPLs will NOT remove glare from metal, like a tin roof or playground equipment.

I really need to get a good one already.

Haha I ended up just giving in and buying a 72mm Hoya HMC CPL instead of an el-cheapo one.

I keep putting it off and continue to use my Promaster filter when I have to. I've been doing more people photos, but I'll give in eventually and order a Hoya, B&W or Heliopan already! Maybe I'll combine it with my first Zeiss purchase, whenever that happens.

 

[ivan2]

Get the kenko from hvstar, it's the same quality as hoya at fraction of cost. CPL pure awesomness.