Filters....

What do you use most and why?

Are they essential?

Do they make a big difference?

Thanks

I've got a circular polarizer (not linear) but being a screw on it only fits one of my lenses. It's job is to reduce haziness created by ultraviolet light so it's good for stopping unwanted glare or reflections on water etc. Twisting it around shows how this differs from a UV filter.

I've a UV filter too but again a screw on that fits just one lens. A lot of folk just have these and leave them attached all the time as a lens protector.

I used to have a graduated filter but I lost it.

Filters are on my birthday wish list...............

A set of graduated neutral density filters, also known as a graduated ND filters - their job is to darken (without affecting colour) part of the photograph. If used for the sky they can allow you to retain a correctly exposed sky (rather than a white one) if you're using slower shutter speeds. Think of DJ's last sea scape images. That swirly water takes a long exposure (perhaps 60 seconds) which would result in white sky.

A neutral density filter (not graduated) is also really handy as it reduces the amount of light entering the camera. Why ??? Say you wanted to record some movement with a slow shutter speed but you end up with too much light and burned out whites. The first thing you do is make the aperture smaller but there might be so much light that even at a minimum aperture it won't work. An ND filter allows you to take that slow shot without everything being over exposed. Think of all those nice milky waterfall pictures.

For me anyway:

Polarizer
Neutral Density Filter
A couple of ND grads

...........would suit me.

I use a UV filter to protect the lens from scratches

Thanks guys - Phil - that was really interesting. I tend to be a person who experiments to find out what works and does not work - but going away I am not going to have time to experiment!

I use a UV filter on every lens for protection. I own a circular polarizer for every lens to accentuate skies and reduce reflections on water & surfaces that reflect, like glass windows. I do not stack filters on any lens because of distortion and possible unwanted vignetting may occur.

My wish list is the same as Phil's!

xx

So...looking at the ND filters - they come in different numbers.....are these the graduations. What I am trying to get my head around (forgive me for sounding a bit dim ) Are graduations either the entire filter being darker or just sections of it? (does that make sense?)

There is SO much about photograghy I don't understand!

An ND filter is grey right accross the whole filter and comes in different amounts of grey. The darker it is the slower the shutter speed for the same exposure.

A graduated ND filter graduates from grey to clear.

The 'greyness' (is that a word) can differ but so can the blend between the grey part and the clear part. Some graduate very smoothly from grey to clear (known as soft) and others graduate very harshly (known as hard)

A hard filter will result in a very sudden and clearly visible change in dark / light so is good when the horizon is straight (think looking out to sea) whilst a soft one is good when the horizon is bumpy (think hills and mountains)

Hope that makes sense.......

Very useful. Thanks Phil!

Perfect sense - thanks