Filters how do we know when to use them?

[acrybb]

just being a newbie to the photography world i am curious about filters i.e how many different types and their uses and how do we know when is best to use them the ones i have heard of are polarizing and uv i know of the coloured ones but i have these colours built into my cameras software why would i need additional filters?

Thanks
Andy

[mogawowo]

UV:

make little or no discernable change to an image, they are primarily used as lens protectors

cir-polarizing /polarizing filters:


my fave filter i own, tihs little bad boy enhances skies making the contrast in blue and white in clouds stand out, and also allows you to turn it to block out all reflected light off non metalic surfaces so for eg reduce most of the relections in water ect.

[acrybb]

yeah is that how you can get such blue looking skies? i had read somewhere that if you meter your pics wrong it makes your skies look whitish and erm.. washed out but if you set your metering to the sky it makes your sky look great but your letting your dark stuff deal with itself what other filers might i find good use for (i do alot of walking so landscapes/waterfalls are probably gonna be my main pics)?

Thanks
Andy

[MarcelHold]

UV:

make little or no discernable change to an image, they are primarily used as lens protectors




something to be aware of, acrybb, is that sometimes filters can add unwanted extras to your pics... , see in my thread on trouble I've had with my Jessops UV filters, here (http://www.photography-forum.org/showthread.php?t=22898) (hope the link works, if not, it's in the Camera Basics... section, a bit down from where your thread is.... I found the advice by the guys who responded enlightening!

Also... just thought: I did find that pics taken through a UV filter were a little darker on the whole, possibly allowing you to open up the aperture a bit more, or shoot with a longer shutter time (which might not be a good thing...)

[angus]

i am really enjoying playing with filters


one of my faves is an ND8, knocks out 3 stops ( i think??? ) of light so you can get longer exposure times withought affecting the colors and stuff. great for getting some motion into images especially with water.

also use a gradiated ND quite a lot, really helps improve the balance on sunset type shots so you can avoid over exposing the sky whilst keeping foreground detail that would normall be lost.


of course if you shoot RAW you have a certian amount of latitude and you can do quite a bit in PP but its easier if pics come off the camera closer to what you want

[tinysmall]

UV:

make little or no discernable change to an image, they are primarily used as lens protectors



If used corerectly they can make a huge difference to images. Most people don't realise what they are for and use them to protect their lens because they have seen other people do it. Your lens doesn't need protecting if you use it as a lens and not as a baseball bat.

The UV filter is designed to cut out UV light which on a sunny day is the cause of haze which can really interfere with pictures. If it is a hazy day, stick a UV filter on you will get clean and sharp shots whilst everyone else gets dull and hazey images.

[acrybb]

Hi thanks all for the info its appreciate..
so the type of shots i will be taking are:
Landscape,
waterfall & Other watery related thing like the sea and lochs etc
Macro shots

so im guessing that being scotland a UV filter would be appropriate and also a Circ polarizing filter to enhance my skies for landscape & Sea hirizon type shots. i would assume that for macro shots i would use a colour enhancing Filter or could i use the in built colour filters in the camera or would these not be as good?

I do alot of hillwalking so would like to know how to make the best of these types of photos:

Thanks
Andy

[tinysmall]

Cir polarizers are always handy but you don't need and filters for macro work. If you are using a macro lens most of the time you will be working at around f16 or higher so using any filter would just slow your shutter speed even more.

[acrybb]

hi,

i got a couple of Hoya filters a UV and Circ polarizer seems i can screw them both on the polarizer onto the Uv does this mean i can use them togther? probably not lol. also the polarizer turns 360 degrees i assume that different points on the polarizer give different effect on the photos?

Thanks for any help

Andy

[lostmysnorkel]

Yep, as a landscaper, a collection of filters would be uyseful.

The polariser reduces glare and reflections, used well it can also boost the colours and andd saturation. It all depends on the angle of the sun.

A set of Neutral Density (ND) filters, with different densities, will reduce the amount of lignt passing through the lens, so, to get that blurry smooth waterfall effect on a bright sunny day, an ND would let you use a longer shutter speed to blur the water, without affecting the colour of the surrounding landscape.

A Graduated Neutral Density (ND Grad) does the same as above, but over half the image with a graduated transition. These can be used to 'darken' the sky to avoid the blown out white sky for example.

The cloured filters, warming filters, cooling filters etc have become pretty much redundant in the digital age - their effects can be duplicated in PS easily.

There's loads of good books around on the use of filters if you browse ebay.