Filters! What do you use?

[wud]

I got ND4 and ND8 (which can be screwed on top of each other), I know these and had them before - works great I think, although, I am not sure but it seems the pictures get a little weird if ISO are to high. Anyone tried this?

Also got a graduated blue filter, soft, this I tried for a few pictures with trees and sky, did NOT like the outcome. As the trees weren't the same height, the blue covered some of the tops which looked weird. Other parts of the sky, didnt have the blue tint.
I want to try these at the beach, maybe this will have a better outcome, but car is broken blue so this will have to wait.

(Ordered a graduated yellow/brown filter too, but they made a mistake and shipped 2*blue.)


Last, but not least, I recently got the IR filter but so far nothing decent coming out. Shuttertime are WAY to low for the stuff I really wanted to use it for, buuuut I am working on an idea which maybe will come out great (excitement!).


What do you use and for what? :very_drunk:

 

[Horoscope Fish]

The only filters I use with any real regularity are circular polarizing filters and neutral density filters. You might try a CP at the beach, I find the brighter the sun, or the brighter the scene itself, the more I want my CP filter. They're not just for killing glare off water and other highly reflective surfaces as many people seem to think they are (though they are excellent for that of course). I find saturation appears nicely enhanced across the board when using a polarizing filter, it's a subtle yet profound difference. I'm assuming this is because there is stray reflective light that makes a difference photographically even if I can't really perceive it myself visually. Try one, specifically at the beach in high sun... I think you'll see what I mean straight away.

I happen to prefer Tiffen circular polarizing filters because they are well built and don't seem to be as strong as most other CP's I've tried which in this case I find to be a good thing. They're also less expensive, fortunately, because the bigger filters can get pretty expensive... That being said if you have a preferred brand of filter I don't think it matters all that much whose name is on the side.

 

[Kodiak]

Hi there!

The ND (neutral Density) filters come in two shapes: circular or rectangular.

The circular will apply an equal amount of density to the whole picture. They
are used to cut off the light in a scene in given situations, ore (ND8) or not so
much (ND4). An example is a scene where some elements are in motion like a
river, a merry-go-round, etc.

Without, if the light is very strong and your shutter speed pretty high, all
the scene will be "frozen" in the frame. This may be a desirable take but
there is an other option.

With. If one reduces the amount of available light, then the shutter will be
adjusted to a slower speed to assure correct exposition, thus allowing more
time for any actual movement to be recorded. More density applied = more
movement recorded.

​

In the case of a river: the banks will be sharp and the water blurry,
flowing.
In the case of the merry-go-round: the whole scene will be sharp
except those ​on board!

​

The rectangular is offering a dual density (typically 0/2, 0/4, 0/10, etc) that may
be turned on the filter holder and aligned /applied to the scene area you want affected.

The typical example is a sunset/sunrise scene. One will apply the density to the sky
so that the take will be better balanced and the "pain-in-the-neck" PP work skipped!

How is that for a rough description?

Have a good day…

 

[wud]

The only filters I use with any real regularity are circular polarizing filters and neutral density filters. You might try a CP at the beach, I find the brighter the sun, or the brighter the scene itself, the more I want my CP filter. They're not just for killing glare off water and other highly reflective surfaces as many people seem to think they are (though they are excellent for that of course). I find saturation appears nicely enhanced across the board when using a polarizing filter, it's a subtle yet profound difference. I'm assuming this is because there is stray reflective light that makes a difference photographically even if I can't really perceive it myself visually. Try one, specifically at the beach in high sun... I think you'll see what I mean straight away.

I happen to prefer Tiffen circular polarizing filters because they are well built and don't seem to be as strong as most other CP's I've tried which in this case I find to be a good thing. They're also less expensive, fortunately, because the bigger filters can get pretty expensive... That being said if you have a preferred brand of filter I don't think it matters all that much whose name is on the side.

Sounds very interesting with Tiffen. Thanks! I see they have loads of different ones, also the color grad I talked about. But no more of that. I will try the one you suggest

Hi there!

The ND (neutral Density) filters come in two shapes: circular or rectangular.

The circular will apply an equal amount of density to the whole picture. They
are used to cut off the light in a scene in given situations, ore (ND8) or not so
much (ND4). An example is a scene where some elements are in motion like a
river, a merry-go-round, etc.

Without, if the light is very strong and your shutter speed pretty high, all
the scene will be "frozen" in the frame. This may be a desirable take but
there is an other option.

With. If one reduces the amount of available light, then the shutter will be
adjusted to a slower speed to assure correct exposition, thus allowing more
time for any actual movement to be recorded. More density applied = more
movement recorded.

​

In the case of a river: the banks will be sharp and the water blurry,
flowing.
In the case of the merry-go-round: the whole scene will be sharp
except those ​on board!

​

The rectangular is offering a dual density (typically 0/2, 0/4, 0/10, etc) that may
be turned on the filter holder and aligned /applied to the scene area you want affected.

The typical example is a sunset/sunrise scene. One will apply the density to the sky
so that the take will be better balanced and the "pain-in-the-neck" PP work skipped!

How is that for a rough description?

Have a good day…

I think I chose a wrong word (I am danish) - the one you call Rectangular, is the one I call graduated blue (or whatever color) filter. Im not sure its a filter for me, but I'll of course try it some more at different places.

The circular I like, and use sometimes. But mostly for shooting in daylight, as I prefer high apertures, my shutter sometimes goes over the roof, if you know what I mean

​

 

[FastGlass]

I use a polarizer to cut glare and to add a little punch in the bright sun. I also have the Lee system and use 4x4 ND grauduated soft edge and ND 3,6,9 filters. Allot of people don't use them and just correct things post. I like to get it right in camera. I've never tried a IR filter. The results are interesting so maybe in the future I will.

 

[fotojack]

Same reason as Fish, and I also use Tiffen filters, although I have a couple of Hoya ones. I don't have an ND filter yet. Haven't really found a need for one with the type of photography I do.