what filters do you like to use?

[Lestat]

i am curious, what lens filters do you guy/gals like to use and what effect does it produce/reduce, and can you share a sample of before and after.

i usually dont use filters regularly although i have a diffusing filter i really like, and a haze 1 filter i am playing with, and would like to find a Haze 2 filter for a fair price just to see what the difference is.

i also use a 1A filter on one of my M42 50mm F/1.4 lenses as there is purple fringing and believe it or not, it tones down the fringing.

some results i would like to see are Circular Polarized filters, gradiant filters, and a few others.

Please share your thoughts, filters type, and results.

[ripken204]

I only have a Circular Polarized Filter, I can dig out photos later. Basically I only use it for making deeper colors especially when shooting water shots or when you want a deep looking sky. I have also seen some examples of it reducing the reflection of things such as flowers/plants and even when shooting through glass such as in an aquarium.

A graduated neutral density is what i really want but they are pretty expensive. For now I just use the tool in lightroom to make the effect but it really is a must have for landscape shots. Basically it is normally used to make the sky darker so that it is not blown out when you are trying to get the details in the foreground.

[Marin]

1.2 ND and a .6 GND.

Works nicely for landscapes.

[Lestat]

yeah the Neutral Density filters, that was the other one i was trying to think of.

one thing that's bothered me about those is that by definition they are meant to allow a person to keep a faster fstop but get the motion blur.
its sun glasses for your lens.
but why not just use F/15-f/22 on lenses that support it.
the ND filter, using a faster fstop is meant to keep sharp focus on a certain area while blurring others (of course) but 99% of the pictures i see around the net and here are not doing that. the entire picture is in focus, for the most part.
so why not forego the filter and just use a slower fstop ?
you will still get the motion blue because of the moving water, and your entire image is still in focus?

not to mention that Marin you mentioned a 1.2 filter. which i have not seen, but a ND2 only allows for about 1 stop difference. and you can just do that manually.

i guess i dont understand why use one when you can just use a slower fstop? in daylight its highly probable that the shutter speed at a lower fstop would still not allow proper motion blur ?

[RoadconeTuning]

Noooonnnneeeee

[Marin]

yeah the Neutral Density filters, that was the other one i was trying to think of.

one thing that's bothered me about those is that by definition they are meant to allow a person to keep a faster fstop but get the motion blur.
its sun glasses for your lens.
but why not just use F/15-f/22 on lenses that support it.
the ND filter, using a faster fstop is meant to keep sharp focus on a certain area while blurring others (of course) but 99% of the pictures i see around the net and here are not doing that. the entire picture is in focus, for the most part.
so why not forego the filter and just use a slower fstop ?
you will still get the motion blue because of the moving water, and your entire image is still in focus?

not to mention that Marin you mentioned a 1.2 filter. which i have not seen, but a ND2 only allows for about 1 stop difference. and you can just do that manually.

i guess i dont understand why use one when you can just use a slower fstop? in daylight its highly probable that the shutter speed at a lower fstop would still not allow proper motion blur ?

1.2 = ND16 which is a 4 stop reduction.

A smaller aperture usually can't obtain what this filter can.

And stopping down the aperture a ton results in diffraction.

[nut311]

Hoya CPL and ND8 fro me....

[Lestat]

thanks marin, given the darkness of the filter i figured, in daylight, that you still couldnt achieve what the filter would do.

i been wanting to get one but frankly, dont have anything around here that can give me the shots like you guys have. we have a river but nothing with regards to falls, or shallow stream with rocks and def. not any beaches.

beside i dont think the Mississippi or Cedar River would look good with an ND filter, it would look like frozen liquid poop.. Miss. and Cedar rivers are muddy, very muddy waters.

nut any chance you could show a before and after with a CPL filter?

I am always interested in the nonstandard shots too, meaning using a filter for an effect that it may not have been wholey inteded for.

[inCore]

I desperately want a Graduated Neutral Density filter. It's impossible to shoot silky waters on beaches without one. This photo was taken at F25, already ridiculously low, and yet the longest shutter speed I could use was 1.6 seconds.



I got an effect that was in the direction of that which I wanted, but it's not quite there yet and it's clearly a case of missing equipment. Switzerland is just horrible when it comes to things like this though, it's a real shame.