What filter?

Takeshi_Kovacs

I am looking to buy a 400d and Tamron 17-50m lens in the next few weeks, but i am just wondering what filters would you advise getting.
I am thinking that a polarizer is a must, but there are loads of other filters ND , grey e.t.c.. What would you recommend for outdoor photography, landscapes?

thebaz

With all the features in Photoshop , are filters really a necessity now ?
From my limited knowledge , Photoshop will pretty much do what an array of filters used to do in the past ?

As you say a Polarised filter would be good though !

Huggy Bear

Get yourself a UV filter for your lens and protect your glass, the UV can be used all the time, also this filter would reduce "glare" from shiny surfaces, such as glass, water and even a bald head and protect your lens against scratch damage.

digitalage

Huggy bear maybe I picked you up wrong but a uv filter won't reduce glare from shinny surfaces, it just blocks out uv light, a polarizor will though. Photoshop can replicate most filters "effects," but lets say for instance your shooting a stream and it has alot of reflection, you put on a polarizor and it reduces the reflections allowing you to photograph a fish or some detail in the rocks under the water, photoshop cannot replicate this detail. Also an 8 stop ND filter put on the front off you lens will allow you to shoot a slow shutter speeds which might not be possible if its areally bright day.

Takeshi_Kovacs I recommend you get a polarisor for landscapes as it can make the colours more saturated. a ND grad is not essential as you could bracket your shots and merger them together in photoshop, heres a link tutorial on how to do it. I have loads of Grad NDs which I hardly use anymore.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/article_2/

Takeshi_Kovacs

digitalage wrote:

Huggy bear maybe I picked you up wrong but a uv filter won't reduce glare from shinny surfaces, it just blocks out uv light, a polarizor will though. Photoshop can replicate most filters "effects," but lets say for instance your shooting a stream and it has alot of reflection, you put on a polarizor and it reduces the reflections allowing you to photograph a fish or some detail in the rocks under the water, photoshop cannot replicate this detail. Also an 8 stop ND filter put on the front off you lens will allow you to shoot a slow shutter speeds which might not be possible if its areally bright day.

Takeshi_Kovacs I recommend you get a polarisor for landscapes as it can make the colours more saturated. a ND grad is not essential as you could bracket your shots and merger them together in photoshop, heres a link tutorial on how to do it. I have loads of Grad NDs which I hardly use anymore.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/article_2/

Nice one thanks for the advice lads.
That tutorial is nice and simple, i have taken a few pics where the sky has been overexposed, or the foreground underexposed,
and never thought of fixing it the way that the tutorial shows. Hehe i am a newb when it comes to this stuff..

Huggy Bear

thanks digitalage, here's me thinking it did thanks for the explaination

magicbastarder

polarisers are great for reducing reflections, but are overused to deepen blue skies.
as regards doing everything in photoshop, why not just buy 3DStudio MAx, and dispense with the camera altogether?

JMcL

digitalage wrote:

Takeshi_Kovacs I recommend you get a polarisor for landscapes as it can make the colours more saturated. a ND grad is not essential as you could bracket your shots and merger them together in photoshop, heres a link tutorial on how to do it. I have loads of Grad NDs which I hardly use anymore.

As digitalage says, the only essential filter is a polariser. Another advantage of a polariser is that it can reduce the amount of light by up to 2 stops, allowing you to use slower shutter speeds, and reducing the requirement for a solid neutral density filter.

While it's true that PS can be used to merge bracketed exposures with excellent results, ofttimes better than achievable by using ND grads as you're not restricted to a straight line split, and you can choose where to put the split at your leisure, I've come around to the view that there's still a place for ND grads. If you have a scene where there's any movement, it can make the merge difficult if not impossible. Trees and plants blowing in the wind are the worst offenders, though waves can be a problem too. I wouldn't rush out and buy a set straight away if I were you (and don't buy the circular screw-in ones, they're pointless), try merging bracketed exposures first. You don't even need PS to do this, it works perfectly well in GIMP as well.