What filters are a necessity?

[NateS]

I would say CPL is the only one that's an absolute necessity - but there are a few others that are really fun and good to have.

I recommend B+W with MRC ... they are roughly double the cost of the one you linked to...

ND lets you get slower shutter speeds in the day time for cool effects with flowing water or moving clouds - things like that.

IR is fun too, but some cameras just aren't very good at it (they all have an IR blocking filter over the sensor - some block more than others).

Star filters are fun, but have limited applications...

The infrared filters do take some neat images, I just googled some, lol.

For the B&W with the MRC and Neutral Density filters - what brand would you recommend? I know nothing about the sizes either, lol.

I have a Hoya HMC 3 stop ND filter. Very affordable and is great for getting that flowing water look. It also works great if you want to shoot at larger apertures in direct sunlight or use your flash in sunlight. Oh, and I notice no real dropoff in quality with the HMC filter....I'm sure there is some, but it's not significant enough for me to notice.

 

[LittleMiss]

cool - thanks! I will look into that one too

 

[HikinMike]

Necessity? I don't think a CPL is a necessity. Sure it would make my life easier and make processing easier, but I've taken some pretty good landscapes (with and without water) without a CPL filter. It's a good filter to have I'm sure, but necessity is a pretty strong word. Unless you shoot through glass, shoot through water or really need to cut reflections in items, a CPL is not a necessity in my opinion....none of those are really needed in a typical landscape photo.

And before people start arguing with my opinion, a CPL can work and be nice, but I have plenty of photos with landscapes where the sky is gorgeous blue without the need of a CPL.

Yep, I've been photographing landscapes for a few years and I recently bought a CP. I buy all of my stuff at B&H, but tried them and have no complaints.... MaxSaver.Net

 

[DRAKE181]

As you are new to the SLR world, My advice would be to buy a :
- UV filter. (more to protect your lens than for any other reason)
- Polarised filter.

Entry level ones of these two should set you back like $50 for the pair.
Then go out and play with your new toys until you decide where your passion for photography lies and purchase filters accordingly.

I think by 'sizes' of ND filters you were meaning gradients (maybe) and these come
as:

Name Reduction in F-stop
ND2 1
ND4 2
ND8 3
ND64 6
*see here -> Neutral density filter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I made the mistake of buying really expensive filters early and I wish I would have put that towards better lens's.

 

[kundalini]

- UV filter. (more to protect your lens than for any other reason)

Welcome to TPF DRAKE.

As Goontz mentioned above, the use of a UV filter for "protection" is a divided issue. I am in the camp that uses lens hoods and common sense for protection. Were I to be shooting in a situation where mud, dust, dirt or sand is likely to be an issue, then I would use a clear glass filter rather than a UV. This is only my opinion...... and I do own "good glass".

 

[LittleMiss]

Would you guys recommend renting a lens from any specific websites? I live in upstate, NY and there is NO place around here I can rent from unless I travel across the lake to Vermont, lol. I am too busy to do that right now.

 

[williambarry]

I have a UV filter on my camera at all times. Outside of that, I can mimic with some degree of similarity any filter with photoshop. I know to some this compromises the "purity" of the art, but photoshop itself is an art.