Before and After filters..

[Markw]

I was looking up different types of filters and they all have discriptions as to what they do but none of them have before and after pictures. So this gave me two questions. 1) Which lenses are considered "Essentials"? and 2)Does anyone have anny before and after pictures from the samep place and conditions with different filters that they could post or know of a website that they could show me the effects on? I was looking into a polarizer and a UV filter. I also took interest in the cross filters which are said to give an 8-point start effect or something like that. Thanks a bunch in advance.

Mark

 

[Syndac]

These are some ancient pics I took when I first got my camera and polarizer. Don't mind the blobs in the sky, I hadn't cleaned the image sensor yet at this point. These have no PP done to them.

No polarizer:

With polarizer:

These two show how it cuts glare/reflection:
No polarizer:

With polarizer:

 

[bosstatus]

don't mind the tags, I used these pictures for someone's site. but here.

without filter.

with filter.

The post above me really covered it but more pics never hurt anyone.

 

[kundalini]

:lmao:

I just posted this in another thread as a test.

 

[Markw]

Ok so I did a little more research and I came up with this:
A polarizer reduces glare and intensifies colors
A UV filter protects your lens from being damaged so you would only have to replace the $30 filter instead of the $300-$3000 lens.
A warming filter will drastically help on cloudy days and in shade to push the colors more towards the warm side and away from the blues and purples.
A ND filter reduces the light amount to your camera so you can slow the shutter speed on a brilliantly bright sunny day without over-exposing,
A graduated ND filter makes it so you can get bright sun and shade both in focus and detailed.

Did I cover most of the essential lens types and functions?

Mark

 

[Syndac]

A polarizer reduces glare and intensifies colors

A UV filter protects your lens from being damaged so you would only have to replace the $30 filter instead of the $300-$3000 lens.

A warming filter will drastically help on cloudy days and in shade to push the colors more towards the warm side and away from the blues and purples.

Yes to those.

A ND filter reduces the light amount to your camera so you can slow the shutter speed on a brilliantly bright sunny day without over-exposing,

It's often used for special effects such as bluring water movement, cloud movement, etc due to the slower shutter speeds. I love my ND8 on waterfalls and rivers.

A graduated ND filter makes it so you can get bright sun and shade both in focus and detailed.

If I'm reading that right... yes. It's generally used to "darken" the sky on bright days without effecting the ground to get the entire image exposed correctly.

 

[kundalini]

Singh-Ray Grad ND link

Thom Hogan Filters 101 link

 

[TamiyaGuy]

Also, a UV filter can cut out some of the "haze" you see in long-distance landscape photography, making distant details crisper. However, a polarizing filter does that as well, and better, but it eats a stop of light as well.

 

[Ptyler22]

Sorry to but in with this Mark but I also have a quick question about filters. So I got a UV filter and I looked at the shots you guys have up there and it looks like in the magazine shot it cut out the reflections, but will a UV filter to the same as a Polarizer? I ask becuse I shoot lots of cars in bright sun with loooots of reflections that ruin most of my shots. if I used the filter for those would it cut out some of the reflections that you can see in the cars? Thanks

 

[Markw]

If I read it correctly, the shot with the magazine was shot with a polarizer filter. I hear the UV filter does the same thing but alot less effectively.

Mark

 

[Joves]

If I read it correctly, the shot with the magazine was shot with a polarizer filter. I hear the UV filter does the same thing but alot less effectively.

Mark

No a UV doesnt do the same thing. It is supposed to reduce haze but, it really isnt effective. Most people use them as lens protectors. I prefer the Nikon Clear filters for protection. Circualr Polarizers are like sunglasses for your lens but, can be adjusted to higher polarization or, lower depending on what you need. They are more effective.

 

[prodigy2k7]

UV today is mostly for film, most lenses have UV blocking layers and sensors dont seem to see the uv light much...

 

[Josh66]

...but none of them have before and after pictures.

If you browse through the Filters section at B&H, almost all of them have a "with filter/without filter" picture. They aren't always the best pictures, but it'll at least give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.