Essential filters for a D90?

[chyidean]

As my previous thread has mentioned I will be purchasing a Nikon D90 in the (very) near future.

I was wondering if there were any essential filters that some of the people here always have on their cameras, for example, UV filters, circular polarizers, etc. I seem to have gotten the impression that color filters aren't necessary because you can always use Photoshop for post-processing, so it shouldn't be an issue, right?

What filters do you use, and why?

 

[Garbz]

Yep. We here use UV filters to protect our lenses. Filters that can't be mimicked in photoshop are the Polarisers, ND Grad, or Neutral Density filters.

With filters don't go cheap. Cheap filters cause reflections on the lens elements and lead to glare or ghosting especially when shooting in contrasty situations. Get multicoated filters like Hoya's SHMC or better. And ignore any filter which markets itself "For digital" since that is marketing BS to drive the price up (e.g. Hoya Pro1 Digital)

 

[epp_b]

Colour filters are not necessary with digital, that's what white balance is for.

Polarizer, ND grad and ND filters (if you do long exposures in daylight) are pretty much the only filters necessary for the job. I use clear, skylight or UV filters merely as physical protection for the front element.

I'll offer a differing opinion on cheap filters: all my filters a cheap. I can't see any noticeable difference in sharpness, though I don't have any super-sharp lenses or cameras. The only time there are adverse effects (flares and ghosts) are when I'm shooting directly into a light source. For those rare situations, I just take the filter off. There's seldom need to use an effect filter shooting into a light source anyway.

 

[Joves]

I would get the Nikon Clear as a protector and, a Circular Polarizer. You will find yourself using the CP quite often, especially in harsh sun light.

 

[blash]

UV protectors for urban landscapes (eliminate haze) and otherwise as general protection for all your lenses, i.e. if your lens were to bump into something then the $40 filter gets thrown away, and not hundreds of dollars of high-quality optics. Don't understand why anyone would go with a clear filter over a UV filter, especially when they're around the same price...

Circular polarizers are also most useful for getting rid of reflections, either off metal or glass (like cars in the middle of the day) or water (seeing through the lake effect). They also make the sky darker/ bluer.

I haven't used a neutral density filter but the point is to allow you to reduce the light coming into the camera so that you can, for example, set a slower shutter speed than you otherwise would be able to. I don't have one though and I don't miss it.