Hoya Filters

rmh159 · Jul 24, 2006

I might be making a trip to the beach soon and figured it was the perfect excuse to get a filter or two for my D50. Hoya seems to be the more popular company to go to for filters but wanted to throw out the idea and see if anyone else had suggestions.

I was originally going to go with a polarizer but due to the beach trip and another trip that might be coming up (involving water fountains) I'm thinking a neutral density might work better. Any suggestions for that? I was think a an 8 would be a good start but wasn't sure if I should get a graduated filter or not.

I also some are multi-coated and others aren't. Any info on that would be appreciated as well.

Thanks!

Tiberius · Jul 24, 2006

Especially in a beach environment, I'd make sure you threw on some kind of filter - perhaps just a basic UV or Skylight one - for protection from sand, water, etc. As far as for beach shots in particular, I've had some good results with using circular polarizers, but haven't tried ND filters to know if they work any better.

Digital Matt · Jul 24, 2006

rmh159 said:
I'm thinking a neutral density might work better.

Work better for what? A neutral density filter and a polarizer do not do the same thing. A polarizer will darken your scene yes, but not always uniformly. That's not what it's meant for. What effect are you trying to get?

rmh159 · Jul 24, 2006

Sorry... I wasn't too clear. For the beach and fountains I'd want to use the ND to blur the water. I know a polarizer can have a similar affect but a ND should be a little more dependable for that specific affect (though I could be wrong).

For the most part I'm pretty clear on the differences between the ND and Polarizer... I think where I could use the most help is on which brand to get... what the multi-coated means... and what level of ND would be a good start. I tend to prefer more dramatic affects and contrast in pictures if that makes a difference.

I've also looked on the web and haven't seen a good resource for info on filters. Most sites just describe what they do but I'd like to see pictures of examples. If anyone has ideas... I'm all ears.

Digital Matt said:
Work better for what? A neutral density filter and a polarizer do not do the same thing. A polarizer will darken your scene yes, but not always uniformly. That's not what it's meant for. What effect are you trying to get?

Torus34 · Jul 25, 2006

I've found Hoyas to be satisfactory.

ksmattfish · Jul 25, 2006

rmh159 said:
which brand to get... what the multi-coated means... and what level of ND would be a good start. I tend to prefer more dramatic affects and contrast in pictures if that makes a difference.

Hoya makes good filters.

Lens coatings reduce flare, and may increase contrast. A long time ago lenses were coated with a single coating (before that they weren't coated at all, how did they even take pictures!?!). Now days they all have multiple combinations of top-secret, space age, rare-earth elements, and voodoo-witchcraft optimized to work with film or digital, and guaranteed to take only masterpieces! Just kidding. I'm not saying that fancy multi-coatings are worthless, but in most cases the saleperson will see a bigger difference ($90 instead of $30) than the purchaser.

Neutral density filter only block light. They don't add contrast, or drama, or anything. They just block light. I would assess your reasons for needing to block light, and then you can decide how strong of a ND filter you need.

Polarizers, if used correctly, reduce reflections (which tends to make colors look more saturated), darkens cyan skies into blue, and block about 2 to 2.5 stops of light.