Should i buy colour filters

[barry100]

Hi all

my first post so if this is a stupid question then just say...

Can I buy colour filters for my Fuji Finepix digital SLR or should i just take normal colour pics and alter then using Photshop?

I have taken some really good pics of scenery in Scotland and i think i could have taken better pics on the day if i had filters to atatch to my camera..

Would i have gotten better results or is it better to change using photoshop?

 

[skieur]

There is still a place for camera filters. A polarizer will reduce reflections when shooting through glass and surface glare when shooting water or metallic items at right angles. A photoshop plug-in filter will improve the sky like a camera polarizer but will NOT handle reflections or surface glare.

A camera graduated ND filter will balance out a bright sky and darker foreground so that you get more detail and colour in the foreground while retaining the properly exposed colour of the sky. A photoshop graduated ND filter will improve a badly exposure balanced photo in the same way but the difference is that it can only work with the information already recorded. The result may be added picture noise or grain which is not the case when using camera filters.

skieur

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

I agree with what has been said. A polarizer can do things that Photoshop can not...so it's a very good filter to use...especially for landscapes. ND (graduated or not) can also be useful...but color filters can easily be replicated with Photoshop.

 

[WDodd]

I recently got a CPL and a set of GND filters and they are great. Although you can pretty easily get away with not having a GND and just combining multiple exposures in photoshop.

 

[Garbz]

A photoshop graduated ND filter will improve a badly exposure balanced photo in the same way but the difference is that it can only work with the information already recorded. The result may be added picture noise or grain which is not the case when using camera filters.

Consider next time bracketing. Just like those who make HDR images. If you bracket multiple exposures and then combine them in photoshop using a gradient mask you can literally replicate perfectly an ND grad filter. The only time this doesn't work is if something is moving from the dark half to the light half of the frame.

 

[brett304]

Just wanted to say that a filter alters what a camera records whereas after effects only affect the more limited information that is then recorded... The polarizer filter is the most obvious example, but there are more... The ND filter for instance... IF you're hoping to pull the silky texture of flowing water out, but the day is very bright, how would you leave the shutter open long enough without overexposure... The answer is an ND Filter... You can also use this for sports during extreme light to show more movement, street scenes for the same reason, etc...

Yes, you can bracket a shot and expose for multiple areas of a scene to avoid buying a certain filter, etc., but this increases your time on the computer alot... Also, sometimes your shots will not line up as you wished (especially if you have an unsturdy tripod)... The main thing is that you do things like this to save money or sometimes preserve flexibility, but some of us prefer to do it right the first time and would rather work getting the shot right and playing with the camera than to do it afterward in photoshop... There is room for both and as a disclaimer, I do love photoshop and have absolutely no interest in "keeping photography pure"... I believe that all tools can only contribute to the art.. Any artist is going to want total control over the image he produces and will not settle for much less... I wont even use Auto levels or anything like that in photoshop... Good luck and enjoy!!!