Which filter for dslr

This is a trick that some street photographers and portrait photographers use to come up with some very cool, through-the-window type shots. Now, a polarizer does come with some drawbacks. For one, modern polarizers reduce the light transmitted through your lens. But for landscape photographers, architectural photographers, and cityscape photographers — who often deal with light reflecting off water and light reflecting off windows, respectively — a polarizer is a must.

But why would you want to darken your lens? You see, a neutral density filter blocks light from hitting the camera sensor, which gives you the freedom to open up certain camera settings. But what if you want to use a long shutter speed to create silky waterfalls? Or streaking clouds? Landscape photographers use neutral density filters all the time, especially when shooting water or dramatic skies.

So they put an ND filter over the lens, which blocks light and allows them to shoot at whatever aperture they please. A 3-stop ND filter lets you increase your shutter speed or widen your aperture by three stops of light, whereas a stop ND filter is far stronger, and gives you ten stops to work with.

Neutral density filters are very useful — but they can also be frustrating to work with. So you often have to focus manually in advance, then screw on the ND filter, before taking your shot. Many anti-filter folks also question whether a filter will truly protect your lens in most situations. Graduated neutral density filters are designed to darken only part of the image — generally the top half, though you can purchase reverse graduated neutral density filters that are darkest toward the middle and get lighter as you move upward.

And this will cause your camera to either blow out the sky or underexpose the foreground unless you take certain steps to compensate. If you slide a GND filter in front of the lens, you can darken the sky while keeping the foreground well-exposed. Hard graduated neutral density filters have a very rapid transition. They move from dark to light over a short distance, as shown in the photo below:.

Whereas soft graduated neutral density filters transition from dark to light more slowly, like this:. Hard GND filters are great for shooting scenes with flat horizons, such as a sunset over a snowy plain, or a sunrise over the ocean.

And soft GND filters are great for shooting scenes with more complex horizons, such as a sunrise over a mountain range or a sunset over a tree-filled field. You can actually achieve the same type of effect using high dynamic range imaging techniques. This involves taking several images at different exposures, then blending them together during post-processing. In most cases, assuming you have the post-processing know-how, these issues can be overcome. But it can take a lot of effort, not to mention time, which is why some photographers prefer to work with GND filters in the field.

But filters vary wildly in quality, and most of the cheapest filters are, well, cheap. Overall, graduated color filters are a great way to have plenty of creative fun though you do need to apply them in the right situations.

Then you need to learn how to make infrared photos. And one of the most accessible ways to do this is with an infrared camera filter.

You see, most cameras block infrared light from reaching the sensor to some extent, and the stronger the block, the less effective an infrared filter will be.

So should you choose to use this kind of filter, expect your exposure times to range from 30 seconds up to 4 minutes, depending on your ISO and aperture settings. A camera filter can easily enhance your photos — by saturating colors, darkening skies, creating infrared effects, and much more. So make sure you pick up a filter or two. Have you used any of these filters? Is there another filter that you use in your photography?

Camera filters allow you to add more creativity to your photography. Circular filters are one of the main options out there. Circular polarizing filters are great for enhancing skies like this one. Since they effectively introduce an additional piece of glass between your camera's sensor and the subject, they have the potential to reduce image quality.

This usually comes in the form of either a slight color tint, a reduction in local or overall image contrast, or ghosting and increased lens flare caused by light inadvertently reflecting off the inside of the filter. Filters may also introduce physical vignetting light fall-off or blackening at the edges of the image if their opaque edge gets in the way of light entering the lens right example. This was created by stacking a polarizing filter on top of a UV filter while also using a wide angle lens — causing the edges of the outermost filter to get in the way of the image.

Stacking filters therefore has the potential to make all of the above problems much worse. Lens filters generally come in two varieties: screw-on and front filters. Front filters are more flexible because they can be used on virtually any lens diameter, however these may also be more cumbersome to use since they may need to be held in front of the lens. On the other hand, filter holder kits are available that can improve this process. Screw-on filters can provide an air-tight seal when needed for protection, and cannot accidentally move relative to the lens during composure.

The main disadvantage is that a given screw-on filter will only work with a specific lens size. The size of a screw-on filter is expressed in terms of its diameter, which corresponds to the diameter usually listed on the top or front of your camera lens.

This diameter is listed in millimeters and usually ranges from about 46 to 82 mm for digital SLR cameras. Step-up or step-down adapters can enable a given filter size to be used on a lens with a smaller or larger diameter, respectively. However, step-down filter adapters may introduce substantial vignetting since the filter may block light at the edges of the lens , whereas step-up adapters mean that your filter is much larger and potentially more cumbersome than is required.

The height of the filter edges may also be important. Ultra-thin and other special filters are designed so that they can be used on wide angle lenses without vignetting. On the other hand, these may also be much more expensive and often do not have threads on the outside to accept another filter or sometimes even the lens cap. Want to learn more? Discuss this and other articles in our digital photography forums.

Exact matches only. Search in title. Search in content. Search in excerpt. Select: No Polarizer Polarizer at Max two separate handheld photos taken seconds apart. Smoothed water from a long exposure. GND Filter. Final Result. Follow us via Email Facebook Twitter.

No Polarizer. Polarizer at Max. Final Photo. Location of GND Blend.