Camera lens filters

[Tha Wookie]

This is specifically for slide film users: Anyone use filters that they like for the green tunnel? whih ones and why?

[hungryhowie]

If you use a green filter and develop B&W, the green will give your images a near-IR look, very cool and really a unique look for B&W.

I wouldn't leave behind a polarizer (your SLR will probably need a Circular Polarizer $$$), it'll make blue skies bluer, white clouds whiter, dark skies darker, foilage colors more intense, cut glare, etc, etc, etc. I think most landscape photographers consider a polarizer to be one of the most important tools that they use.

Graduated Neutral Density - These are useful if you don't want to take the time to bracket shots and combine them afterward for increased dynamic range. Circular screw-on types, however, put the transition zone in the center of the filter, however, just where you DON"T want it for compositional purposes. Cokin or Lee type filters will allow you to position the transition wherever you want it in relation to your composition, but they are bulky and expensive...and not too condusive to ultralight hiking.

For myself, I'll take along protective UV filters for my lenses and a polarizer. The effect of prettymuch any other filter can be easily reproduced with photo editing software, but polarization...well... that's just tough/impossible to do. I gotta keep it to a minimum so I don't end up carrying 16 pounds in photo equipment like SOMEONE here...Keep in mind that you can buy one polarizer (or other type of filter) for all of your lenses, and that you can use step-up or step-down rings to adapt them to the others. Obviously, you'll want to get a filter that will fit your largest lens, you don't want any vingetting.

-Howie

[grizzlyadam]

i shoot with a polarizing filter on my lens morning, noon, and night. the results are amazing.

if your slr is automatic, then use a circular polarizer. if it is manual, use a linear polarizer. the difference has to do with the metering system.

[Tha Wookie]

I do have a polarizer with two lenses, and it adapts to both. However, I do have a vignetting problem with my wide-angle lens when i open it up to 24. I think my step down ring pushes the focal point just a bit too far for teh width of the polarizer. Any suggestions?

I'm choosing between three lenses for warming/UV: 81A, 81B, and 81 IU (or something like that; it's a UV warmer used primarily for skin tones). I've heard that a warmer is necessary for provia 100 and kodak E100VS. any experience/suggestions here? They're all about the same price, and I'm frnakly torn. If I use my polarizer all the time, would this eliminate this UV/coolness tendency?

I will be doing a lot of pictures on the west coast this summer, and I'm training on the AT. Any sugestions for the beach?

I have a tripod, by the way.

Thanks:-?

[hungryhowie]

I do have a vignetting problem with my wide-angle lens when i open it up to 24. I think my step down ring pushes the focal point just a bit too far for teh width of the polarizer. Any suggestions?

Yes. Get a larger polarizer. Wide-angle and landscape go hand in hand. My thoughts are that you'll probably want 24mm when you get out west...and you'll want a polarizer to go with it.


I'm choosing between three lenses for warming/UV: 81A, 81B, and 81 IU (or something like that; it's a UV warmer used primarily for skin tones). I've heard that a warmer is necessary for provia 100 and kodak E100VS. any experience/suggestions here? They're all about the same price, and I'm frnakly torn. If I use my polarizer all the time, would this eliminate this UV/coolness tendency?

I can't really help you here. Like I said, I do most of my other filter work (besides polarizer) in photoshop.


I will be doing a lot of pictures on the west coast this summer, and I'm training on the AT. Any sugestions for the beach?

You might want to invest in some UV-filters for your lenses, not necessarily to block UV, but to protect your lenses from salt, blowing sand, etc. That type of environment can be tough on sensitive optics...


I have a tripod, by the way.

Really? What kind are you using? This is one question (as I think you know) that I still can't find my own answer to...

-Howie

[The Old Fhart]

When I did the John Muir Trail I carried 2 lenses for my 35mm SLR camera. One was a 28mm-90mm zoom, the other a 16mm full frame fisheye. To see a photo taken from the Summit of Whitney with the 16mm lens, check http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/2830/size/big/password/0/sort/1/cat/500. If the horizion isn't in the center of the photo, you do get the curving shown in the photo. I have told people that Whitney is so high, you can see the curvature of the earth. :) If I had kept the horizion in the center the photo would have looked pretty normal. I found I needed an extreme wide angle on the JMT because everything is so big that some shots with "normal" lenses couldn't capture the entire scene I wanted. I do own a 14mm rectilinear lens that will keep the lines straight but it is much heavier. Neither lens can use a filter in front and I have to be careful to keep my fingers back taking photos with the 16mm because it has 180 degree view on the diagonal. Polarizers for darkening the sky don't work well on wide angle lenses because the maximum effect is at a right angle to the sun. A 24mm lens has a 83 degree of view and will cause the brightness of the sky to go from light to dark within the photo and look unnatural. The polarizer also removes reflections from water and wet surfaces and can help intensify colors.

One of the cheapest way to improve daytime shots is to use a lens hood. If the sun is hitting the front element of the lens off axis (hopefully you're not looking directly at the noonday sun) the contrast and saturation of the shot will be reduced dramatically. If you have an SLR, try aiming the camera at a subject with the sun just out of the viewing frame but shining on the front element of the lens. As you look through the lens, move your hand back and forth (out of frame) to shade the front element and see the dramatic change that makes. Getting the best possible shot is a lot easier than trying to manipulate it in Photoshop later.

Another note. If you want to use only one polarizer on more than one lens, get one that fits on the widest angle lens you have. This should work without vignetting. The polarizer will probably be larger than any needed for your normal lenses. Now get step up rings to allow the polarizer to work with your other lens. Going the other way and using a stepdown ring for the wide angle lens is certainly going to give you vignetting. If you feel you like a warming effect of the 81 series of filters, you can get a warming polarizer which avoids filter stacking that can also lead to vignetting. Hope you find some of this info useful.

[The Will]

Tha Wookie,


My personal philosophy for filters and nature/landscape photograpy is that I don't want to use anything that would make the picture unnatural in appearance. In HungryHowies post he listed some very good filter options for achieving an enhanced image without compromising the natural appearence; namely a polarizing filter and neutral density filters.

In addition to those, I believe you are on the right tract in considering getting a warming filter. This will be especially beneficial in "the Green Tunnel" you accurately described will encounter frequently on the AT or any closed in trail. I would make one suggestion though, you mentioned that you were considering some warmers from the 81 series (81A 81B...etc). These warmers are based on slight brown tones, which, as you mentioned, are very complimentary to skin tones. However, since your designated use (atleast as implied by your message) is going to be nature/landscape type work, I would encourage you to look into the KR series of warming filters. These filters are based on salmon-like colors, which I feel better imitates the early morning/late afternoon sun light.

The 81 series is American, while the KR series is German in origin. You can buy KR warmers from German filter manufacturers such as B+W and Heliopan. Both of these manufacturers use extremly high quality glass--the same that is used to make the front element of camera lenses.

I own a Heliopan KR 1.5 and shoot with it almost exclusively (accept for those times when a polarizer or neutral density filter is called for).



The Will
Mega '97