Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

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Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Wed Nov 17, 2010 10:25 pm

Which ones do I need? (Yes, that's open-ended.)

And what's a "FLD" filter for?
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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Robert_S » Wed Nov 17, 2010 11:22 pm

Polarizing filter! it darkens the sky at certain angles so that you don't have to have choose between a blown out sky and a dark foreground.

Related: Where can I find a cheap polarizing gel? All I really want is a little sheet of plastic I can hold up in front of the lens once in a while. My compact does not have the capacity to get one of those screw on types.
What I've found with a few discussions I've had lately is this self-satisfaction that people express with their proffessed open mindedness. In realty it ammounts to wilful ignorance and intellectual cowardice as they are choosing to not form any sort of opinion on a particular topic. Basically "I don't know and I'm not going to look at any evidence because I'm quite happy on this fence."
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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Wed Nov 17, 2010 11:31 pm

Robert_S wrote:Polarizing filter! it darkens the sky at certain angles so that you don't have to have choose between a blown out sky and a dark foreground.

Related: Where can I find a cheap polarizing gel? All I really want is a little sheet of plastic I can hold up in front of the lens once in a while. My compact does not have the capacity to get one of those screw on types.
I bought an adapter for my Nikon Coolpix. It now takes 67mm filters, thanks to XC. :tup: As for the gels, how about a filter from a welder's mask? They sell them separately, I think.
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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Wed Nov 17, 2010 11:34 pm

Robert_S wrote:Polarizing filter! it darkens the sky at certain angles so that you don't have to have choose between a blown out sky and a dark foreground.
I bought the set from Amazon. It has a UV, a FLD and a CPL. How is the FLD different from the CPL?
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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Robert_S » Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:01 am

Gawdzilla wrote:
Robert_S wrote:Polarizing filter! it darkens the sky at certain angles so that you don't have to have choose between a blown out sky and a dark foreground.
I bought the set from Amazon. It has a UV, a FLD and a CPL. How is the FLD different from the CPL?
I'm not 100% sure since all I know is stuff I've been researching for when I get a DSLR camera, but it looks like the FLD is for color correction under florescent lighting while the CPL is a circular polarizing filter. I usually just manually set the white balance so I've not been too concerned about color correction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarizing ... ography%29 for the polarizer.

Also, I think polarized light is kinda cool.
What I've found with a few discussions I've had lately is this self-satisfaction that people express with their proffessed open mindedness. In realty it ammounts to wilful ignorance and intellectual cowardice as they are choosing to not form any sort of opinion on a particular topic. Basically "I don't know and I'm not going to look at any evidence because I'm quite happy on this fence."
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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:05 am

Fluorescent Light Diffuser, then?

I've played with polarized flight in the Navy. That's as far as I'll go with that, however.
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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Calilasseia » Sat Dec 25, 2010 4:59 am

Everything you need to know about filters can be found at the Cokin Filters website. I learned a lot from their print manuals back in the days when you bought the starter kit and got the manual free and gratis with the kit. :)

NOTE: when you enter the site, the link you need to click on is "View The Filters" in the left hand menu sidebar. This then lets you select the filters with mouse clicks, and see what happens when you use them.

The Cokin system is actually a good way of getting into filters, because the filters all slot into a special receptacle that you attach to the front of your camera. Usually, you buy something like a 55mm adapter ring that screws into the screw thread at the front of your lens housing, slot the filter holder into that, then slot your filters into the filter holder. Mine has 4 slots for filters. Usually, Cokin filters are cheaper than the screw-on varieties such as Hoya filters, but eventually, if you're doing serious work, you'll want to move on to the screw-on filter types such as Hoya because they're made from optically superior materials in many cases, though in the case of polarising filters, this isn't the case because all polarising filters have to meet certain minimum optical standards in order to work. :)

Oh, if you're bolting filters onto an SLR with autofocus lenses, you'll need a circular as opposed to a linear polariser. A linear polariser is fine for manual SLRs, or digital cameras whose lenses don't rotate axially when they move back and forth, but for autofocus lenses, a circular polariser is needed.

There are two filters for use under fluorescent lighting in the Cokin system - FLW and FLD. FLD is for use when another source of light exists as well as fluorescent lighting, and the greenish colour cast resulting from using daylight film with fluorescent lighting is relatively weak. FLW is for use when the colour cast is strong, and there is no other source of ambient light. Note that the filter designations assume that you're using [1] a film camera with daylight balanced film (things go pear shaped if you use an FLD/FLW with tungsten balanced film) or you're using a digital camera with standard daylight white balancing. Of course, if your digital camera is an upmarket affair with custom white balancing, you can set a custom white balance for use under fluorescent lighting (consult your camera's manual on how to do this if it possesses the feature), and eliminate the need for a special filter.

On the other hand, some of those filters can't be replaced by your camera's built in features. Star diffraction filters and graduated filters fall into this category, as does the special filter for infra-red film use. Incidentally, one of the graduated blue filters is used for the so-called "American moonlight" effect, allowing you to shoot images that have dark, night-like skies in broad daylight, whilst keeping the colours of objects below the sky relatively balanced. :)

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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Feck » Sat Dec 25, 2010 5:16 am

Polarise !!!! ..blue skies and defined clouds , reduces some reflections . CPL is needed for digital , buy a good one even if they are expensive .


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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Wumbologist » Tue May 31, 2011 5:09 am

Robert_S wrote:Polarizing filter! it darkens the sky at certain angles so that you don't have to have choose between a blown out sky and a dark foreground.

Related: Where can I find a cheap polarizing gel? All I really want is a little sheet of plastic I can hold up in front of the lens once in a while. My compact does not have the capacity to get one of those screw on types.
If the lens of your camera is small enough, you might be able to get away with using one out of a sample pack. If you have a pro photography store, hit them up and look for one. I use the f colored gels for speedlites sometimes because they're the perfect size to cover the flash head, but I do believe they include polarizing ones, and I think it would be big enough on a compact camera.

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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Tue May 31, 2011 10:18 am

We got CPL and FLD filters, plus the basic clear glass (to protect the lens.) The FLDs correct fluorescent light yellowing when shooting indoors.
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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Robert_S » Wed Jun 01, 2011 1:03 am

Jörmungandr wrote:
Robert_S wrote:Polarizing filter! it darkens the sky at certain angles so that you don't have to have choose between a blown out sky and a dark foreground.

Related: Where can I find a cheap polarizing gel? All I really want is a little sheet of plastic I can hold up in front of the lens once in a while. My compact does not have the capacity to get one of those screw on types.
If the lens of your camera is small enough, you might be able to get away with using one out of a sample pack. If you have a pro photography store, hit them up and look for one. I use the f colored gels for speedlites sometimes because they're the perfect size to cover the flash head, but I do believe they include polarizing ones, and I think it would be big enough on a compact camera.
I got me one of them DSLR cameras now, so I can get a proper polarizer. I'll vouch for what Feck said, the cheap ones make the colors all wonkey.
What I've found with a few discussions I've had lately is this self-satisfaction that people express with their proffessed open mindedness. In realty it ammounts to wilful ignorance and intellectual cowardice as they are choosing to not form any sort of opinion on a particular topic. Basically "I don't know and I'm not going to look at any evidence because I'm quite happy on this fence."
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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Calilasseia » Wed Jun 01, 2011 1:43 am

Robert_S wrote:Polarizing filter! it darkens the sky at certain angles so that you don't have to have choose between a blown out sky and a dark foreground.

Related: Where can I find a cheap polarizing gel? All I really want is a little sheet of plastic I can hold up in front of the lens once in a while. My compact does not have the capacity to get one of those screw on types.
The Cokin system has a special adapter for compact cameras. This screws into the tripod bush at the base of the camera if your camera has one. The filters can then be placed in front of the lens without vignetting.

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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by FBM » Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:37 am

Off-yopic, I know, but I didn't think this deserved its own thread. I just bought this lens. Please assure me that it is at least pretty decent. I know it's not top-of-the-line, but it had better not turn out to be junk, at that price...
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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Bella Fortuna » Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:44 am

Hmm, this makes me realise I have a bagful of my dad's old camera filters. Wish they had a good home to go to; I'll never use them...
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Re: Dear Ask-a-nerd. (Lens filters.)

Post by Robert_S » Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:57 am

Bella Fortuna wrote:Hmm, this makes me realise I have a bagful of my dad's old camera filters. Wish they had a good home to go to; I'll never use them...
:begging:
What I've found with a few discussions I've had lately is this self-satisfaction that people express with their proffessed open mindedness. In realty it ammounts to wilful ignorance and intellectual cowardice as they are choosing to not form any sort of opinion on a particular topic. Basically "I don't know and I'm not going to look at any evidence because I'm quite happy on this fence."
-Mr P

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