Filter advice

ajoshi

ajoshi

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Hi

I have Nikon 24-70 and 70-200 f2.8 en route to me and I am wondering what type of filter would I need?

I am considering either CPL or ND filter, but how do their effects differ? and what make is better Singh-Ray or B+W?

Cheers
 
Singh Ray are great, but very expensive I believe.

I've just upgraded a few from Heliopan to B+W and am very happy with this move. I think the Kasemann B+W are excellent for my part of the world (better sealing which avoids condensation forming between the two filters).
 
That's the make and model I'm considering, but do you know how do their (ND & CPL) effects differ?
 
Sorry, must be my fever today :shrug: .. I don't exactly get your question.
 
ajoshi said:
That's the make and model I'm considering, but do you know how do their (ND & CPL) effects differ?
Click to expand...

ND = Neutral Density Filter
CPL = Circular Polarising Filter

These are used for different purposes. What do you require a filter to do?
 
Sorry I am obviously not clear in my original question :bang:.

I am trying to understand the difference in the effects that these filter provide i.e. ND (from my understanding gives the effect of decreasing the compensation) but isn't that what CPL do (although to a less degree).

I am thinking to taking landscape pics as well as general photos (portraits etc) under bright sunlight?
 
ND generally means your exposure will be that much slower to compensate for the density of the filter (1 stop, 2 stops, ..... to 10 stops).

CPs are to enhance saturation and reduce glare from sparkly stuff (water, glass etc.). CP will reduce your exposure too, and this can be by as much as 3 stops!

Personally, I have a CP on my lens all the time; rarely does it come off.
 
Thanks just the advice I was looking for.
 
Glad to be of help .. just try your best not to skimp on which CP you buy!

I've started out with Nikon, moved to Marumi, then to Heliopan and am now moving to B+W Kaseman (Heliopan do Kaseman filters too, but I was stupid enough to not get them).

Get the best you can afford, or save-up a bit to get the best you can, especially since your two lens are fantastic optics. It would be a shame to put something mediocre on them.
 
Sounds like you're buying gear for the sake of buying gear. Buy an ND filter if you need slower shutter speeds and you can't (or don't want to) narrow your aperture. Buy a CPL if you need to cut down glare, want to enhance blue skies- landscapey stuff mainly. Don't get stuff just because you can.
 
Here are 2 shots - the first is a straight shot and the second with a CPL. You can see the difference in the sky with the clouds being more prominant. Hope this helps.

Collieston2.jpg


collieston1.jpg
 
Wail said:
Glad to be of help .. just try your best not to skimp on which CP you buy!

I've started out with Nikon, moved to Marumi, then to Heliopan and am now moving to B+W Kaseman (Heliopan do Kaseman filters too, but I was stupid enough to not get them).

Get the best you can afford, or save-up a bit to get the best you can, especially since your two lens are fantastic optics. It would be a shame to put something mediocre on them.
Click to expand...

I'm getting B+W Kaesemann 77mm Slim :love:.

The Matt said:
Sounds like you're buying gear for the sake of buying gear. Buy an ND filter if you need slower shutter speeds and you can't (or don't want to) narrow your aperture. Buy a CPL if you need to cut down glare, want to enhance blue skies- landscapey stuff mainly. Don't get stuff just because you can.
Click to expand...

I just want to make sure that when taking photos I have everything i need to make them look as good as possible and then the learning curve starts :bonk:.
 
@ mstphoto thanks for the example pic and that is the kind of effect i am looking for.
 
I am still well confused about CPLs and the many choices available. Seem to be anything from £20 up to well over £100 - what are the difference between them?
 
You really don't need the slim ones if you're using the 24-70 AF-S on a cropped sensor. As a matter of fact, even on a D700 there will hardly be any vignetting at 24mm with a normal (non-slim) CP.

The only reason I got the slim version is for the 17-35 AF-S; this will certainly vignette if I don't use the slim version.
 
cambsno said:
I am still well confused about CPLs and the many choices available. Seem to be anything from £20 up to well over £100 - what are the difference between them?
Click to expand...

Price difference mainly buys you multi-coating - vital IMHO - and high quality glass (ie perfectly flat) in a slimline mount.

I think Hoya make the best filters and they are better value than the German ones. They also have a new HD range, and I reckon their HD polariser is the best out there - it only reduces exposure by 1.1 stops, which is 0.6 stops less than anything else.

I bought one from Amazon recently for £82 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hoya-Digita...PMGS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1250210831&sr=8-1 I see it's even cheaper now - bargain :)

Edit: in the two photos posted above, not only is the sky darker but the grass is brighter and the polariser has also taken out reflections on the cars and a bit off the water too. It's quite subtle there and is usually more noticeable. A polariser is pretty much permanently attached to my 10-22 wide zoom (y)
 
I mentioned this in another thread.
I bought a Canon CPL which is quite good. Only when I went to use a filter holder and ND Grads did I notice that there was no filter thread on the front of the filter. I went out and bought a Hoya which does have a filter thread.

Regarding pricing - The price difference could possably be due to the filter size. The bigger the filter, the higher the price.
 
As someone said, buy the best you can afford.

B+W use brass mounts, where the 'better value' brands use aluminium. Brass mounts do not bind in the lens thread.
They are also multi coated both sides - I wasn't aware that light can reflect off the sensor, bounce back through the lens elements and bounce again off the inside of the filter back to the sensor causing ghost images.
The multi coating on the outside of the filters helsps 'suck' light in and the multicoating on the inside of the filter stops the reflections back onto the sensor
 
i had taken all my UV filters of [after various debates].

but the other day decided i should use them again especially against the cost of Nikon 85mm 1.4 replacement.

i had mostly 52mm and 62mm so had to buy some more for recent lens.

amazon was great i figured unless a wide i didnt need the slim so i found 2 b&w 67,58 and hoya pro one 77mm from different sellers for a total of £75 with postage.

expensive but no good putting poor quality on.saying that i did buy 2 cheap cpls from 7day as i was short of money at the same time.

i wish nikon had stuck to the original filter sizes it made it easier.

heres a picture using my 24mm with uv and cpl i quite Ike the effect but also did some shots with just the cpl which didn't vignette

it was also then when i stopped down i realise i had my first dirty sensor couldnt see it wide open

f20ded8e.jpg
 
how did it do that i didnt link to 7 day?

heres without uv and just cpl they realy make a picture like this

9e784b9e.jpg
 
thanks my hoya super hmc pro 1 77mm [to give its full name] filter just arrived

it is slim and oozes quality amazons much better than con bay
 
I got my Hoya Pro CPL over the weekend and thought i would add to this thread by showing another effect the CPL has. Im sure if you get the angle right you can make this even better.

Without CPL

3827876800_49d8394767_o.jpg


With CPL

3827877246_36daf3cc70_o.jpg
 
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