Filters?

Joshwain

Joshwain

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I'll not be spending until after Christmas but I'm just wondering what the best filter is to start off with. I know it's best to have a selection but I'd like to have decent quality ones, creating rather indecent price tags :lol:

I'm hoping I'll be able to cope with just the one until I have some more funds but I'll be dying to get out and experiment seeing as I plan to get myself a tripod :)

I'll have a budget of £120-£150 so if anything, what do you recommend?
 
I would get a lee 10 stop ( big stopper) they are best quality and with a 10 stop you will have the opportunity for many creative shots.

£150 will get you adaptor ring, holder and filter and you are on your way..

Also buy the large filters 100mm as they will cover most lenses unlike the 85mm

I learnt the expensive way and would advocate buy once buy right. You wont go far wrong with lee filters and if it doesnt work out for you then resale value would remain high..
 
Thanks! Although I've just had a look and the filter alone is hitting >£100. Maybe I'll need to extend my budget? Or am I just looking in the wrong places? :lol:
 
A 10 stop is a good thing to have in your bag but to be honest it is a one trick pony. More versatile if you're working to a limited budget would be some graduated ND filters.

I'd get yourself a Lee foundation kit (filter holder), an adaptor ring for your biggest threaded lens and a 3 stop hard edged grad. Beyond that you can start building up your collection.
 
I wouldn't pick one until you decide what you mostly shoot. No point having a 10 stopper if you only ever shoot people.

A polariser is arguably more useful for a landscape photographer, as are grads.
Really depends on what you want out of a filter.
 
I shoot mainly Landscapes and the filter I use the most is a 3 stop hard grad, followed by a 2 stop soft grad, and then the 10 stop big stopper. Anytime you are shooting water, the 10 stop is really valuable to have.
I started with Cokin, then moved to Hitech and now have Lee. Lee are the best, but that comes with a price and sometimes a waiting list. Hitech are good also, but once you move to Lee, the difference is obvious.
 
I think I need to do a lot more research before Christmas! :lol:

TCR4x4 said:
No point having a 10 stopper if you only ever shoot people.
Click to expand...

The plan is to get a tripod and what not in order to start doing landscapes :)

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I think I need to find out which type of filter I would use the most to get me going, then I can start building up a little collection as and when my budget allows.

I've mainly been looking at Lee and Hitech ones and at the minute, I think I'll be steering towards Hitech to start off with because of the lower price. For a 10 stop though, I'd go Lee for the quality :)
 
As a first filter then I'd suggest a polariser, it has several uses:

It enhances colours in landscape photos, it kills reflections and a useful often forgotten by product is that it reduces light levels by 2 stops so can also act as an ND filter in some conditions

Simon
 
Although a 10 stop is nice to have and use, but i feel that a polariser would be more useful as your first filter.
 
When people are mentioning polarisers, do you mean the types that I would screw on to my lens or ones that need a holder?

btw, I know "screw on" is probably the wrong word :lol:
 
Your screw on 'Circular' Polaiser (CPL) rotates - allowing you to adjust the angle and the effect it has.

If you have lenses which are all the same diameter thread (77mm for example) then it can obviously go on all of them. Failing that you can get step up ur step down rings to use it on different sizes.

Personally I would be looking at at a CPL and a set of Soft Graduated ND filters - Soft being the graduation. Soft work with undulating horizons where a Hard Graduation would suit things like seascapes.
 
Thanks for that! I'll do a bit more research tomorrow and see what price we're talking of.

Strangely, I already have a place in mind that NEEDS shooting ahahh. It's a farmer's field with a random lone tree in the middle which ends up right on the horison if you stand in the right place. It's only a 5 minute walk away from my house too! :D

Christmas needs to hurry! Gosh, I'm like a little kid
 
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