Digital Camera Filters - What Do You Need And Why Do You Need Them

Filters can be used to control colour, exposure differences in a scene, to give more saturated colours and for special effects. Some of the effects, but not all, can be replicated on your pc using your image editing software but many photographers prefer to do the business at the shooting stage. This also cuts down on the amount of work needing done at the editing stage. We'll look at some of the different digital camera filters you may need and give a quick rundown of reasons to use them.

Round or Square Digital camera Filters

There are two basic types of digital camera filters, round ones and square one. Round ones are made to screw onto the front of the lens, whereas the square ones are made to slot into an adaptor which is screwed onto the front of the lens. The advantage of square filters is you can have an adaptor for each of your lenses, no matter what diameter the lens is but you only need one filter. You will need a round filter for each lens you have. You may find yourself using a combination of round and square digital camera filters.

I would recommend buying a UV or for each of your lenses and keeping it on permanently. A UV filter filters out the UV part of the spectrum on hazy days and at high altitudes but it also protects the front element of your lens from dust and damage. It's much cheaper to replace a digital camera filter than replace or repair a lens.

Neutral Density Digital Camera Filters

Neutral density graduated digital camera filters are a useful addition to the landscape photographer's accessory pocket. These filters have a grey top and clear bottom and are used to reduce the contrast range between the sky and the ground, the dark top darkening the sky. They come in different strengths, commonly 1 stop, 2 stops and 3 stops. You would meter the sky and ground to determine what filter to use. These filters can come with a hard edge for a sharper change from light to dark or a soft edge for a smoother change from light to dark. Graduated digital camera filters are much better in the square design as there is the flexibility to slide the filter up and down or rotate it if necessary

The Polarizer

Of all the digital camera filters, I would recommend you buy a polarizer. You can't replicate the effects of this filter using editing software and it is an extremely useful filter to carry around. This filter dramatically reduces reflections, not just on glass but also on foliage. You use this filter by rotating it and can see the effect as you use it. You will get deeper blue skies and more vibrant, deeper saturated colours. There are two types of polarizer by the way, linear and circular. The circular one is intended for autofocus systems so make sure not to confuse them. A polarizer will also cut your exposure so make sure you are taking meter readings and compensating for the filter. You may also want to change your white balance from auto to daylight with this filter as it your camera will compensate for the filter. The polarizer is one of the digital camera filters you will use regularly.

Other digital camera filters you may want to consider are special effects ones such as softeners and diffusers for, star filters and different coloured filters. it's easy to get carried away using special effect digital camera filters though so it's a good idea to experiment with those.

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