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Filters for DSLRs - NEED SUGGESTIONS PLEASE

M

Mac-key

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 1, 2010
753
202
Alabama
just starting to shop around and looking to pick up some filters for my lens I use with a Canon Rebel t2i.

I'm just learning, so forgive me, but it seems like there are many to chose from. I've had people tell me I definitely need a neutral density filter. But I've seen many others like "color diffuser filter" "UV filter" and many others.

Just looking for opinions. I mainly shoot outdoor video, documentary type work. Below is an example of my work:

http://vimeo.com/23464436

I'd appreciate any thoughts or opinions
 
Mac-key said:
I've had people tell me I definitely need a neutral density filter.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you don't know why you need one (or many)

I don't know whether you know much about getting exposure, but basically, people mostly get DSLRs for shallow depth of field. Which means they are shooting with a low f stop (large aperture) which lets in lots more light. In photography, this is fine as we'd just speed up the shutter (letting light in for less time). However, for video, we stick to the 180 rule (origin of the name & gif) which means shutter speed has to be 2x the frame rate (24, 25 or 30fps -> 1/48, 1/50, 1/60). This means we need another way to get the exposure back down. And in comes ND. All ND does is make the image darker (by letting less light through) without messing with the image. So you'll want either a set (ND 2, 4, & 8) or a variable ND filter.

Hope this helps.
 
My most used is a Singh-Ray vari-ND in 77mm. As with any variable ND filters, on really wide glass you get some weird things going on at the farthest extremes of the range but it works great and is easier than carrying a bunch of filters around.

A UV filter does very little for you except protect your glass.

Then you can look at color filters, polarizing filters and gradient filter which really come in handy when shooting sunsets into the sun or something as you will want the bright sky effected but not the ground usually in the lower parts of your pictures.

Click through the Singh-Ray website and do some research to see what you may need.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Yes, I do know why I need one - it's just that I have gotten by without one because I wasn't shooting using the rule of 2x the shutter speed of the frame rate. But since I want to learn how to operate my camera correctly, AND get the best image quality - this is why I'm asking.

this info helps - thanks!
 
Hm... I actually thought that video looked pretty damn decent. If people were commenting the ND filter because of burned out highlights I would say that an ND filter wont change that, as in your case its mostly about the ratio between you normal exposed areas and your highlights. In other words... bounced light would take care of this.

I think your DoF works nicely... it's perfect for the docu style. These days all the enthusiasts are doing extremely low DoF because that's how they do it cinema style. However it's far too easy to overdo it... Everything has it's right place and right time of use :)

However... if you feel that you need a more narrow DoF, then go ahead and get some. It's nice to have just in case you one day need that 2.8 shot but cant because you'll be filming at 1/10.000.000 because of a burning sun. :D
 
Dave Braine said:
And that's the main reason for getting one. Use a cheap filter to protect an expensive lens.
Click to expand...

Putting a cheap filter on an expensive lens is probably the dumbest thing you could do. Glass is all about the optics. Point a nice lens with a crap filter at a light source and take a picture. Pull the filter off and take the same picture and then get back to me. If you HAVE to think you need to protect your lens with a filter, but a VERY good one. You should be shooting with a hood on 100% of the time so your UV filter should essentially be doing nothing but messing up your picture. :confused:
 
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