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Photography Question 

John M. Blankinship
 

wide angle lense filters


i just bought a 11-18mm tamaron wide angle for my konica minolta maxum5d looking at filters do I need $$special filter(uv and or clear protective)and is a polarizer a good investment


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February 08, 2007

 

Todd Bennett
  Hey John,

There are two schools of thought on this issue. Some will tell you you do, and some will tell you you don't. I think it is a matter of personal preference.

The thin glass on a filter is only going to protect it from finger prints and minor scratches. You should always shoot with the lense hood on which should be enough to protect the front element of the lense in the event you drop it. I, personally, put UV filters on all my lenses just because of the finger print and minor scratch issue.

A polorizing filter is a good investment when shooting in bright sunlight because it can help eliminate glare and cut through haze.

Hope this helps.


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February 08, 2007

 

John P. Sandstedt
  Go to Adorama AIRC and check out an article by MAson Resnick on using a polarizing filter vs. Photoshop to make the effect. Arguably, software can do the job.

Todd is correct, however, the actual polarizing filter can help reduce or eliminate glare [windows, water, etc.]

I've NEVER had a lot of success and, therefore, faith in using a UV or Haze filter to eliminate haze. Same goes for a polarizer. But, it's a matter of opinion.

When I use a clear filter for lens protection [for example, when I'm shooting at the beach,] I use a Hoya Skylight 1B. Like the 1B much more than the 1A, regardless of manufacturer. But, beyond beach scenes I rarely if ever use filters, rather I affix lens hoods. Since I use zooms, the hoods are generally petal shaped and provide a lot of lens protection.

Adding any filter in front of the lens adss two more surface for refraction/defraction and, that just spells lost image-quality.


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February 08, 2007

 

John M. Blankinship
  thanks for the reply guys, most of my beach scenesi`ll use zoom with a polarizer,I guess my main question is for my wide angle can I get away with a bottom end filter or do I need a more exp$ "wide angle slim" filter


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February 09, 2007

 

John P. Sandstedt
  I bought a Tiffen 72 mm "slim" wide angle filter for my Canon EOS 3 / Tamron 28-200 mm zoom combination. The lens takes 72 mm filters. Issue: there are no threads on the outside of the filter and, accordingly, there's no way to affix a lens cap. Never had a problem with vignetting and a 28 mm focal length, however.

When I got my my Canon 30D with a 17-85 mm IS zoom [filter size of 67 mm,] I just upped and bought a step up ring - 67 < 72. When I shoot at 17 mm [equivalent to 28 mm for film,] guess what - major vignetting issues.

Since my 67 mm polarizers are planar, not circular [I bought them before autofocus came into vogue,] I haven't tested whether the problem actually relates to the 1.6 lens factor of the 30D. If so, I'm not sure a 67 mm wide angle filter solves the problem.


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February 09, 2007

 

Mark Feldstein
  Hi guys. Mind if I jump in for a bit?

IMHO JB, filters, no matter what kind, aren't for lens protection but rather for image enhancement. The best lens protectors I've discovered are either the photographer carrying the lens or hanging a metal lens hood off the thing. UV filters are made to filter out UV which occurs at high altitudes, over 5000. Haze filters? Nah. A polarizer may be much more effective depending on the light. Sticking around a bit and waiting for the light to change makes a big difference. Manufacturers may say differently but then, they're manufacturers and get paid for selling this stuff.

And if a filter on a lens gets shattered, untangling the mess can be like a car wreck and the broken pieces may do more to scratch the outer lens coating than it protected. Besides, I think you'll find that these days, most lens coatings are made to minimize things like glare, flare, haze and UV.

I agree with John S. in that polarizers are probably overbought and overused. Sure, you can use them for reducing or eliminating unwanted glare or flare or reflections to some extent, like water scenes, etc. But IMHO, they usually do tend to darken shadow areas even more and block up highlights in a scene while maybe emphasizing some other colors in the same scene. It's a tradeoff.

For beach scenes, again depending on the time of day, how bout using a graduated .9 ND filter or even a graduated blue sky filter (with the camera on a tripod to set the horizon line) to darken or blue-up a hot sky and a bit of fill-flash for shadow details around faces in the foreground.

Oh, and remember beach scenes will tend to fool your internal meter. If you can, get an incident reading to measure what's falling on the subject rather than what the subject is reflecting.
Take it light.
Adios.
Mark


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February 11, 2007

 
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