CAMERA FILTERS
Filters help minimize glare and reflections,
enhance colors, reduce light coming into the
lens, and more.
Each lens filter serves a specific purpose, as
each one is built to deliver a specific effect
that can help enhance the final look of an
image.
HOW ARE CAMERA LENS FILTERS USED IN
PHOTOGRAPHY?
They Protect Your Lens
The most affordable types of lens filters are
those that are clear and simply used for
protection. These are great for protecting the
front lens element during normal shooting
situations, as the clear glass does not affect
your images in any way. Protective lens filters
eliminate the possibility of scratches, cracks,
and dust accumulating on the surface of your
lens.
THEY CAN CORRECT OR ENHANCE COLORS
There are certain types of photography filters
that can alter or boost the colors in your
images. Some have the ability to correct the
color temperature of a scene, while others
can enhance color and contrast for a more
vibrant image.
THEY HELP ENSURE ACCURATE EXPOSURE
When working with particularly difficult
lighting conditions, filters are a great option
for achieving even and accurate exposure
across your entire image. They do this by
blocking some of the light that enters the
lens (in varying degrees). These are
particularly helpful when shooting outdoors
during daytime, particularly when using fast
shutter speeds may not be enough to avoid
overexposure.
THEY ADD IMPACT TO YOUR
IMAGES
Camera filters can help improve your images
in various ways—they’re useful for increasing
contrast in an image, creating more vivid
colors, eliminating glare and distracting
reflections from water and glassy surfaces,
and more. But they can also be used to add a
little oomph to an otherwise lackluster shot
by adding some interesting effects, like
multi-point “stars” on light sources or
softened edges.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF LENS FILTERS
7 TYPES OF CAMERA LENS FILTERS
UV AND SKYLIGHT FILTERS.
POLARIZING FILTERS.
NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTERS.
COLOR CORRECTING FILTERS.
COLOR ENHANCING FILTERS.
SPECIAL EFFECTS FILTERS.
NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY FILTERS
CLOSE-UP FILTERS OR MACRO FILTERS..
ULTRA VOILET FILTER (UV)
ULTRA VOILET FILTER
The purpose of a UV / Clear / Haze filters
today is to simply protect the front element
of a lens. In the past, these filters were used
to block UV from hitting the film. All digital
camera sensors have a UV/IR filter in front of
the sensor, so there is no more need to use
UV filters on DSLRs. Many photographers use
these types of filters for protection, because
it is easier and cheaper to replace a filter
than to try to repair a scratched or broken
lens element. I personally prefer to keep a
clear filter on my lenses at all times, because
they are easier to clean.
POLARIZING FILTER
POLARIZING FILTER
There are two types of polarizing filters – linear and
circular. Linear polarizers should not be used on DSLR
cameras, because they can result in metering errors.
Circular polarizers, on the other hand, are perfect for
DSLRs and do not cause any metering issues due to
their construction. Circular polarizing filters are
essentially linear polarizers, with a second glass
element attached to their back that circularly
polarizes the light, giving accurate exposure results
when the light hits the light meter. When the two
elements are aligned at the right handle and
orientation from the sun, the captured image could
have more saturated colors, bluer skies, fewer
reflections, and higher overall contrast. Polarizing
filters can also reduce haze, which is very useful for
landscape photographers.
POLARIZING FILTER EFFECT
POLARIZING FILTER
The effect of polarization changes relative to
the sun. The maximum effect of polarization
is achieved when the lens is pointed 90
degrees from the sun (in any direction). A
simple trick is to form a pistol with your index
and thumb fingers, then point your index
finger at the sun. Keep pointing at the sun
and rotate your hand clockwise and counter-
clockwise. The maximum effect of
polarization will be where your thumb points
in any direction.
POLARIZING FILTER
Avoid using a polarizing filter on ultra wide-
angle lenses. You might end up with a
partially dark sky that will be tough to fix in
post-processing. Here is an example of what
happens when using a polarizer on a wide-
angle lens:
IN SOME CASES THE MAXIMUM EFFECT OF
POLARIZATION CAN RESULT IN AN UNNATURAL-
LOOKING DARK BLUE SKY AS SHOWN BELOW:
POLARIZING FILTER
There is a loss of approximately 2 stops of
light when using polarizing filters, so you
should watch your shutter speed when
shooting with a polarizer hand-held.
Singh-Ray polarizing filters are better than
others in this regard and only lose around 1
stop of light.
Polarizing filters are typically thicker than
regular filters and therefore can result in
unwanted vignetting.
POLARIZING FILTER
To avoid vignetting, polarizing filters should
not be stacked with other filters. Due to light
loss, you should also use a polarizing filter
only when needed. In some high-contrast
situations, it might be necessary to stack a
polarizing filter with a neutral density filter
(see below).
NEUTRAL DENSITY (ND) FILTER
The purpose of neutral density filters is to reduce the
amount of light that gets to the camera and thus
decrease the shutter speed and increase exposure time.
These types of filters are particularly useful in daytime,
because of the abundance of light that cannot be
significantly reduced by stopping down the lens aperture
and decreasing ISO. For example, if you are
photographing a waterfall and your starting point is ISO
100, f/2.8, 1/2000 that results in good exposure,
stopping down the lens to f/22 will only slow down the
shutter speed to 1/30 of a second. This would be too fast
to create a “foggy” look for the falling water. By using an
8 stop neutral density filter, you could slow down the
shutter speed all the way to 2 seconds while keeping
lens aperture at f/11 instead of f/22 (using apertures
beyond f/11-f/16 in normal lenses decreases image
quality due to diffraction).
NEUTRAL DENSITY (ND) FILTER
EFFECT OF ND FILTER
HARD-EDGE GRADUATED NEUTRAL
DENSITY (GND) FILTER
HARD-EDGE GRADUATED NEUTRAL
DENSITY FILTERS
Hard-edge graduated neutral density filters
can be very useful in high-contrast situations,
where the sky is very bright compared to the
foreground and the horizon is flat (due to
hard transition from dark to clear). While
photographing, the hard edge in the center is
aligned with the horizon. The sky is then
darkened depending on the intensity of the
filter. A two or three-stop hard-edge GND
filter is often sufficient to balance the shot.
FEECT OF HARD-EDGE GRADUATED
NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTER
SOFT EDGE NEUTRAL DENSITY (ND)
FILTER
Compared to hard-edge GND filters, soft-edge
graduated neutral density filters gradually
transition from dark to clear, allowing
photographers to use these filters when
photographing a non-flat horizon. While
mountains, hills and other objects above the
horizon can be problematic for hard-edge GND
filters, soft-edge GND filters work much better
in those situations instead, due to the gradual
transition. I use soft-edge GND filters for my
landscape photography work a lot and find
them more useful than hard-edge GND filters.
EFFECT OF SOFT-EDGE GRADUATED
NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTERS
REVERSE GRADUATED NEUTRAL
DENSITY (GND) FILTER
Reverse graduated neutral density filters are
relatively new. When compared to regular
hard/soft-edge GND filters, they are dark at the
horizon (hard-edge) and gradually soften towards
the top. Reverse GND filters are very useful for
sunset shots when you shoot against the sun and
it is near the horizon. A common problem with
such sunsets is that the sun is much brighter
than the sky. If you use a hard-edge GND filter,
the sky might get too dark and if you use a soft-
edge GND filter, the sun will be overexposed. The
solution is to use a reverse GND filter, which
balances the sun and the sky in the frame,
resulting in a more balanced exposure.
REVERSE GRADUATED NEUTRAL
DENSITY (GND) FILTER
EFFECT OF REVERSE GRADUATED
NEUTRAL DENSITY (GND) FILTER
COLOR CORRECTION FILTER
Color correction is a process used in stage
lighting, photography, television,
cinematography, and other disciplines, which
uses color gels, or filters, to alter the
overall color of the light.
Use color correction filters to adjust the
color, white balance, and light temperature, in
addition to other lighting issues.
Broadly, these are filters that aFect the
daylight/ tungsten balance and the
green/magenta shift of the light that passes
through them. The most common of these is the
85 filter, which corrects daylight to tungsten.
CONVERSION FILTERS
Color motion picture films are balanced in
manufacturing for use with either tungsten
light sources (3200K) or daylight (5500K).
Color conversion filters can be used to match
a film and a light source that have different
color balance.
BLUE FILTER
The Nikon52mm B12 80B Color
Conversion Glass Filter is a dark blue filter
which acts as a color conversion filter by
correcting artificial light of color temperature
3400 degrees K (photofloods, incandescent
lighting) to daylight color film. Without it,
strong yellow-orange color tones would...
STAR FILTER
