The Multi-purpose UV is similar to the skylight, absorbing the ultraviolet rays which often make scenic shots hazy and indistinct. Moreover, the UV, especially when used with black & white film, increases contrast, reduces haze and generally improves the “sharpness” of your photographs Many photographers buy a UV filter for each lens and leave them …
Category archives: Filters
What is a Neutral Density filter?
The Neutral Density (ND) filter is one of the more useful filters you could include in your collection. Digital image processing can do many things but it can’t reduce the light reaching the film or CCD. That’s the job of the camera’s exposure system and an ND filter throws in a helping hand. The name …
What are Wratten filters?
Wratten is a brand name from Kodak used for their series of coloured gelatin correction and conversion filters. There’s a wide range – each one identified by its Wratten number. The filters are very thin so are optically very good, but can be easily damaged Wratten filters can be held or taped in front of …
10 essential photography filters
The top ten filters you should own will obviously vary from person to person and is dependent on the subjects you photograph. Our choice is most definitely the following: Circular Polariser (glare reduction and colour saturation) Great for landscapes, still lifes and architectural photography Grey Grad 4x (balance sky brightness) Great for landscapes Skylight (protects …
Circular or Round filters?
Many new filter buyers are unsure whether to buy a round filter or one of the many square options. A round filter screws directly onto the front of your lens. A Square filter slides into a filter holder that has an adaptor ring matching the filter thread size of your lens. There are a few …
Skylight filter – any good?
The Skylight filter has been around for decades and is one of the most popular filters. It has a slight pink tint which is used to reduce blue haze in colour photography. When taking colour photographs in bright sunlight, especially by the sea or in the mountains, ultra-violet rays and the brightness of the sky …
Polarizing Filter and cross polarization
If you have a computer with an LCD monitor and a camera with a polarizing filter on the lens you can create some really colourful photos like this: All you do is place a piece of plastic (the above is a cd case with ice on the surface) in front of an LCD screen and …
Diffraction filters explained
The diffraction filter is a special effect filter that can be found in a number of filter brands’ ranges. The diffraction filter creates spectacular rainbow coloured streaks or star bursts from highlights. Hoya made the effect popular back in the 70s with their group of filters called Spectral Star. The Hoya Spectral Star is a …