Filters and holders for various lenses?

[Cerbera]

Hello,

Trying to take in as much as possible regarding filters and the benefits of using them. I was hoping that someone could point me in the right direction.

The three lenses in my kit have 3 different thread sizes. The 50 1.8 lense = 52, the tamron has 62 and the kit lense 18-55mm has 58.

Ideally i would want to use a system which would allow me to own one set of filters which would be usable with all my lenses (at a push the 50mm and the 18-55 at least).

This is where things are a little over my head. For the cokin p series holders that are on ebay and come with an adapter to fit say 52 or 58mm threadsizes, do they then require filters of the same size?

What i would hope for would be a filter holder that takes 3 filters, i'd have 2 or 3 adapters to fit my 3 lenses and then use one set of filters for them all, but its the uncertainty of the actual filters that throws me slightly.

Some clarification would be greatly appreciated.

[hollis_f]

The Cokin system uses a holder that can take three filters at any one time. The holder is attached to the lens by an adapter that has to fit that lens. So you only need 1 holder, 1 set of filters and 3 adapter rings for your setup.

[DANATTHEROCK]

Yep, you need step up rings for each lens since they are different. These step up rings would all hold the same size filter. You could have one filter, three adapter rings (one for each lens), and it would work. One word of caution, if you plan to get another lens with a larger size (I.E. 77 mm), now is the time to consider that. If you get a larger lens later, you will be shet out of luck with the adapter rings and 62 mm filter. Like I said, now is the time to figure this out. If that would be an option, then you would want to consider an even larger filter size for these lenses with the appropriate step up rings. Sounds like a pain, but atleast it would work with all your lenses later if you got a bigger diameter lens at some point in the future. Of course I am talking about "screw in" filters. If you are looking at ND (rectangular shape) filters, you would be needing different mounts that hold the filters. But all the filters would work for all the lenses. Just in need of the right adapter/holder of course. Read below for some general filter insights. And perhaps clarify what type of filter you are looking to buy.

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/essential-filters-further-thoughts.html

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/polarizers.html

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/neutral-density-and-graduated-nd.html

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototip-archives.html

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/soft-or-hard-edge-graduated-filter.html

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/cokin-p-versus-lee-grad-nd-filters.html

[Cerbera]

Thats perfect, thank you both for your advice thats really helped.

Also Danattherock, thanks for those links and advise for the future. It's not something i had really thought much about for future lenses as my main concern was current compatibility, but thankfully you mentioned it to give me a bit of a wake up call for future purchases and how i can forward plan.

Thank you.

[Headsick]

I got a 58mm ND filter from best buy... that just happened to come with a 52mm adapter. I think I paid $20 for it. So it covered the 52 and 58mm lenses.

[Jon]

Also remember that unless you get a filter in the correct size for each lens, you won't be able to use the lens hood, and the lens hood performs an equally important, if different, role in helping your photography.