Camera/Lens/Filter questions

[ooztuncer]

Hello,
Over the weekend I purchased a Canon 5d body and Zuiko 100 f2.8 lens. They will be here probably next week but I have couple of questions about filters.

First question:
If I understand correctly Hoya 80A (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/22304-REG/Hoya_B4980A_49_mm_80A_Color.html) filter will help me to calibrate the white balance when shooting indoors at family gatherings, parties, etc. where we use standard yellow light.

a) In which setting should be the camera on (AWB, custom, etc.) if I use the filter?
b) Do you think using this filter helps or should I just use custom WB or some other settings in the camera itself without using the filter?

Second question:
Which filter type do you recommend for outdoors for Zuiko 100 f2.8 and Canon 24-105 - UV, Haze, Skylight or Polarizer - for general purpose shooting?

Thank you and sorry for the noob questions - never used a filter before.

[Jon]

Set the camera to Tungsten WB or 2800K, or if it's a really dimly-lit place, to Custom White Balance (which you'll have to set beforehand in the location you're shooting) and don't bother with the 80A at all. That's the beauty of digital - most filters are unnecessary. The only ones that are indispensable are circular polarizers, neutral density and graduated neutral density and IR filters. Anything else can be handled with white balance adjustments or post-processing.

[SkipD]

The only reason to use a filter over the lens for color correction is if you are shooting film. Digital cameras allow you to set the "White Balance" for the type of light illuminating your scene/subject.

There are a couple ways to deal with color correction.

One is to do a "Custom White Balance" setting, using a neutral-colored reference. A gray reference card (such as the WhiBal, for example) is best for several reasons, but some folks get decent results with a white reference. Note that ordinary paper is seldom a truly neutral white.

Another method - my preference - is to shoot in RAW mode and place a WhiBal reference card (or any of other known neutral gray cards) into the scene and make a test shot. Then shoot the rest of the series. When converting the RAW files, first open the test shot. Click on the gray card with the eyedropper tool for "custom" white balance. You will then see color temperature and tint numbers that you can transfer to the rest of the images in the series for a batch RAW conversion (all the rest in the series converted with one command).

I personally do not use any filters for "protection" and do not recommend them. If you insist, though, get either a UV or clear "protection" filter and make sure it is the absolute best quality multicoated filter you can find.

Make sure that you use the proper lens hood for each lens you have any time a lens is out of the camera case. That will help improve your images and provide a fairly good "bumper" for the daily impacts with people and things around you in addition to keeping your own fingers off the lens' glass.

[ooztuncer]

thanks a lot Jon!

and Skip, you too!