Filters

Hey, ive got a 350D and am gonna invest in some filters for it. Obviously a Polarizing is a must but any others i should look at getting and where is the best place? Cheers

You should imo get neutral density filters and gradual neutral density filters. Something like Cokin A or P series would be good (maybe not the best quality but very affordable). These would be filters i would buy if i have to chose, they offer a lot of oppurtunities. ^^ I guess someone else might correct me if im wrong or forgot something

No, I think you have it about right kokakaste2. All other effects can be done equally well in post-processing. The ones you list are the only ones you might need these days. I find the Cokin filters acceptable - I know their 'neutral' filters are not as neutral as more expensive options like Lee filters, but they're near enough and if the colour balance is off enough to notice, you can easily correct it in post-processing.

Polarizing, ND, and of course UV filters are all that I own. Split ND work can be done better - in my opinion - in Photoshop.

HVstar is a good place to get your filters from.

As a start the best filters to get is a (1) circular polarizing filter and (2) UV filter (for lens protection). Afterward you may want to get additional filters based on your photographic needs. Try this site - http://maxsaver.net/ for good prices and service.

DaveG wrote in post #7866944
...Split ND work can be done better - in my opinion - in Photoshop.

This can only be true if the highlights are not blown. When the sky is especially bright, only an ND grad in front of the lens will do the job. Once a part of the image is truly blown, nothing can bring it back. Unless you mean by combining different exposures in Photoshop. That would enable you to overcome ANY difference in brightness, much as with HDR.

what's ND? and what does a polarizing filter do?

Madweasel wrote in post #7868857
This can only be true if the highlights are not blown. When the sky is especially bright, only an ND grad in front of the lens will do the job. Once a part of the image is truly blown, nothing can bring it back. Unless you mean by combining different exposures in Photoshop. That would enable you to overcome ANY difference in brightness, much as with HDR.

I find that if I shoot RAW I can decode for the highlights and then open the file in Photoshop. Then I decode the same RAW file for the shadows and open it up in PS as a new layer. Short of a VERY blown out sky then a combination of the two "original" shots, using Layers with Layer Masks, will produce very nice results.

But having said that if I thought that one part of the image WAS too bright then I'd simply bracket the exposure (2 exposures - or more) and then use layers and masks do the heavy lifting. With Layers and Masks I can fine tune where exactly the gradation begins and ends. With grad filters I've nailed something down in the field and it might be tough to dig my way out.

ND is neutral density, which refers to a dimming of the light transmitted without giving a colour. This can therefore allow use of a longer exposure than would otherwise be possible. An ND grad on the other hand means a graduated filter which is clear in one part and which graduates to a darker, but still neutral, effect at the other end. This is typically used in landscape photography to control bright skies so as not to lose detail in them, but at the same time not darken the foreground.

A polarising filter cuts out light of a certain angle of polarisation. This angle can be adjusted by rotating the filter on the lens. Light reflected from a flat surface (such as leaves or water) tends to be polarised in the same plane as that surface, so orienting the filter at right angles to that plane will preferentially cut out that reflected light (i.e. the 'sheen'), making foliage colours stronger, or allowing you to see into the water. Parts of a blue sky are also polarised, which means you can use a polariser to darken the blue without affecting the (unpolarised) light from clouds, thereby increasing contrast in the sky.