Filter advice please

[Daisy57b]

I'm looking on B&H photography for a filter and it seems like there are a million different kinds! And I don't just mean brands! From what I've researched - B&W and Hoya seems to be good brands. This may be a dumb question, but how do you know what size to get? If I were to get a 18-200mm lens, what size filter? 60mm? Also, I know I want one that is a UV and one that is for digital. I can tell which ones are UV, but how can I tell if it's a high quality filter? Some filters are $29 and some are $95....

Also, one of my friends uses a Polarized filter for all his outdoor pictures, which look great..so I'm thinking about going for a package type deal and get both filters...

Thanks for any advice you can share!

 

[Kelly Grannell]

check your lens diameter, it should tell you (even on the website)

I don't understand what you mean with UV versus Digital Filter. I've never heard of it. I use UV 0 for all my lenses. They are all supposed to be neutral but they are not. B+W has a slight warming effect (even using Auto White Balance) than other brands. Hoya is the thinnest and most durable. If you want Hoya-like quality glass (but not as thin), you can get Sigma EX.

Don't get the cheapies because they are not coated and may actually enhance the glare (supposedly, I've never had that experience) and murky the picture (this I've experienced with no-name/store-brand filters)

Polarizing filter is highly recommended if you have the time to play with the polarixer angles while taking the picture. If you have to take spur-of-the-moment picture, forget using polarizing filter, your picture may look worse than no filter. Again, make sure the filter is multi coated AND circular-polarizer instead of linear-polarizer (cheaper but confuses the hell out of your Auto Focus circuity.

 

[Daisy57b]

Kelly - I didn't mean UV versus digital filter...sorry, don't know what I'm talking about here! The Clear Pro 1 Digital Multi-Coated Glass Filter should do the trick, right? I think I'll just try the UV one for starters. What's the difference between UV and Haze UV0? Then there's the Super Muti-Coated Glass Filter...so many choices!

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

I personally use the multi-coated filters (Hoya and Tiffen are my brands of choice right now). It seems to cut down on the flares especially with sensitive digital sensors (wow that sounded redundant).


Jeff

 

[Kelly Grannell]

There's practically no difference between those filters. As long as they are multicoated, they're fine. Eithe multicoated, super multicoated, superduper quadruple coated, at least in my experience, made no difference whatsoever.

 

[ducklite]

I only use Hoya UV, I feel that they are the strongest, and have the least distortion and are the most nuetral.

Anne