glass protectors AND purchasing lens filters
Sep 5, 2011 15:23:34 #
Hi All,
My name is Terri and hopefully my questions are simple ones to start. I have a Canon Rebel XT and I am having a hard time finding the correct glass screen protector for my particular camera. Also would you recommend purchasing a lens filter kit with the various filters or single but specific ones? Some also come with tripods so they look like good deals but who knows.
Thanks
My name is Terri and hopefully my questions are simple ones to start. I have a Canon Rebel XT and I am having a hard time finding the correct glass screen protector for my particular camera. Also would you recommend purchasing a lens filter kit with the various filters or single but specific ones? Some also come with tripods so they look like good deals but who knows.
Thanks
Sep 6, 2011 06:17:30 #
jdtx
Loc: SA, Tx.
it depends on what you are wanting to shoot, neutral density filters and polarizing filters, circular polarizer are all good for outdoors in bright light, if you get a kit then you can use GND, graduated neutral density filters , by kit I mean one of the setups that use a holder to hold the filters in front of the lens..then there are all the warming, cooling, colored, starburst etc, ..good luck..
Sep 6, 2011 06:50:49 #
photocat
Loc: Atlanta, Ga
The LCD protector should be easy, try ebay or your local camera store.
The type of work you do will influence if you need filters and which ones. The above post has covered that as well.
The type of work you do will influence if you need filters and which ones. The above post has covered that as well.
Sep 6, 2011 09:16:43 #
As has been noted, protector sheets for LCDs are available all over, from Ebay to your local Ritz.
For the FRONT of the camera, there are a lot of options. However, here's what I, and many others, would recommend.
1) A good quality UV filter may PROTECT the lens from flying dust, grit, etc, or even a small drop on the floor. However, it is not needed for UV filtering, since digital sensors already have a UV filter over them. So if you get one, you want one that is as optically 'pure' as possible, so as not to degrade the light passing through. Thus, a $3.99 filter from Walmart is NOT the way to go. Expect to pay from $40 to $100 for a decent one. And remember, you're buying it for protection as much as anything. You need to determine if it's worth putting a $60 filter on a $100 lens.
A Circular Polarizer, commonly abbreviated CPL is a good idea if you do a lot of outdoor landscape type shots. It rotates on the end of the lens barrel, and allows you to get a polarized scene, with deeper blues in your sky and fewer reflections from water and other shiny surfaces. Very easy to use, highly recommended, and again, you get what you pay for - Hoya, B+W, Tiffen etc all make good CPLs. Expect to pay $50 or more for a good one.
A Graduated Neutral Density (GND) filter has a dark half and a light half. They're used when you are shooting a scene with a very BRIGHT top half, and a DARK bottom half, such as a sunset or similar scene, and they allow you to adjust the exposure so that your (dark) foreground is exposed enough to see, while keeping your (light) background from overexposing the image. It's kind of hard to explain, just remember that a GND filter allows you to balance the bright and dark parts of a particular kind of scene to get the proper exposure. They come in two flavors - Hard and Soft. A HARD GND filter has a very definite borderline between the dark top and the light bottom. A SOFT GND has a more gradual gradient between the dark top and the light bottom. Most people use a SOFT GND, as it simply gives a better transition.
One last type that many people find useful is a filter similar to the GND, but it's not "graduated" - e.g., it's just a dark piece of glass. Abbreviated ND or "Neutral Density", they come in ranges. A "2", for example, is slightly dark, a "4" is darker than a "2", and an "8" is darker still. It's Neutral Density filters that people use when they're photographing things like waterfalls and streams to give that 'milky' flowing look to the water. An ND filter on your lens allows you to set a longer shutter speed, without over exposing the image. You can even stack them, for example, threading a "2" and a "4" gives you what amounts to "6".
Again, you get what you pay for. If you want to, buy a cheapy filter and play with it and then if you decide you understand what it does, and feel that one would be useful for YOUR kind of photography, get a good one.
The other type of filters, such as COKIN and LEE, that fit in a frame that screws onto the front of your lens, are also useful for special effects. They are generally SQUARE pieces of glass (or plastic) that you can slide in and out of the filter holder quickly. They're not that expensive, and can offer a particular effect if you so desire.
Hope this helps.
For the FRONT of the camera, there are a lot of options. However, here's what I, and many others, would recommend.
1) A good quality UV filter may PROTECT the lens from flying dust, grit, etc, or even a small drop on the floor. However, it is not needed for UV filtering, since digital sensors already have a UV filter over them. So if you get one, you want one that is as optically 'pure' as possible, so as not to degrade the light passing through. Thus, a $3.99 filter from Walmart is NOT the way to go. Expect to pay from $40 to $100 for a decent one. And remember, you're buying it for protection as much as anything. You need to determine if it's worth putting a $60 filter on a $100 lens.
A Circular Polarizer, commonly abbreviated CPL is a good idea if you do a lot of outdoor landscape type shots. It rotates on the end of the lens barrel, and allows you to get a polarized scene, with deeper blues in your sky and fewer reflections from water and other shiny surfaces. Very easy to use, highly recommended, and again, you get what you pay for - Hoya, B+W, Tiffen etc all make good CPLs. Expect to pay $50 or more for a good one.
A Graduated Neutral Density (GND) filter has a dark half and a light half. They're used when you are shooting a scene with a very BRIGHT top half, and a DARK bottom half, such as a sunset or similar scene, and they allow you to adjust the exposure so that your (dark) foreground is exposed enough to see, while keeping your (light) background from overexposing the image. It's kind of hard to explain, just remember that a GND filter allows you to balance the bright and dark parts of a particular kind of scene to get the proper exposure. They come in two flavors - Hard and Soft. A HARD GND filter has a very definite borderline between the dark top and the light bottom. A SOFT GND has a more gradual gradient between the dark top and the light bottom. Most people use a SOFT GND, as it simply gives a better transition.
One last type that many people find useful is a filter similar to the GND, but it's not "graduated" - e.g., it's just a dark piece of glass. Abbreviated ND or "Neutral Density", they come in ranges. A "2", for example, is slightly dark, a "4" is darker than a "2", and an "8" is darker still. It's Neutral Density filters that people use when they're photographing things like waterfalls and streams to give that 'milky' flowing look to the water. An ND filter on your lens allows you to set a longer shutter speed, without over exposing the image. You can even stack them, for example, threading a "2" and a "4" gives you what amounts to "6".
Again, you get what you pay for. If you want to, buy a cheapy filter and play with it and then if you decide you understand what it does, and feel that one would be useful for YOUR kind of photography, get a good one.
The other type of filters, such as COKIN and LEE, that fit in a frame that screws onto the front of your lens, are also useful for special effects. They are generally SQUARE pieces of glass (or plastic) that you can slide in and out of the filter holder quickly. They're not that expensive, and can offer a particular effect if you so desire.
Hope this helps.
Sep 6, 2011 13:05:30 #
Sep 7, 2011 10:54:06 #
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.