There are thousands of filters you can buy for your camera, so which one is the best?
Lets go back to when you bought your camera. What did the sales person recommend? A UV filter right? I got suckered into buying this filter for a few of my lenses in the beginning…
UV Filter (Don’t get this one)
What exactly is a Ultraviolet light filter?
The Ultra Violet filter in my opinion is a waste of money. It’s basically a piece of glass to protect your camera lens, but it does nothing for the quality of your images. In fact, sometimes this filter can get a bit of moisture inside and actually make your images look more dull and lifeless. I would recommend a lens cap to protect your lens, and make sure you put the cap on when you are done shooting. Have you lost yours yet, I lost 2 over the weekend.
Now, this is the filter I recommend you buy…
Circular Polarising Filter is the best.
What does a polarising filter do?
The circular polarising filter basically takes the glare out of the scene, especially if you are shooting landscapes.
Have you ever worn polarising sunglasses? Did you notice how the sky and ocean/lake looks much clearer, the colours are more vivid and the scenes looks even more stunning. This is what a polarising filter does…
It makes the sky more blue, and you are able to look into the water.
Why circular?
This means that once the filter has been attached to the front of your lens, you are then able to turn it (without loosening it) and find the angle where you get the maximum polarisation. This is because this filter works best when photographing 90 degrees away from the sun, and it it totally useless when photographing into the sun, or with the sun directly behind you.
Real Life Examples:
Here is an example from a trip to Vanuatu of when I used this filter and when I didn’t, notice the pebbles under the water, they are only visible when I’m using the polarising filter.
Here is the same scene without the filter attached.
Notice how the reflection on the water makes the scene so much more dull and lifeless. Also the trees and foliage seems dull.
If you are looking to buy one filter to add to your photography gear, I would recommend the circular polarising filter.
What do you think? Please leave comments below….I try to answer them all.
Cheers, Brent
Hello. This question was asked a couple times, and you shy away from it for obvious reasons pertaining to brand. The more general question I would ask that you may be able to answer is whether the extra price of expensive polarizing filters is worth it. How much do you actually gain by spending twice as much for a high end polarizing filter?
I’ve spent a lot on polarizing filters – and it shows in my images. In my community (SIC Lounge) http://shareinspirecreate.com/lounge we talk about brands and equipment all the time. There are so many that it’s impossible to answer your question on which brand is the best, but yes – I would say spend a little more on a good polarizing filter. Brent
Hi Brent,
I have a couple questions (apologise if they are a bit silly):
* With the circular polarising filter do you leave it on your lens all the time (like I do with a UV filter which I have as extra protection) or do you only use it for taking landscape photos?
* Do cheap UV filters reduce the quality of your image?
I love how you held the filter up in your video and turned it as I was actually able to see the difference in colour (ie brighter then darker) as you explained. It was great to see the effectiveness of the lens in your video.
Nice video, but I’m confused. I couldn’t get which circular polarized companies filters is best. I thought about Hoya company, but Hoya company has many kind of polarized filters. Can you recommend me to chose the best?
Thank you
Hi Brent,
Do you advise to use a cpl filter on an ultra wide lens?
Tx Patrick
Brent,
What about the use of ND filters. Any benefit using these types of filters for landscape, sunset/sunrise, waterfalls etc…
Still learning but getting great info from your tutorials. Thank you!!
ND filters are good for landscape photography, especially if you are shooting in harsh light conditions (sunrise and sunset) or want to create Long Exposure Images (check out my long exposure course here https://brentmailphotography.com/shop/long-exposure-landscape-photography) but if you had to stick to ONE filter – I would get the circular polarizing filter. Brent
Hello Brent. I wonder if a cpl filter , because of the way it works, you don’t get other color of blue sky in the left compared to the right on a photo, if you shoot with a canon 7D with a efs10-22 lens. I hope you can help me out. If you have an advise on brand and type that would be great. Kind regards, Patrick
Hi Brent,
This is just what I need for my landscape photography. Thanks for the info in these emails, and your online training courses.
Roger
No worries Roger – now go out and buy one. Brent
Hi Brett.
Hope you are fine. You are 100% right. I tried boths …. UV is useless …. CPF give’s fantastic result. Your videos have value and very easy to understand.
Thanks …… Coach 🙂
Walid
Thanks Brett – Have been thinking of getting a circular polariser – you have now convinced me . Thanks for for your tutorials – thouroughly enjoy them.
Lyn
Glad you find this info helpful, tell your friends. Brent
Hi Brent,
Have you seen the Moose Peterson warming polarizer? I shot the fall foliage with one and it was much easier than stacking a polarizer with a warming filter. Made the foliage colors really pop!
Pam
I should try that one out some time, wanna send me one? Brent
hi Brent
Like the idea however even though I have a polarising filter i still have the UV it does remove some unwanted blueish light that the censor picks up in bright sunlight and can prove a life saver for some lenses.
But still I can admit it can be a pain to buy them all the time.
Hai Brent, this is the best site that i ever visited to deal with the photographic tips . u are absolutly good yarr.
Already I like you. Thanks, I work very hard on getting great photography tips and training videos on this site. Enjoy. Brent
I like your videos, and your model Mili very much 🙂
I have a CPL which I use it with Nikon 55-300 lens. The problem I face is that the filter loosens while I am turning it and fell a couple of times. I really have to like screw it very tightly to the lens.
Any solution to this problem?
Great post Brent. I too bought the UV filter base on the advice of the sale assistant. To be fair, I had no real reason to discount the advice. If you're a person who knows your way around photography you would politely decline. As a new starter with these interchangable lens, the chances I'd drop a lens or not put the cap back on and scratch the front element were reasonably high. So to me I don't find it necessarliy bad advice.
I certainly don't buy UV filters these days. I do make sure my lens hood is on and as you say, the only filter I will screw onto the front of my lens is a the CPL filter. I love the effect it has on a bright sunny day.
I do take it off though, it doesn't stay on once the sunlight isn't so bright.
Thanks Peter, maybe I was being a bit harsh about the salesman. Sometimes there may be a need for the UV filter. Brent
i was just about to buy the UV filter this weekend. thanks for saving me from wasting my money.
Just this weekend I was browsing the internet for polarising filters andI thought about getting a circular one. Looking at your video this seems like a good choice.
But wouldn't it get a bit annoying if you have a lens that rotates the outer ring for autofocus? You press the shutter button halfway to focus and then adjust the polarising filter to your liking. If you press the shutter button to take the picture the camera might refocus a little, also adjusting the polarisation.
Maybe this effect is minimal or maybe I just have to use manual focus in this case. I think I will just have to try it.
It might be annoying when the lens rotates during autofocus, but once it is focused then use the circular polarizer to get the glare minimised. Try it out. Brent
Hey Brent,
I was looking for photography tutorial videos on youtube and found your videos one of the very few very informative tutorials, so followed the urls here. I was wondering if we can embed some of your videos into our interactive magazine for the ipad. We'll be sure to include urls to your website to give you credit for the videos that we dod include and perhaps send our readers your way if they are interested in learning more.
please let me know. If this is alright with you. I left my email here for you just in case you need to contact me.
best regards,
Harris
Sounds good. Send me an email. Brent
Hi Brent,
Being a novice I love the way you take the time and effort to fully explain things, this now makes so much more sense! – Definitely think about a polarising filter after this! thanx
Debs
Thanks Brent, great results!
Do you need a particularly bright scene to use a polarising filter? I’ve heard using one is equivalent to using an aperture of a stop or 2 smaller.
You are right Ben, my polarizing filter has about a 2 stop effect on light entering my camera. A bright scene is better, especially when you can see the sun, then the polarizer has the maximum effect, but it can be used in darker scenes when you want the sky to be darker, or to see into water, but then you might need to consider a tripod (if you shutter speed gets too slow) or bump up your ISO until the shutter speed is fast enough to hand-hold the camera. Brent
Hi Brent,
You are awesome! Would this circular PL filter be used indoors or just for outdoor shooting?
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with others 🙂
Only use it outdoors. Brent