If a picture's worth a thousand words, make sure they're good words. That's why you should invest in some good filter sets.
Major Uses for Round Filter Sets
Some of the major purposes of using filters include:
* Light Adjustment Sets. The following lenses are often found in a light adjustment set:
** UV protection: UV rays are invisible to us but it doesn't mean they don't screw up the photo quality. UV rays can make photos seem sorta hazy and will affect the clarity of the image.
** Polarizing/contrast enhancement: These will adjust the contrast of the photo, and lessen the occurrence of reflections.They can be used in both color and B&W photography. Warning: The sky will look much darker in photos taken while using.
** Warmers/Coolers: Warming filters absorb blues so the other, red-toned colors become much more clear. Cooling filters create the opposite effect. They absorb the red so the green/blue tones are more prevalent.
* Neutral Density Sets: These shade the lens so the amount of light entering the optical is controlled. Neutral density sets are great for bright sunny days because they'll prevent your photo from being over-exposed.
* Color correction/subtraction Sets: These filters adjust the shades in black and white photography. Yes, it's confusing that B&W photography uses color filters but really what they do is make certain colors lighter or darker by changing the frequency of light waves as they enter the lens. For example, a yellow filter would make yellows and light greens much brighter. You can also be creative and use a blue filter to make day look like night- just be sure to hide shadows because they're a dead giveaway of sunlight. There are also warmers and coolers to adjust the tone of the photo based on the light source.
* Macro Sets: Ever see a hummingbird? Or a really cool-looking spider building a web? If you answered yes, then Macro filter sets are a good choice for you because they magnify small things. Think of them as magnifying glasses for your camera. You can get them in different degrees of magnification strength, but the sets are wiser to get because then you'll have several to choose from depending on your photograph's target subject.
What Do Sets Normally Include?
The sets are often split by category, for example, a neutral density filter set will contain several ND filters of different shades, or a Macro set will contain different degrees of macro magnification. There are also color sets and light adjustment sets (UV, polarizer, fluorescent, warmer, cooler). If you take your photography seriously, you should probably have at least one of each of these. They're useful to own because each subject requires a different effect. If you're an outdoorsy type photographer, you're going to want the ND filters, likewise if you take photographs of architecture or near water a light adjustment set is good because it will reduce reflections that can ruin the shot. If you're new to photography by an introductory set with UV, polarizers, 81A, and carrying case.
