Haze Polarizing Filter

What type of lens filter would be best for outdoor photography?

Using Olympus c-8080 wide zoom, but not sure whether to get Polarising, UV, Haze or skylight for the best results?

Personally, I’d say the first place to start for effects is a polarizing filter. You want a “circular” polarizer. Some people use a skylight or UV filter to protect the front glass of the lens, but you can also buy high quality plano glass filters for that purpose. Whatever you do, at least buy a decent quality filter instead of trying to get off cheap.

As far as all the rest, you can do this in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. Okay, I don’t want to argue with anyone about how it’s better to use the real filter, but ATX can try a few in Photoshop (etc) “for free” and see which ones will be the most useful.

Or, go here http://www.thkphoto.com/products/hoya/index.html and see what you can learn.

Or here http://www.tiffen.com/tiffen_filters.html Tiffen makes a kit to get you started on filters, if you think you want more than one. They include a polarizer, a UV filter and a warming filter. B&H Photo and many other places sell this kit.

Many people use a UV filter simply to protect the front element of their lens from damage. “UV filters absorb ultraviolet rays which often make outdoor photos hazy or indistinct.” (from: http://www.thkphoto.com/products/hoya/gf-01.html )

We get this question often enough that I decided to upload a sample to Flickr showing the same subject taken with and without a UV filter. Download the image, cut a small section out of the top half and drag it to the same section in the bottom half and see what you think. The photos were taken about 15 seconds apart in subdued sunlight, so I think the lighting was virtually identical for each. There was no post-processing at all so you can make a fair comparison. I will not comment any further and let you decide for yourself if there is any color shift.

The picture was taken with a Nikon D200 at ISO 100 with the Nikon 18-200 VR lens @ 112 mm at f/5.3.

Buy a name brand like Hoya or Tiffen. Don’t get cheap junk to put on the front of your fine lens.

Circular Polarising Filters

49mm SUNPAK Twin Pack UV HAZE & CIRCULAR POLARIZER FILTER-old stock-BRAND NEW 49 $30.36

Lot of Vivitar and HCE Camera Lens Filters Polarizing, Haze, 85B $3.00

NIKON 52MM FILTER LOT Macro Star Haze Polarizer and more 6 Total $14.99

Lot of Six 62mm Camera Filters – Circular Polarizer UV Haze, Skylight $18.00

Hoya HMC 67mm UV Haze + Circular Polarizer C-POL Filter $125.70

TRISTAR 52MM POLARIZER 8945 FILTER, VIVITAR 52MM UV-HAZE FILTER $14.00

58mm UV HAZE Lens Filter ACCESS High Transmission Optical Circular Polarizer $8.00

SET OF 2 – 49MM FILTERS POLARIZER AND UV-HAZE $9.92

Hoya Pro1 55mm UV Haze +Circular Polarizer C-POL Filter $75.95

HOYA 52MM HRT CPL CIRCULAR POLARIZING UV HAZE FILTER 52 $64.35

HOYA 58MM HRT CPL CIRCULAR POLARIZING UV HAZE FILTER 58 $70.35

Hoya HMC 52mm UV Haze + Circular Polarizer C-POL Filter $89.70

Choice of Tiffen 62mm 67mm 72mm UV Skylight Polarizer and other filters – $4.99

Choice of Tiffen 62mm 67mm 72mm UV Skylight Polarizer and other filters – $7.99

Choice of Tiffen 62mm 67mm 72mm UV Skylight Polarizer and other filters – $4.99

Choice of Tiffen 62mm 67mm 72mm UV Skylight Polarizer and other filters – $4.99

HOYA 62MM HRT MULTI COATED CPL CIRCULAR POLARIZING UV HAZE FILTER 62 NEW $88.35

Hoya HMC 72mm UV Haze + Circular Polarizer C-POL Filter $171.20

Hoya HMC 58mm UV Haze + Circular Polarizer C-POL Filter $98.70

Hoya HMC 62mm UV Haze + Circular Polarizer C-POL Filter $125.70

Hoya HMC 77mm UV Haze + Circular Polarizer C-POL Filter $218.70

TIFFEN 55MM CIR. POLARIZER FILTER, TIFFEN 55MM HAZE 1 FILTER $19.00

HOYA 55MM HRT CPL CIRCULAR POLARIZING UV HAZE FILTER 55 $64.35

B+W 67mm Circular Polarizer with MRC + B+W 67mm UV Haze Filter $130.00

B&W 67mm 010 UV Haze Filter & Circular Polarizer Filter + Kit $189.99

Hoya HMC 55mm UV Haze + Circular Polarizer C-POL Filter $89.70

Choice of Generic UV Haze Skylight lens filters $2.49

Choice of Generic UV Haze Skylight lens filters $2.49

Choice of Generic UV Haze Skylight lens filters $2.99

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