Please briefly comment on your experience with polarizer and ND filters for your DSLR photography.

Please briefly comment on your experience with polarizer and ND filters for your DSLR photography.
Yes, I still work with glass filters and always carry NDs and a polarizer.
77% (115 votes)
No, I get all the special effects I need from software.
19% (29 votes)
I am not sure what advantage ND or polarizer filters offer.
3% (5 votes)
Total votes: 149

COMMENTS
Mark Hardy's picture

The less I have to do with in house editing the more I get to be out doing what I love.

Michael D.  McGuire's picture

I have yet to find software that will duplicate the full range that a glass Polarizer does, and my graduated ND filter is still the best for pulling in skies much of the time. If you get it in camera, there's less to do in PhotoShop!

Will M.'s picture

Polarizers not only increase saturation, but also reduce reflections on some surfaces. The latter is more easily done in camera than in software.

Jim's picture

I find the polarizer especially useful in landscape work. On ocassion, I also use a graduated ND filter to control extreme contrast.

Ed's picture

I can't believe that serious photographers don't use glass filters. The need for filters was made very apparent to me about 6 years ago when I was photographing off Big Sur. It was hazy day and I couldn't see the opposite side of the bay with my naked eye. I looked again a second time through a UV filter and while it wasn't clear, it made it a lot better. No sensor, no film, just eyeball. No software can recover what isn't there and if the scene is lost because of haze, reflection or dynamic range, it's lost and can't be fixed. The fish may have been swimming below the surface, but the glare will forever block it. Filters that I carry, circular polarizer, UV haze, UV/IR cut, graduated ND.

Len Holland's picture

Get it right in the camera and try minimal effects post. Nothing is real anymore. Perhaps it never was.

Alain's picture

It gives you much more control about exposure, contrast and dynamic range.

Marianne's picture

Actually, it's about half & half-I love the Nik filter suite and find they work well enough that I can use them when I haven't carried all my glass filters along. But for certain situations-such as shooting through glass to avoid reflections, a real polarizer can't be beat. I always keep an ND or skylight filter on to protect my lens.

David Hall's picture

Polarizer the most used filter but ND's occassionally. I also use film Nikons and Hasselblads with these filters.

Kevin Boldenow's picture

Because I still shoot film along with digital, filters are still part of my equipment.

Dale Hazard's picture

The only filters I use are a polarizer and a UV. Any effects can be done in post.

John L.  Marshall's picture

A polarizer can control reflection, such as seeing into water or through a window, in a way that can not be accomplished with software. A star filter produces a more realistic effect than software. I still use graduated ND filters in high contrast situations. I mostly use Cokin P filters.

Mike Morgan's picture

Although I rarely use them, on a recent trip to Yosemite I found myself leaving the polarizer on all the time. I pulled out one of the ND's on a number of shots as well because of the difficult lighting conditions in snow.

Paul Burks's picture

I use the polarizer frequently to darken the sky and cut out glare.

John Foreman's picture

Polarizer is definately needed to reduce glare coming into the lens. Neutral densities reduce the light or allows longer shutter speeds wich creates effect only they can create. You need several ND 2,4,6 and a circular polizer and it realy nice to have 1 Gradient ND.

Jeff Parrish's picture

Photography is the same as before, just the sensor media has changed. I want to get the shot in camera, not "fix it" in post production. A moment of time with a filter can save a lot of time in post.

Al Currie's picture

I carry circular polarizers. Water, sky, glass reflections and rainbows are just a few examples where "software" can not retrieve lost shot. At Victoria falls and saw a beautiful rainbow in the falls. Didn't have a polarizer and had no way to capture that image. Looking through polarized glasses, rainbow popped out. Suppose some would "paint in" that rainbow, but not me. Polarizers are worth weight in space in my bag.

Heather Beck's picture

You can't get the motion effect during bright daylight without an ND! And the CPL is still my go-to for protecting my lenses.

Frank Heacock's picture

At the very least there is a sense of still being in touch with the (photographic) process. To me that's what it's all about. I won't give that up.

Shandie's picture

I really need to pick up some ND filters though - impossible to get really nice blur on waterfalls on sunny days for example without a ND or two in the kit.

Teri's picture

I still carry a few different filters in my pack. I like to filters.

Steve Hike's picture

It is better to achieve the results in camera on the spot and then work in post in my opinion.

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Ricky Jackson's picture

I used to carry polarizer and ND filters for my DSLR. I feel it is necessary for a clear picture. I am not comfortable of getting it from software. I always want these to be with my DSLR. I think I have given you the answer you needed. landing page design

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