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
Johnathan's picture

ND's and Polarizers are a necessity in my opinion. it is still better to get that perfect shot in camera, not in photoshop.

Uwe Hoffmann's picture

Getting it right requires white balance set every time and polarizers, NDs, Macro, etc. My time at home at the laptop is precious to me.

Steve's picture

I make most use of the polarizer, to help minimize post-processing.

Bob Fox's picture

I always carry a polarizer but don't use it often. It is used only for special situations.

Andy Zirna's picture

To eliminate reflections, bring out white clouds or create a more intense water color in the Caribbean I can't live without a polarizer.

Add Austin's picture

Always carry the polarizer. Don't use the split ND as often as I should.

Steven's picture

I always use grad ND filters for sunrise & sunset. The greatest software in the world cannot bring back burned out hightlights. Neither can it reduce the glare that a polarizer can when shooting refective surfaces. I also use solid ND's for shooting waterfalls.

Rowland W.'s picture

You still can't simulate polarization with software.

Eric Matson's picture

The polarizer helps kill glare, even though I can enhance color in-camera. My ND is essential for otherwise unobtainable slower shutter speeds.

Chuck Pine's picture

My lenses are almost always covered with a polarizing filter (unless there is an extremely low light situation). I also carry around several graduated ND filters in my vest pocket for those times when the contrast range of a scene is so great that the camera's histogram spans the entire range from whites to blacks.

Michael Hullah's picture

I always carry a Polarizer and grad ND filters as I mainly shoot landscapes and nature. I still prefer to shoot it right rather than spend post-shooting time to enhance the shot.

Richard Brown's picture

Main use of polarizer to cut glare and darken sky in scenics. Secondary use is to control bright sunlight and use wider aperture for close-up photos.

Jim Plogger's picture

I use NDs and a polarizer just as I did with film cameras. You cannot always rely on software to fix your photos.

Bob Humphrey's picture

Good photos in the field means less time correcting and adjusting on my computer. Besides, if I start with quality pictures, Photoshop will only make them even better.

Lary's picture

I always carry a polarizer. I almost never carry NDs.

Mark Tilly's picture

I use color correction filters when I switch from studio lights to on camera or accessory flashes. Then I don't have to do color correction, with software, when I print the photographs.

John Irwin's picture

I use the polarizer to get a better feel while in the field and the ND filter to slow down stream shots. They are both easy to use and help you get into the moment of capture.

Richard Pearce's picture

I use ND and polarizer filters from time to time for effects I know of no software for. For instance, removing glare and capturing details beneath the surface of water or emphasizing the flow of a waterfall in brighter than ideal light.

Dave Shaffer's picture

You can't "imitate" the effect of a polarizer, and if you want a long exposure to, say, blur moving water, you may need an ND filter to avoid overexposure. It would be nice if DSLRs had really low ISOs available - like 5 or 10 or even 1, but I doubt this is compatible with how the sensors actually work.

Mike's picture

I need more control than I can get with "built in" ND filters. Adding or taking away levels of ND filtration gives me the control to get those Ghostly water images. A polarizer helps with just about any thing!

C.  Sanborn's picture

I also carry a true infra-red filter. Software can't do everything.

Joe Kovarik's picture

Software cannot exactly duplicate the polarizer filter and sometimes you just have to slow the shutter speed and a ND allows you to do that.

Bob Crum's picture

As a landscape and nature photographer... the polarizer is a given for lenses other than ultra wide angle. 2-stop ND works best on my Tokina 11-16mm lens. For the UW Tokina, the polarizer works on special occasions only.

Joe Sutherland's picture

I used ND filters when I need to slow down the shutter speed. I haven't used a polarizer nearly as often as I did with film cameras.

Jerre Redding's picture

I always have a polarizer on my camera full time.

Jim's picture

There is no software that can create the effects of a polarizer. I prefer gradient masks and HDR software over an ND filter for extreme contrast although ND's are nice for long exposures.

Jim L.'s picture

Not only do I carry both screw on ND and Polarizer filters, but I also use the Cokin system with split ND and reverse split ND filters on occasion.

Dennis's picture

I mostly use a circular Polarizer. I shoot a lot of desert shots and nothing pops that winter blue sky like a good polarizer. The only time I don't use an ND outdoors very much as my camera has a pretty low ISO for the bottom. But I do use an ND in the studio, in fact sometimes even a CP to reduce specular highlights and reflective distractions on glossy surfaces.

Jay Ward's picture

Always use Circular Polarizer for landscapes and it's a good ND filter too. Really knocks down bright sunlight to a manageable level.

Mike K.'s picture

NDs and polarizers are not replacable by image processing programs, I also carry a sun filter when needed.

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