Filters

[niall_church]

What's the difference between digital and ordinary filters!

[sfcole]

Digital filters are free and you don't have to buy, carry or change them. Glass filters can be

expensive, and you have to carry them around and screw them on and off. Digital filter

strength can be gradually adjusted to suit your vision. Glass filters are limited to what they

are. Glass filters can degrade image quality and introduce flare. Digital doesn't. The only

glass filters that can't be easily replaced are polarizers and ND.

[brucecyr]

However much you're willing to pay :-)

[wigwam jones]

Scott and Bruce are both right.

 

One can apply most effects that filters can give in post-shot processing, except, as he noted, polarizers. I would also argue that 'digital effect' IR isn't too swift either, but that's splitting hairs.

 

Bruce is also correct - I've seen glass filters listed recently that proudly claim to be 'digital ready'. Gag me. Same thing as 'digital ready' speakers when CD players became popular. Slap a label and it and charge more for the same old thing.

 

That being said, I still shoot B&W film in addition to digital. When I shoot B&W, I often carry a filter or two. I could be fooling myself, but I feel it helps me be more intentional about certain kinds of photography. Take that for what it might be worth to you.

[brucecyr]

"I've seen glass filters listed recently that proudly claim to be 'digital ready'. Gag me. Same thing as 'digital ready' speakers when CD players became popular. Slap a label and it and charge more for the same old thing."

 

Off topic but -- I had to get a new coffee brewer today. The only thing they had in my price range was labeled "digital" -- wondering if I had to buy a binary grind, I discovered the "digital" component was a blue lit clock/timer on its front :-)

[wigwam jones]

Doesn't it make you want to go track down some advertising wonk and strangle him with the cord? Arrgh.

 

And don't get me started on coffee makers.

 

http://www.growlery.com/wigwam/2005/02/coffeemaker-rant.html

[niall_church]

I hope some of you understood the question!

We are talking about the round threaded filters one puts on the front

of the lens!

I have seen these marked 'DIGITAL' and none 'DIGITAL' is there any difference between the two!

And where can you get the free,SCOTT

[evan_goulet]

Niall, the "free" digital filters that Scott mentions are those that are applied in an editing software during post-processing. Since you have to purchase the editing software, maybe they aren't really free after all.<P>The labeling of "digital" glass filters is mostly a marketing ploy. B&W makes a "digital" glass filter that blocks both UV and (near) IR wavelengths; both of which may be recorded by the <a href="http://www.alt-vision.com/documentation/5301A-25.pdf">digital camera's sensor</a> (depending on the sensors own internal filter). With regular film, there is no significant (near) IR sensitivity to worry about, so you would only need a UV filter.

[studor13]

I have a Kenko CP and it was promoted as being "digital". Apparently there is an extra coating (on the back of the CP, I believe) which supposedly reduces some internal reflections that are said to be common in DSLRs.

 

In any case, this unit is very very good. My only gripe is that the CP smudges easily and is somewhat difficult to remove.

[jcuknz]

Some of you folk might be interested that in New Zealand Glaxo Smith Kline have been fined $217.000 for mis leading advertising with Ribena claims. They said perhaps quite correctly that black currents had more vitamin C than oranges weight for weight, when in fact there is only a minute trace of Vit. C in Ribena ... misleading advertising.

 

A small sum for the firm but their reputations has been seriously hurt and it has stirred things up that other claims by other firms are to be investigated.

 

It started with a pair of girls doing a science project at school, they raised it with the industry watch group and were ignored, and eventually our Govt watch dogs got in on the deal and took the firm to court. So there are perhaps some red faces around the place :-)

[niall_church]

I didn't know there was vitamin C in filters!

What does it do for the filters? Does it make 'em better!

[studor13]

JC, if you have some real proof that the new "digital" CPs have vitamin C in it, then I too would be interested to hear. But I can tell you that my digital Kenko is so good that I doubt that I could tell the difference between this and other better known filter brands.

 

Incidentally, Kenko is now owned by Hoya, and I believe that the filters are the same as those sold under the Hoya name.