Filter Question.

[Guest D.C. Joseph]

Hi. I've been pondering lately whethor or not I want to buy a few filters for my Canon XL2. I haven't delved too deep into research. I love to hear some input from a few of you guys. My questions are: Are filters actually worth buying? And is there any filter which can create a certain look or feel, that can't be duplicated in post? Is there any particular filter that is must own? The filters I was looking into buying were, the FS-72U Filter Set, which includes a Neutral Density (ND8), polarizing and a ultra-violet filter. The other being th 72mm Pro Mist Tiffen Filter, which is exceptional for creating a mood. Outdoors or indoors, in broad scenes or portraits. It is excellent for toning down excessive sharpness and reducing contrast by moderately lightening shadow areas without detracting from the overall image. And the last being the Soft FX/3 filter. I'm planning to begin to shooting wedding in the near future, and I'd like to be able to create a glow around the bride and groom. I'm sure this could probably be done in post, though

 

Thanks so much.

D.C. Joseph

Edited December 5, 2005 by D.C. Joseph

[Joshua Provost]

D.C.,

 

You hit the major ones that must be done with a filter: ND and polarizer. If a scene is just too bright for the camera, even at smallest aperture (and you wouldn't want to work at that extreme anyway), you need an ND to cut the light into a manageable range. Of course, you have built-in ND's that can usually handle this.

 

A polarizer is essential for cutting glare and reflections and often for making skies look more pleasant. You can't do that in post.

 

An ND grad can be helpful in certain situations.

 

Other than that, most color correction can be done in-camera or in post. However, there is a limit to how far you can push the camera and the DV codec, so it may be desirable to do some of this with filters, but not required.

 

If you find your video is overly sharp and want to generally soften it, look first to the detail setting of your camera for a fix. If you are after actual halation of highlights, a ProMist might be helpful.

 

Josh

[Michael Collier]

Its always a tradeoff to correct in post. Sure it can be done, but essentially all post color correction is is turning down certain channels and turning others up. Every channel you turn up will highlight the noise already present in the image. This applies to white ballance too. If you want an overall warm scene, use a filter to do it. that way your image stays clean and you still have the headroom for post color correction. to keep your image as sharp as possible figure out the look before you shoot and apply the filters as needed to get to that look.

[Jack Barker]

Those are all good picks. I might question the ND, since you have two already built in to the XL2. The Soft FX/3 might be a bit strong, but that's a matter of taste. I have a UV as my "permanent" screw-in to protect the lens - all the rest are 4x4's to slide in behind the matte box.