Lense Filters-What & Which??

[Teaboy1]

Im getting into my video footage nicely now but have noticed how the sky on my footage is a sickly gray even when its really a nice blue-sky day! Now Im sure its to do with having the correct exposure of my subject that results in an over exposed sky so my question is concerning the use of graduated gray and graduated blue filters. What do I need to give my footage a pleasing blue sky appearance on bright sunny days and overcast days? Anyone care to give me the lowdown on filters? I use a circular polarising filter all the time whatever the lighting conditions, I tried it with & without, the results were the same....so I keep it on permanently.

 

[Dennis]

For a polarising filter to work effectively, the angle must be set correctly and for the bluest sky to be obtained, the sun should be ~90 degrees to the subject. Get it right and a polarising filter will be effective.

 

[asylumxl]

ND grad will make a big difference. Video cameras have very small dynamic range, and as such can only expose for shadows or highlights. By using the ND grad you're compressing the scenes range to something more acceptable for your camera.

If you haven't got a filter system already, I recommend the Cokin P system (suitable for prosumer slr and video cameras). I've got a Cokin P series ND4 (2 stops) grad filter, and I love it for still photographs. You can achieve brilliant skies.

 

[Teaboy1]

Thanks Dennis, I have a circular polarising filter and never found much of a difference turning it around but I must admit I did not give it much time experimenting with various rotations. How do I know which way is up on my polarising filter?? Is it trial & error??

I have looked at the Cokin Filters and they are square plates...?? dont know if they will fit my video camera like they would a stills camera, so what do I need gents?? Im not a pro photographer just a simple 'train in a landscape' hack once inspired by Colin T Gifford's book of photos, I have moved on to colour and video but still inspired by the small subject being part of the big picture!!

So do I need a graduated gray filter or a graduated blue filter? Non-ND or ND ???
Thanks in anticipation.
TB1

 

[Dennis]

Thanks Dennis, I have a circular polarising filter and never found much of a difference turning it around but I must admit I did not give it much time experimenting with various rotations. How do I know which way is up on my polarising filter?? Is it trial & error??

TB1

The polarising filter is most effective over a few degrees of rotation and has to be set with some degree of precision. For adding contrast to the sky, if you have a live 'levels' indicator, point the camera in the direction you want to shoot then raise the camera so that with view is filled mostly with sky. Then slowly roate the filter until you obtain maximum contrast and minimum brightness.

For dealing with reflections, I tend to just zoom the viewfinder onto the troublesome part of the shot and then slowly rotate the filter until the reflection is minimised.

 

[asylumxl]

I recommend the graduated grey filter.

The filters are indeed square. They fit in a holder which can be mounted on the camera using an adapter ring. Then, due to them being square, you can slide the filters up and down depending on how much of the frame you want them to cover

 

[Teaboy1]

OK so that sound like a plan...!! First however I think I need a x2 multiplier on the front to get some decent zoom capability and then once I know the ring size of the zoom, get a frame & filter bought.
The circular filters look convenient but you cannot adjust these once they are on, what-you-get-is-what-you-have so to speak! Thanks everyone will let you know how things pan out.
Been out this weekend (Sun) surveying my spots to video but far too windy to shoot and Monday....raining like mad. I would guess that videoing under a brolly would give a sound effect akin to a drum....British summer eh ??:cry::cry::cry:

 

[Billr]

First however I think I need a x2 multiplier on the front to get some decent zoom capability

If you are thinking of going down that route you'll need a darn good tripod first, about £500's worth, unless you want shakey video! Of course,your recorded sound will probably be terrible as well and I reckon audio makes the video.

My camcorder at it's max zoom (12x) has a 35mm equivalent of 360mm, without image stabilisation and on a £250 tripod can still wobble when I have hold of the pan bar.

Just find a location closer to the subject and eliminate most of the problems!

As for filters, I only use a UV for lens protection (though cam has ND's built in, so yes I do use them). Using a grad will almost certainly exclude a pan or zoom shot without the filter interfering.

 

[Teaboy1]

I released many years ago the need for a tripod and so I have several I use, my favorite is a lite-weight ally+plastic affair that is easy to transport around, most important I find is the hook underneath!! I have at all my 'sites' a hidden away in the undergrowth, a brick-on-a-wire or a bucket full of stones, etc that I simply hook on! Its not £500's worth because experience says I dont need it.
My video has standard x10 zoom and I know that too much zoom is as bad as too little, its just that some pan shots call for the long long distance shots I want and here I hope the x2 will help. I have ordered a £10 example from eBay Hong Kong special <<<just I must stress to try out the video and its auto focus capacity>>>. If it works then I shall look for some quality Canon / Nikon optics and resell the cheapo HK jobbie, but until I know it all works, Im not going to blow £200 on a x2 adapter to find it wont work on auto or with a circular filter.
As any video'er knows sound is your worst enemy, usually its wind, road traffic or some village idiot giving you their life story, hence my reclusive activities around the SYJR. The wind means I have to choose my days carefully and 4kg of bricks helps stop the tripod moving too much. The filter I intend to buy will mean I can slide the graduated bit in / out as I wish provided it does not induce camera shake. But the beauty of the SYJR is that my background noise is usually bird song, pheasants croaking, cows mooing, etc all nicely natural. Maltby pit however is very noisy with truck reverse bleepers sounding all day....and that bleedin' frequency dont 'arf travel well!!