Landscape Photography - Do We Need Filters Anymore?
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- Опубликовано: 25 окт 2024
- My thoughts on using Polarising filters, ND Grads and ND filters with all that digital technology offers these days. I discuss Hi-tech, Nisi and Lee filters.
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Some kit used/seen in this video. These are affiliate links.
LowePro Filter Pouch - geni.us/FilterP...
Lee Lens Caps: geni.us/LensCaps
Lee Foundation Holder - geni.us/wKWK
Heliopan Polariser - geni.us/Heliopan
This Attches my Polariser to my Filter Holder - geni.us/LeeAdapt
Lee Soft Grads: geni.us/LeeSoft...
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Lee Super Stopper: geni.us/LeeSuper
Lens Cloth: geni.us/LensCloth
You're like a walking motivational poster for photographers. Love your vids man.
I agree, a lot of photographers say you can do all this in post processing but I enjoy the craft of creating an image in the field and not messing around in lightroom or other editing software afterwards
Hahah 10/10 for the tape deck
@Jina Karlinsky nice bot account and your bot freind response just leave
Could't agree more on the use of filters. I much prefer being outside shooting than stuck in front of the computer. I've used Lee Filters for years and I've never had to replace any of them. Great video.
Queue the soft moody music....brilliant. If I were living in the Arctic and you were hawking refrigerators, you would have just made a sale. Your style, and class (with a bit of wit), is contagious. Plus we all learn so much!
Nice video
Like someone said, not every use of ND or GND filters is exactly replicabile on the PC
So I love your attitude: more time on the field, less behind a PC
Alessandro Torri im wondering, which use of ND filters isn't editable? I mean, I like my filters, but I'm still wondering
Thomas Heaton, You are clearly a man after my own heart. Your aside starting around (maybe a little before) 2:45 about why you use & carry all the different filters into the field touched a nerve.
I would rather spend more time in the field than on the computer. I love technology & computers and all the things they can do for us, but when it comes to photography, I want to spend that time out there, where the image is real, immersive, and I am seeing it for the first time... The excitement of capturing and then being able to share it. The play between the light and dark in it's raw form that you want to share with others just never seems to be as authentic when you have to touch it up heavily and rely on imperfect memory to assist you with that...
Anyhow, I am very miserly with my subscribe button (time being finite), and this tipped the balance for me. Props for the quality of your work and on another subscriber! ;) Please keep it up... Sincerely, your newest fan.
Hi Thomas, I completely agree with you when you talk about spending more time outside rather than learning and mastering advanced post processing techniques!
Thomas. Thank you. Thank you in the name of all of us, young photographers. I found you on youtube couple of months ago. You inspire us to go forward in photography :)
For a second there, I was pumped I didn't need to spend hundreds of dollars on ND filters. But it's true! There's no greater joy than seeing the results right there out in the fresh air. I've been using resin filters for a while, but am now looking around for a top notch replacement.
Thanks for making fantastic videos Thomas. Really good stuff.
When you hit the music , I burst out laughing
Huge respect for constructively criticising the free filters you received. It's a rarity to hear an honest opinion of a product when it's been gifted to the user (especially on RUclips!!).
I'm sure I won't be the only person who thinks the filters they use are the best, but I have to jump in here and say that the Firecrest range from Hitech are definitely worth investigating - they are the most colour neutral I've used. My Lee Big Stopper is definitely more on the blue side, whereas my Firecrest 16 stopper has no cast whatsoever.
Thanks for your videos Thomas, your enthusiasm is infectious, it has gotten me up off my sofa and outside more times this year than anything else :)
Keep up the great work!
Thanks for sharing your experience with great comments....as a hobbyist I just love taking pics & being out in the fresh air...I don't do any post processing other than just lighten or darken a photo & some minimal cropping.... great video... cheers from Australia 🦘🦘😊
Love the reflection of the owl in the filters!
Your explanation at about 3:20 completely puts words to why I watch your channel! Good Job!
ND filters can be useful is you want to shoot wide open in bright daylight. not sure you can replicate that with digital technologies.
forgot to say, Nice video!
Sebastien Degardin You can fudge it, but it's not the same. The same goes for the statement that you can take multiple exposures and blend them to replicate a long exposure - it's not the same. All depends on what you're comfortable with and the effect you're hoping to achieve.
You could reduce the exposure time, no? I'm fairly sure I've used f/1.4 on a sunny day. Taking a long exposure on a sunny day obviously requires an ND filter though.
yeah, but you wont shoot a landscape wide open in bright mid day, it makes no sense; for portraiture, u expose for the highlights which will give a crazy high speed like 1/4000 or more, and then u illuminate your subject with a HSS flashlight/strobe; so nd filter will be the poor man HSS solution, lol
Although you can replicate it with multiple photos stacking it still wont be the same the viewer might not see it but the photographer will notices and will find difference between stacked images and one long exposure using ND filter. The problem is that the process is governed by computer and that the computer does calculations and the final image looks unrealistic - same goes with blur vs panning, motion blur made with computer vs motion blur made in the spot it does look good for a person that havent done this on the spot with camera, but as a photograhper I can spot the difference and when I do that it irritates me...
I love your description of the creation of a photo in the field! :D
I love the attempt to create the photo in the camera. You will often see the difference from PS and making it while taking it will at all times give a much better starting position in the post production.
you can soak your lens cloths in lukewarm water, and then air dry them over night thanks for the vids I have learned so much from them,keep them coming,thanks again Thomas.
yes , Lee is the best at present .. durable, true, and no color cast ... i love your videos. theyre so interesting and informative ....
Fantastic video! A very real world take on filters and their durability.
Hi Thomas! Just want to point out that laying the filters flat on a table greatly exaggerates any minor differences between two different filters, since the light passes twice through the ND.
The Nisi filters should also be around 10% brighter from the start because of the multicoating (but this would affect both the clear part and the ND part equally)
I lost it when you turned on the music, i laughed so hard. You tell them Thomas, you tell them about what its really about!
I am a not a photographer in the least bit. I do enjoy taking pictures though. I just want to keepsake moments of my life. So, I bought a few cameras. I appreciate your videos because they help me understand how to take pictures appropriately. Comparatively, when I got a job driving a truck, I knew other truck drivers could tell right away that I was new. I've learned so much from my own mistakes and from other drivers over all these years. So, likewise, I think there is value in a poorly taken photo, like many of mine that I have no clue are any good. I like them, but I'm sure there is room for improvement. For me, they are my examples. So, now that you've shared info about filters, I can begin to look areas that need improvement, and apply an appropriate technique, such as a filter. I can put sunglasses on my camera lens to see the image more clearly.
Another very informative and honest video. I have started using the Lee 100mm filter system and have purchased various strength ND grads but so far have not purchased the polariser, mainly because of the cost, and am using the Hoya circular instead which means I cannot use ND grads at the same time. Will have to win the lottery!
Love all your videos.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! The muzak... i just fell off my chair! Thanks for your imput on the filters, Thomas.
Regarding the polarizer... there HAVE been instances where sliding the "DeHazing" slider has been astonishingly similar to a polarizer... drilling down past the reflection on the surface of a lake... it floored me. Not as well as the muzak floored me but, yeah. 😉
"Photography if it was easy, it'd be boring" Simply Amazing, thanks for sharing!
Stunning, and true. Software processing is no match for hardware, especially in terms of my ND... and taking real photos and being out there means a lot more than pixel peeping and social liking on 500px. I admire your drive sir.
Great video Tom, super informative... I got hooked on your vids and have 'binge-watched' every one of them over the course of a week. Love your style and your photographs are wonderful... Thanks for the inspiration and please keep the video coming!
I find there's 2 reasons that filters win.
1) where you need to balance light and dark, and there is movement in the frame that you want to capture - water, trees, runners etc. In this case bracketing & merging can be challenging.
2) When using smaller sensor cameras such as micro four thirds with a lower dynamic range. Here a grad filter really helps to balance the exposure .
I used to bracket and her merge everything, until I started using Lee filters, and now I only bracket occasionally.
Wow , this what I love , not in front of the computer but enjoying life outdoor with Mother Nature
Well said! Photography is more than just the photo.
Another thumbs up for the hitech firecrest filters.
just bought into the nisi V6 system.... cant speak for any results yet, but reason i went with Nisi over Lee is the big/super stopper has a major blue cast, but the nisi IR ND filters have almost no colour cast. Lee do IRND too but they are about $30 more than NISI and are made from resin not glass. Also the polariser for lee system is extortionate. costs more than the V6 holder with landscape polariser and 4x adaptor rings for different size lenses. plus the nisi polariser sits behind the filters so can be used on its own. not sure if you can use the lee one on its own? looks like a large gap between the lens and polariser? could be wrong on that tho. Lastly, im also sure that Lee filters will slot just fine with the Nisi holder. so makes sense to get the better holder, and then pick and choose the filters you want to use
" Instant gratification" Now that is what all DSLR photographers should be aiming for, DSLR's have allowed us to achieve instant gratification with live view and image playback. So while you're out in the field, you can endeavour to get the best image in camera.
Of course there is that element where PP will enhance your images and that is another bonus.
I'm currently fixing up my Dads Ricoh KR10, which he has recently handed over to me. Looks like I'll be using filters with that film setup. ;)
Great video Tom
You are right about NiSi, I returned them and got instead the Lee Big & Little Stoppers. Try the Formatt Hightech Firecrest, very durable with the actual pigment between 2 crystal layers and NO COLOUR CAST at all. Very happy with them :)
your production quality has rocketed! Good job mate!
Great and very informative video! Thank you very much for that. I also use filters for my landscape photography, but over the years, a few manufacturers have found their way into my photo bag: GND-Filters from Lee. I agree with you that they have the best price-quality ratio. ND-Filters from Haida. They are not really expensive, but absolutely colorless. And finally the filter holder V5 from Nisi. It comes in a nice box together with polarizer and adapter rings. The only disadvantage of this combination is that the Lee Filters are slightly thicker than other filters and therefor it is a bit harder to push them into the filter holder. But slightly loosen the screws of the brackets of the holder solves the problem.
Greetings, Thomas
Your videos keep getting better! Well done Thomas!
I use Nisi V5 holder with Nisi polarizer, and Haida GND and ND. Super Happy with all.
They are great filters. I didn't notice the density until I opened the Lee filters.
What does your camera's meter say about the relative density of the filters.
After I watch your video I checked my Nisi 3 stops grad and noticed that the last 2cm (almost an inch in imperial) are really 3 stops, but the transaction is very very soft. If one's used to Lee soft grads, then Nisi makes ultra-soft grads. I have to put all the Nisi filter down most of the time.
Hi Richard, can I ask if you are using Haida GND and ND on the NiSi V5 holder? Cause I just bought the NiSi 100mm kit... then heard a few said their filter can get scratched easily..... I am thinking if mine get scratched, I may try Haida but just want to make sure I can use the Nisi Holder to use the Haida filters as I quite like the NiSi Holder and the Polarizer. Thanks.
Really like your attitude towards photography! Big thumbs up.
Hi Thomas!
Coming from the previous video, this one is in a more controlled environment and therefore much easier to control the script and all that - I loved the dog cameo appearance in the back.
Great advice on filters, I agree with most of what you said. Although it brings size and weight to your backpack, it adds to the art of photography while you are outdoors.
Thanks for sharing.
I guess for a lot of us , experience of the outdoors counts as much as the photography - thanks for sharing the experience.
I saw the title of this video and right away started mentally preparing my response about time spent in front of a computer verses time on location. However no need, you provided a far better explanation, and with backing music! Great video Tom, I use Lee Filters myself, great quality. It’ll be interesting to see what you create with the 15 stop filter. I have the 6 stop and 10 stop filters and occasionally double them up to get 16 stops, fantastic for moody images.
Couldn't agree with you more on everything you said from 2:45 to 3:44. That is exactly why I love photography.
You are singing my song about the love of outdoors and the art of photography to find the composition and make the other choices it takes. For me, I want the post production to be minimal. Thanks.
I am a big fan of Lee Filters... I use the Little stopper and big stopper... love them... An assortment of grads too... A 4 stop and 3 stop ND for Landscapes and portraits... good value for money...
Dear Thomas, this video of yours is quite informative and useful. Thank you a lot.
But while mentioning about the brands of such filters, Lee, Hi-Tech, Nisi, Heliopan were mentioned only. In the comments of this video, I have seen some comments about Haida ND filters.
But what about KOOD filters?
I have been using a couple of them (one grad 2-stop and one 3-stop ND filter).
As long as I use, they are quite good successful in not giving a color cast in photos.
Have you tried Kood?
I can recommend you Kood filters about their price/quality performance.
And one more question: I am really quite surprised about you having too many scratched filters. I have some scratched filters but their scratches are in the mounting places of the filters, not in the zone of the lens field of sight. I am curious about how you experienced too many scratched (and unusable) filters.
Good video again!
Concerning lens cloths, you should google Bamboo cloth or Bamboo crystal cloth. They are normally intended for use in the kitchen but they work perfectly for filters. Ever since I use them with my lees I have less smear, espeacialy with salt water at the coast. Not one of the filter cloths I have tested before can keep up with them. Plus you can easily wash them. If you want to test some, get the large fiber towels. I'm sure amazon uk has them. Cheers
Hey Thomas I am very glad happy how honest you were in this video :)
Hey thomas love your videos! You take us long with you on your journeys and show us the real truth of photography. That's what matters; showing us the real deal.
I always try to learn things and am pleased to say that ive learned a good amount watching your channel. Please keep it up! Inspires me to go out and shoot more!
Great video as always Thomas,glad i watched it as i, like you have tried so many different filters,which i must say that i still have them all,and now just use the Lee ones.I lost some bit and like you i emailed Lee with no joy,but at a camera show in Carmarthen Wales,i spoke to one of their reps,told him the trouble i had getting the bits,he took my name on the Saturday,i got a email on the Monday and the bits i needed was at my door on Tuesday free of charge .So Thanks for your view on the Lee,makes me feel better that i went with Lee .Can't wait now for your next video.By the way,i hope the house is coming alone so you can get back in .
excellent video and Edit Thomas. Very nice touch with the mood music in the Tape player just out of frame :)
Nice one again. The music was a nice touch lol. I agree that as a landscape photographer its great to be outdoors, in nature. Though I will admit I love Photoshop and HDR equally. So each his or her own like you said. Though I am using Cokin for a year now and none are scratched or damaged. 🙄
Great talk, been using the Nisi V5 kit with the ultra thin CPL which doesn't mean I need a large diameter one to fit all the lenses
Thank you Thomas, I needed that! . Informative, helpful, an honest opinion and good sound reasoning why. Great video, welcome back.
Love your video. Photography is not about highlight -100 and shadow +100. People these days all too focus on the capability of the sensor. However, the experience you can get during your photo shoot is more essence in my opinion. Yeah, sure I love to have a Nikon or Phase camera that gives me that possibility to retouch my photo in a much more extreme way, but the first thing is to take a nice photo. that is more important.
once again Brilliant video Thomas
Another brilliant and informative video, Thomas. You're such an inspiration.
You even make filters an inspirational subject!
I was hoping to hear that no I do not need filters.... But it seems like I will go for a Lee set in the end. I see you using ND grad's everwhere.... Love your video's!
Tom, I am guessing the Formatt Hitech filters you have there are resin? You should take a serious look at their Firecrest glass filter line, I purchased 4 of them and am very impressed. Their 10 stop doesn't have a blue cast like the Lee Big Stopper, and their ND grads are extremely neutral. Thanks for the video, looks like you have a sweet new studio!
Yes, these are my older resin ones, very good value. I'm sure things have moved on since though.
I can also vouch for the firecrest all my filters including polariser are this type and theres zero colour cast they're fantastic!
David Patten I agree, in fact even the new resin hi-tech have no colour cast. The firecrest range are simply excellent and the new filter holder with integrated polarizer is 😎 cool
David Patten I agree, in fact even the new resin hi-tech have no colour cast. The firecrest range are simply excellent and the new filter holder with integrated polarizer is 😎 cool
Thomas Heaton Hey Tom, first I want to say your videos are amazing and pushed me to buy my first set; Big Stopper, Super Stopper, and 2 stop soft grad with the lee 100 system. Thank you so much for the inspiration. I was wondering if you had any recomendations for polarizer? I was going to get the Lee one but after seeing your Heliopan I'm so sure anymore, any advice would be helpful. Thank You!
I miss so much those old videos... the photography trip in Scotland was my favourite actually, but lately I think that you just focus more on business. No critics, really, you're still the best in the business, just missing the old videos.. they we're "different"
I am sure he'll get back to doing more expedition videos, they are really great! He just got married and appears to be in the process of setting up his new studio, so probably a bit preoccupied :).
I'm not sure I agree. Out of my last 9 videos, only one has been businessy and that was the calendar (I have to make a living). The other 8 have been 2 x trees in mist, almost autumn, something from nothing, Wake Up, cloud inversion, bad weather and the filter vid, which came about because of so many emails. Before this I was in the Alps! I think the difficulty I have is that people want more regular content, which is difficult to sustain if I only shoot in the field. Wow, this is like therapy. Anyway, fear not. I promise you a ton of good stuff over the next 8 weeks. Thanks for your comment and for your kind words :)
Thomas, I'm not criticizing you. I just say what I feel: the old videos (for example Sierra Nevada or as I said before Scotland) gave me different emotions, but I'm not telling you "oh stop doing this, unsubscribed" and stuff like that. You are absolutely the best, no questions, but I think that lately you're doing more videos that do not have all at the same quality. Back in the days, I was waiting months to see "Thomas Heaton has just released a new video [...]". And I knew that that was a great video without even reading the title.
Of course you have to live and I think that the calendar and the e-book are GREAT ideas, just suggesting not to focus to much on them Thomas :)
Great channel, a lot of good information about landscape photography, great photographs and inspiration. Subscribed
For those on the bench about them, Filters are great for people with lower level SLR cameras which don't quite have the dynamic range and raw potential of the bigger full frame beasts on the markets. I use a Lee graduated on my 70d and it works wonders giving my raws a huge amount more useful data and saves time compositing.
Love the new bump in production quality. Keep killing it Thomas.
Please do a QnA (I would love to know about the tattoo on your right arm)
I did get one of those lens cloths, it's magic as I haven't washed it for months but it's still great.
Thanks Thomas ! Really helpful advice before making an investment.
Hi Thomas, very interesting subject and lots of comments. I use Nisi and also have the 15 stop which i use for cloudy bleak days around midday in B&W just as you said. Very happy with Nisi as long as i don't scratch them and they don't have any colour cast. Great vid thanks
I use filters. ND grads extend your dynamic range and with a camera that doesn't have a great dynamic range such as my Canon 60D, I'll take all the help I can get to retain as much DR as possible. Pulling shadows and pushing highlights can cause noise in a camera that has a poor sensor in it....such as my Canon 60D. Polarizers, as you stated, reduce glare that even photoshop cannot reproduce so I use them as well
Been thinking about getting some Nisi filters so it was great to hear your opinion. Thanks
Excellent. I'm not much of a photographer (I try) but I LOVE the outdoors. I tend to shred a lot of clothing, especially walking trousers - have you any plans to do an "outdoor clothing" version of this type of blog?
The LEE 15 stop super stopper is brilliant I tend to use it a lot now!!
I can't wait to give it a go.
Another great video and this has just come in time to help me decide on brand. Thank you so much!
Bit late catching up! fully agree with your comments about the craft of making the image in the field.
I totally agree that LEE has the highest quality among other filter brands. I have their polarizer, 1, 2, 3 stops GND (soft and hard), and 6 & 10 stops ND... very very good quality with less or NIL casting on all my images...
I would recommend looking at Haida. I can comment that the 6 and 10 stop 4x4 filters I received had less color cast than the Lee filters I owned. The extra $30 dollars I made by selling the Lee used over the Haida new was a perk as well.
I haven't seen this video yet! My next investment is filters! Thank you so much for all the information! You have no idea how I have learned from you!
Exactly what I wanted to hear! Now you've answered it! Thank you Tom. Yet they're quite expensive I've seen. I would definitely love to shadow you. I'm always wanting to learn new things.
Formatt-Hitech's filter holder is better then Lee in my opinion. It's made of Aluminum and also has a screw latch, which is much more secure then the plastic Lee one. I personally prefer Lee filters though, so run Formatt-Hitech filter holder and mainly Lee filters. Hitechs Firecrest range of ND's are amazing though, so I also run a number of those. I also have a square Lee polarising filter, I find them better than the large round bulky set-up. Square ones work the same way, you still spin them in the holder.
I have used Lee yellow filter, to filter out UV. Where I work (pharmaceutical) we needed to verify that the UV rays were blocked. Lee supply a spectrograph on their site. We put a piece of the filter in our spectrometer and our spectrograph was exactly the same. So I know they are manufactured consistently. I use Lee myself for photography.
Cool perspective. The only filter I keep in my kit in a ND filter - only use it when I need to shoot wide open in bright light to maintain a shallow depth of field. Other than that I love my lenses totally naked. Great vids keep em coming - love the van
I spied someone on BBC Tv !!!.....well done mate .
Thomas, I'm exactly the same as you in terms of wanting to be out there and creating the image in camera as much as possible with as little processing as possible. I also use Lee Filters.
haha can't get pouch open.... "it's in a handy little pouch" great video Thomas love it!
Thanks for the great video again Tom.
Thomas, the stacking of images to simulate ND works only for some types of images. The ND is still irreplaceable for some shots and can't be simulated in post. Example: traffic where you see the long streaks of lights from moving cars. If you tried the stacking example, no matter how fast your camera can take exposures there will always be a gap between shots. The result won't be a continuous streak of light but a dotted line.
Great video Tom ! Big fan of your channel..
Thank you.
I was just thinking about this on my last shoot. DSLR's have such great dynamic range now that it is very rare that I use my Lee ND grads. But my Nisi V5 series polarizer is used during pretty much every landscape shoot. I agree with your comments on Nisi ND's. They're too expensive when you can go with Lee. Still like their V5 polarizer though.... Great video.
your dog is a real looker :D those curls
Thanks for the great insights into the world of filters. I don't have filters (other than polarizer) or decent software, so I'm going to have to invest in something. I do have a good solution for microfiber cloths; when I get a bunch of dirty ones, I pop them into a little net bag and into the washing machine. Air dry.
having filters is having more wonderful toys to play with! I never thought I would pay £100 for a piece of glass (cokin nuance 10 stop nd) but wow the results are amazing and you know you did it yourself not light room !
Thanks, just watched this video recently and I'm buying Lee's filter now
Great video. I like the concept of spending more time in the field and less time behind the computer. I am not very computer savvy and still learning basic post processing let alone tackling macks and stuff like that. Love you videos and your images.
I do watch photography and I agree that a polarising filter is irreplaceable. One of the best accessories I have in the studio.
Hello Thomas! Thanks for all the great content! Would you consider making a Q&A video?
Hi Thomas - I am so glad that I 'discovered' you again after first seeing your videos a couple of years ago. You inspired me to get a DSLR but I haven't really had the opportunity to get out there and pursue this as a hobby or a lifestyle. I'm really glad that I watched this video about filters and the way you feel about them. I would like to get into photography and as I love the outdoors I really do not want to rush into the fells and take some photos with the thought that I will make them look good in Lightroom!
If you or anyone else can advise me: I have a Sony A7II and would like to go down the filter holder route. I currently have the kit lens, 55mm width, and several legacy lenses. I am not very technically minded and find researching which holder will work or what adapter to buy that will work with my set up, is making me feel confused! I looked at the Haida page linked below but that baffled me.
Thomas, you are a real inspiration. Thanks for all your work. Maybe bump into you on a fell one day (I promise I will not sit down to eat my sandwiches in front of one your shoots!).
Coming up to speed on accessory filter kits is a bit daunting, but the first thing to do if you have the $ is stop worrying and just buy the good stuff in a kit at BH Photo online, to match your high-end camera.
Heaton says Lee so buy that and end the research project. Then use them, and learn by making mistakes, which is the best way to learn. Mistakes mean you've been busy trying, not that you are doing something wrong.
For instance one mistake in your post is that 55mm is a focal length, not a "width." For landscapes that lens is almost useless btw, you'll figure that out rather quickly and buy a Sony 16-35 GM. If you have the $$ buy that lens today, you will not be sorry. Good luck.
I can definitely agree with this. I have an assortment of ND and CP filters, not because I need them, but because they are useful tools. I'd much rather get my desired effect in-camera and try to capture my idea while I'm there experiencing it. Plus, it means that much less post I need to do.
Thank you Thomas, old shooter myself....carry a few filters... would be interesting on your take on the variable ND filters, while I have lower budget for equipment I do find that when playing with water, i.e. waterfalls, streams, waves, the dial up the level you want of ND quick and nice, specially during those sunsets and sunrises where a few minutes does make a difference. Thanks again! Creative shooting. ;-)