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Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie - I just got my D70, I've had it for a little over a week now.

I'm interested in buying some filters but don't know what to get. I like taking day shots, landscapes, closeups etc etc.

I have the Nikkor 18-70 & 70-300 kit lenses. I understand that it's best to get a step up ring (is that what they're called?? - told you I'm a newbie! ) so that I can use the same filters on both lenses rather than buying individual filters for each lens.

The D70 manual talks about an ND filter (which I know stands for Neutral Density), but I'm not sure what it's for or whether it's any good.

I'm interested in buying a few filters to start off with - what recommendations do you have for me?

Thanks!
Hi-Voltage

Welcome to the forums mate.

I'd be interested to hear what everyone else says about this topic too because I'm not too hot on filters either.

I would invest in a circular polarising filter for sure. Cuts out reflections from water and glass and deepens the colour of the sky. It's lovely.

Some would say that a UV lens would be a wise investment. It cuts down stray UV light but its more of a protection for the glass.

I dont know anything about a step up ring - im interested in this too.

Hope that helps a little

Matt

Welcome and happy shooting.

I'd say both filters mentioned, UV and CPL are worthwhile.
I'd get a set of both for each lens.
It is ok to use a step up ring, however you won't be able to use the
lens hood in that case.

Cheers
CD

I like the idea of having separate filters for each of the two lenses, but down the track when I buy more filters I don't want to double up each time. Hence the attractiveness of the step up ring.

Perhaps I should just get the suggested filters for both lenses since they are useful for day-to-day shooting whereas any other filters I buy down the track might not be day-to-day so I could go with the step up ring method.

What are these filters worth? Any brand in particular?

Hi-Voltage.

I have a set for each lens, except for Macro lenses (UV only):

B+W - MRC 'UV' Haze + 'ND' factor 4x

I use B+W (Made In Germay) but they are expensive.

Local agent website containing pdf with information and costs:

http://www.mainlinephoto.com.au/B+W%20Filters.htm

For easier on the pocket, I would recommend 'Hoya' HMC or HMC Super.

Correction, I have one (1) B+W MRC 'CPL' for kit lens (67mm).


Cheers,

Hi Hi-Voltage

Welcome to d70Users.

I would suggest that you get a UV filter for each lens and leave it on there to protect the front element.

A stepping ring can be handy for the more specialised filters - filters aren't cheap, and it seems that every lens takes a different size filter.

I got a Circular Polarizer (generally referred to as CPL) in 67mm for the kit lens, and then got a 62-67 stepping fing so I can use it on my Tamron 70-300 which takes a 62 mm filter. You can't really use a filter smaller than your filter size (e.g. you wouldn't want to use a 62mm filter on a lens that took a 67mm filter)

A neutral density filter reduces the amount of light coming in. You might want to do that for a couple of reasons:
- so that you can use a slower (longer) shutter speed, for example if you were shooting moving water and wanted that effect, or
- so that you can use a larger apeture to reduce the depth of field (and make the background blurry).

The d70 has a slowest ISO of 200 which means that the ND filter might be handy in very bright conditions for either of the above two reasons.

cheers

Thanks for the tip on B+W filters Fozzie, I downloaded the filter handbook from http://www.schneideroptics.com/filters/ ... k_Full.pdf
(about 6mb) and it has answered a few questions I had about the difference between polarizing filters. Will have to save up to buy some of those filters from Mainline! http://www.mainlinephoto.com.au/Website ... 20List.pdf

i would get a UV for both as said and a CPL for the 18-70 as this will likely be you landscape lense which is usually the major use for the polorizer the ND filter is probably my favourite i9t basically cuts down light like stopping down the lense but without effecting the depth of field it is most useful for the classic silky water shot but it would be good for introducing panning in sports without deecreasing the DOF so you still have nice bokeh