DSLRUsers.com

Hi
looking through birddogs list of filters:
- Hoya 77mm HMC UV (0) filter $48.50 each
- Hoya 77mm HMC CPL filter $70 each
- Hoya Super 77mm HMC UV (0) filter $65 each
- Hoya Super 77mm HMC UV Pro 1 thin 3mm $85 each (For WA lens)

I am going to purchase a 12-24DX lens
don't know what i need

I like the UV filter because it makes starbursts of highlights
but there are several types: UV 0 and UV Pro

After looking at some image examples which have benefited from circular Polarizers, i am convinced i need to get a CPL filter too

Is a UV filter and CPL filter used in tandem overkill, do i need just one or both?

I like shooting bright sunlit scenes, I strive for the highest contrast and blue skies.

Are the Nikon filters better than the Hoya ones
I have a 52mm L37C UV filter which produces those lovely starbursts at night.

Do i need to use a lenshood with CPL filter?

thanks in advance

I'm sure this post will be beaten by someone...

Anyhow, I dont use more than 1 filter at a time because to me it seems like overkill (wow I'm soo scientific).

I use the Hoya ultra CPL, and I bought it before I knew Birdy (like the rest of my gear ) and paid over 200 bucks. I love it, it has no vignetting on the 12-24, but as Stubbsy points out, people can't really notice the vignetting (unless is extreme circumstances), on the much cheaper non-ultra variety.

By all means get a CPL and a UV. Very useful.

edit - use a lens hood if you like, it just makes it a little more difficult to spin the polariser element. As far as nikon vs hoya, I don't know for sure, but I'd say there would be no measurable difference.

Hi Heath

your a Pro THANKS!
I will be getting that Hoya ultra CPL and UV

is the 12-24DX a tight lens, is it weather resistant to dust, sand and moist environments, i know you put your 12-24DX lens through it's paces

I just noticed a small hole on the 50mm 1.4 near the mount ring foreign contaminants get in, so i taped it up.

I am no final opinion on the matter, but the 12-24 is reasonably secure in that it is internal zooming and focusing... but it doesn't have the rubber ring that lenses like the 70-200VR have, meaning on a D2x body it isn't fully sealed.

Perhaps if you get a rubber band to seal it could help, but all I do in the rain is use a plastic bag with a hole in it for the viewfinder and a rubber band on the lens to hold it in place.

How do you guys rate the 12-24DX? I'm looking at a wide angle zoom.
cheers
marco

wendellt wrote:Hi Heath

your a Pro THANKS!
I will be getting that Hoya ultra CPL and UV

is the 12-24DX a tight lens, is it weather resistant to dust, sand and moist environments, i know you put your 12-24DX lens through it's paces

I just noticed a small hole on the 50mm 1.4 near the mount ring foreign contaminants get in, so i taped it up.

No - there is virtually no lens that is not prone to environmental influences unless it is specifically made for the purpose, i.e. lenses for the Nikonos

marcotrov wrote:How do you guys rate the 12-24DX? I'm looking at a wide angle zoom.
cheers
marco

it is good, I like mine, but the 17-35 is amazing as far as close focusing, constant fast 2.8 aperture, and free from chromatic aberation. In a perfect world, we would all have both though, the 12-24 is the only real choice for ultra wide pics.

Thanks Heath. At this stage i'll concentrate on getting my 80-400VR. I need length before breadth.
cheers
marco

marcotrov wrote:Thanks Heath. At this stage i'll concentrate on getting my 80-400VR. I need length before breadth.
cheers
marco

hmmm... Still talking lenses

Marco.
The 12-24 Sigma & Nikkon are both good lenses. I have the Nikon - it takes screw on filters which the Sigma doesn't but costs more. See my recent post here for some recent shots with this lens and a CP filter

Wendell.
A UV filter will NOT give the star effect you are talking about. All it does is block UV light - in the old days film was sensitive to UV - hence the filter. These days many people (myself included) buy & use UV filters as a barrier between the front of the lens and the outside world since in a digital world they are effectively plain glass. A scratch on a $70 filter is better than one on a $1000 lens!

So far as the type I have the standard Hoya CP and that's what I used in my post referred to above. I'm happy with it. BTW the thin Hoya CP is a few hundred dollars. It is NOT the one you talk about here.

I have both filters UV (0) + CPL for the 12-24Dx in both cheaper and expensive.
I've found the cheapie will do the job. The ultra thin filter costs you arm and legs but won't give you much benefits.

wendellt wrote:I like the UV filter because it makes starbursts of highlights

If it does, it's either faulty, dirty, or scratched.

I like shooting bright sunlit scenes, I strive for the highest contrast and blue skies.

A CPL is a very useful accessory. You should just use the one filter, and expecially with the 12-24, where the stacking of filters will lead to vignetting.

Do i need to use a lenshood with CPL filter?

Reread SheetShooter's note on lenshoods, and then consider whether the use of a CPL suggests any different behaviour.

wendellt wrote:I just noticed a small hole on the 50mm 1.4 near the mount ring foreign contaminants get in, so i taped it up.

What's the hole for? I'm not so sure that I'd be doing that.

gstark wrote:

wendellt wrote:I just noticed a small hole on the 50mm 1.4 near the mount ring foreign contaminants get in, so i taped it up.

What's the hole for? I'm not so sure that I'd be doing that.

hi gary the hole on the 50mm has no contacts or any moving parts at all, it's just a small hole that leads directly into the barrel of the lens, i will take a pic, but i noticed dust inside my 50mm lens when looking at it with a torch.

thanks for the tip about stacking filters seems like i only need the CPL filter
about my UV filter it must be dirty or damaged(it's not scratched) because i definately get starbursts
see here: http://www.zeduce.org/images/experiments/dynamicRange3.jpg

Birddog i will be getting the CPL filter whichever you recommend

The starbursts you are seeing are caused by the bottle(s) and the sun and NOT your filter