UV Filter Question....................
UV Filter Question....................
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Discussion

paul26982

Original Poster:

3,850 posts

247 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
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Just tried to take some close up pictures for an item for a For Sale thread, Went to use the UV Filter on the Lens for the first time. Now when i was focusing and pressed down to take the picture, the auto focus was just going in and out. Wouldnt do anything else.

It was in manual mode could it be the filter causing the issue or just my setting where wrong for the images show' Which i snapped in Manual mode eventually without the UV Filter attatched and some different settings. These where the pics...





This was the filter too



and heres on from the other other night just testing when i first received it, again taken in M - mode



Do you think this is ok and how it should sort of look, basicly Filter crap or looks ok, sorry for the Question, never used a filter before and just recent started to learn in M- mode

eybic

9,212 posts

203 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
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The in/out thing is normally due to the subject being too close for the lens to focus on I believe.

K12beano

20,854 posts

304 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
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confused What do you need a u/v filter on for ?

paul26982

Original Poster:

3,850 posts

247 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
K12beano said:
confused What do you need a u/v filter on for ?
sorry if i was been thick, best way i can explain my reason for getting one' say you taking a picture of a car, thought it would take quite abit shine/reflection out the windows etc

paul26982

Original Poster:

3,850 posts

247 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
eybic said:
The in/out thing is normally due to the subject being too close for the lens to focus on I believe.
didnt think it would have in M mode just in pre settings

GetCarter

31,239 posts

308 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
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paul26982 said:
K12beano said:
confused What do you need a u/v filter on for ?
sorry if i was been thick, best way i can explain my reason for getting one' say you taking a picture of a car, thought it would take quite abit shine/reflection out the windows etc
Modern lenses have UV coating, so UV filters are a waste of time & money. They provide some protection if you don't use a lens hood... but other than that, all they do is degrade picture quality & cause flare.

If you are using old lenses, they will help cut UV issues though.

Edited by GetCarter on Saturday 14th April 17:34

K12beano

20,854 posts

304 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
paul26982 said:
Sorry if i was been thick, best way i can explain my reason for getting one' say you taking a picture of a car, thought it would take quite abit shine/reflection out the windows etc
Ah - well you might need to consider a (circular) polariser for that. I'm not quite clear if you are manually focusing (implied from your second paragraph) but my guess is that at lower light levels your AF system (like most) may struggle. So switch to manual focus for your close up shots (and remove the ultra violet filter because your camera sensor should have a good filter over it anyway).

Simpo Two

92,708 posts

294 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
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I think the issue has been dealt with but what do you mean by 'M-mode'? Manual exposure or manual focus?

paul26982

Original Poster:

3,850 posts

247 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
manual exposure'

Well thanks to everyone that took the time to reply, seems to have cleared things up nicely

Simpo Two

92,708 posts

294 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
OK, well the exposure mode won't make any difference to the minimum focusing distance. Either you were a bit too close, or the focus point was too dim or had too little contrast for the system to get a lock.

The good news is that you can now add the UV filter to your eBay sales smile

K12beano

20,854 posts

304 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
Simpo Two said:
The good news is that you can now add the UV filter to your eBay sales smile
We all like a bit of Ultra Violent.......... [sic]

paul26982

Original Poster:

3,850 posts

247 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
so any of you had any experiances with one or a simular filter to those, would be great to hear feedback on actually what type of shots you use it for.

K12beano

20,854 posts

304 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
Between 1970-someting and 2005 I would regularly have a Skylight 1a or UV filter on the front of the lens. The Skylight, IIRC, version gave a slightly pinkish tint. Cut down on those blue-haze distance problems Main reason for using it was that film emulsions didn't always have a specific cut off point between visible and invisible light and in landscapes what you could see might often be spoilt by UV light adding to distant haze (when you didn't want that effect).

With the move to digital I never found that sensors were that sensitive that a filter was beneficial - purely personal experience - YMMV. AS GC says, lens technology has been good in cutting it out before it starts to add ghosting and flare inside a lens before it even gets to sensor filter array too.

Gad-Westy

16,565 posts

242 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
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paul26982 said:
so any of you had any experiances with one or a simular filter to those, would be great to hear feedback on actually what type of shots you use it for.
The UV ones? They do nothing at all on digital cameras. People tend to use them only to offer an extra layer of protection in front of the lens, though I've never really understood this unless shooting in very mucky conditions.

If you meant a circular polariser, then they tend to be used to cut reflections as mentioned but a side effect is that they can also increase saturation in a shot, particularly in skies. There is a bit of technique involved though.

paul26982

Original Poster:

3,850 posts

247 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
Gad-Westy said:
The UV ones? They do nothing at all on digital cameras. People tend to use them only to offer an extra layer of protection in front of the lens, though I've never really understood this unless shooting in very mucky conditions.

If you meant a circular polariser, then they tend to be used to cut reflections as mentioned but a side effect is that they can also increase saturation in a shot, particularly in skies. There is a bit of technique involved though.
excellent, so its a Circular polariser i was thinking and wanting to try, Great info, much appreciated

GlenMH

5,458 posts

272 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
Yup - a few things to ponder: they generally cost you 2 stops of exposure so are only suitable for handheld shooting in good light. They also work best when you are shooting perpendicular to the sun.

Have a play - they are a great tool.