What filters would you use for the zoo?

Whittie

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Alex
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UV / Circ pol or others?

Question is on behalf of my friend who's going to the zoo this weekend and want's to get a filter for his lenses.

Thanks
 
A UV will protect his lens, which isn't a bad idea if he is getting up close and personal with some of the beasts. Also a CP would be good... but to be honest I never use either anymore :shrug:
 
the cir-pl might be useful if the cages have a glass front and are outside... it might help cut down on reflections...

If your shooting through a glass window though.. i find it helps if you hold the end of the lens flat up against the glass. This should help cut down on light spots in the photo..
 
A UV will protect his lens, which isn't a bad idea if he is getting up close and personal with some of the beasts. Also a CP would be good... but to be honest I never use either anymore :shrug:

Glad it's not just me :) I had loads of filters in my film days but don't use them any more
 
the cir-pl might be useful if the cages have a glass front and are outside... it might help cut down on reflections...

If your shooting through a glass window though.. i find it helps if you hold the end of the lens flat up against the glass. This should help cut down on light spots in the photo..

Just be careful if you are using AF and your lens extends .... and you have you eye placed firmly over the view finder... ouch :lol:
 
The only filter I might use is a CPL, to combat reflections off glass, or at a push, a UV if I thought there was a danger of my lens getting sprayed by something evil - like camel spit or something. But I would only use the filters when required, not all the time, and it would very much be either, or, not both at once.

I think that more useful than filters, possibly, would be a lens hood and a piece of spare black cloth. Here are a couple of shots to show the benefit of a black cloth to prevent reflections off glass. For the first shot I pressed the lens hood to the glass (dirty double glazing, looking into my dining room) and simply threw my black t-shirt over the hood. A quick adjustment banished the reflections completely. The second shot shows how bad things were without the t-shirt. You can even see the reflected light bouncing back and forth between the double glazing panes.

20080619_173030_1731_DPP.JPG
20080619_173037_1732_DPP.JPG


p.s. since a CPL loses you 1-2 stops of light, it may not be the best choice when photographing indoors through glass. Hood and cloth should win hands down there. A hood should just be standard kit in any case, and operating a CPL with a filter attached is mighty tricky.
 
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