10 things you need to know about camera filters – and why photographers still need them!

10 things you need to know about camera filters
(Image credit: Digital Camera World)

Camera filters are as important and useful as ever they were. There are still things you can’t do in Photoshop, or with an Instagram filters. Photo editing software can only manipulate the image that’s been captured, but physical filters can modify what the sensor actually sees.

Top 10 filter facts!

1. You can’t fake a polarizer

2. You still need ND grads for landscapes

3. Long exposures need filters, not Photoshop

4. Variable NDs are for video

5. Light pollution filters can fix astro and night shots

6. Close up filters are cheaper than a macro lens!

7. It’s cheaper to replace a filter than a lens

8. Black and white is a special case

9. Square filter systems offer more scope

10. Round filters have pros and cons too

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Rod Lawton
Contributor

Rod is an independent photography journalist and editor, and a long-standing Digital Camera World contributor, having previously worked as DCW's Group Reviews editor. Before that he has been technique editor on N-Photo, Head of Testing for the photography division and Camera Channel editor on TechRadar, as well as contributing to many other publications. He has been writing about photography technique, photo editing and digital cameras since they first appeared, and before that began his career writing about film photography. He has used and reviewed practically every interchangeable lens camera launched in the past 20 years, from entry-level DSLRs to medium format cameras, together with lenses, tripods, gimbals, light meters, camera bags and more. Rod has his own camera gear blog at fotovolo.com but also writes about photo-editing applications and techniques at lifeafterphotoshop.com