filters

i got a few filters today and i am very new to the photography world. so i had the guy at ritz help me he told me to buy a polarizer and a circular polarizer. he said the cir. pol. is for auto focus and the regular pol. is for manual. my question is what is the difference and if i had the cir. pol. on and switch to manual focus do i have to switch the filter too. and btw i have the a100

as i understand it, nope all you need is the circular polarizer. the circular polarizer will work for auto and manual, while the reg polarizer will spin with the lense as it auto focuses so you need to spin the filter around to get the best light angel comming through the lense. if that makes sense. some one might be able to explain it better than I. ( i only have a circular and don't have an auto focus camera to use it on)

I never heard of using 2 polarizers for the same lens. NOPE! Take one back. I actually don't know which one you need for the a100 - someone else might give you that info.

Liz

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Originally Posted by sakbarzad

i got a few filters today and i am very new to the photography world. so i had the guy at ritz help me he told me to buy a polarizer and a circular polarizer. he said the cir. pol. is for auto focus and the regular pol. is for manual. my question is what is the difference and if i had the cir. pol. on and switch to manual focus do i have to switch the filter too. and btw i have the a100

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sweet thanx for the info guys. i have the uv filter but i dont know what other filter to get they have a buy 2 get 1 free. any suggestions

Yeah, take the regular one back. You don't need both, and a circular polarizer is essential. Don't know what he was trying to sell you on there. Exchange it for a UV filter for protecting your front lens element, or a red filter if you're into black and white.

Neutral density is good for shooting waterfalls and things that require long shutter speeds.

I mentioned a red filter if you're into black and white. Double up the circ. polarizer and the red to make your skies black!

Star filters can be fun, but I use them only rarely.

That's about it for recommendations from me. Enjoy whatever you buy and make sure to post some shots here! :)

Rick

Awww.. the typical Ritz camera scorched earth approach by having you buy something specifically for manua/autofocus. Liz is right...return the polarizer and keep the circular polarizer.

A circular polarzier will work on manual focus and autofocus while the linear polarizer will only work for manual focus. Usually if you only shoot manual then you can save a little money by having a linear polarizer.

Loren

As for filters...I use them all of the time for landscape photography. Especially a Graduated ND filter which helps offset exposure range in a photo, for instance, bright horizon among shadows in a cityscape.