Using filters with digital SLR's, and what about B&W?

[Todd Patten]

I've been wondering lately if there is any point to using filters with digital SLR's. It seems that most fo the work done by filters can be done with PhotoShop or Macromedia Fireworks. Of course, a polarizer can reduce or eliminate reflections in windows as well as unwanted glare that can't be recovered in PS. But overall, what is the point of a warming or enhancing filter if PS can do the trick?

I'm hoping that someone can tell me that filters are simply better I have to think that saving the time of adjusting colors up front is beneficial.

My other thought was regardinging black and white photography with digital. Are there techniques one should use to make a better conversion from color to B&W while actually compiosing the photo. Obvioulsy a red or a yellow filter will help tremendously when using a film SLR with B&W film, but how do the same filters impact a digital photo? I mean, does my D70 take images in B&W or are they all color? If so, when using a red filter, will the photo convert nicely to B&W.

So many question, so lazy to test it out myself!

[Charles Hess]

Others will be able to answer your questions with more authority, as I don't use filters with film, but I can safely say that yes, filters will affect the tones and colors of your images as they would with film.

I don't know if your D70 shoots in b&w...if it doesn't and you put a red filter on your lens, you will wind up with an image that is ... red. There are many ways to convert digital images to b&w, and others will comment I'm sure, but for me, I have yet to see b&w digital that has the 'personality' of b&w films.

[Yoyo Szeto]

Hi,
I recently visited Sichuan in China and we went to a mountain there at about 3100 metres. I used a 15 mm lens and a EOS 10D. Because the lens does not take any filters. I was worried about the high UV content affecting the pic quality. My worry comes true and all the pics taken were of poor quality. I also took some pics with a rangefinder and a lens with UV filter. The pics were normal.
yoyo

[ChaosCubed]

Since I take mostly shots outdoors, I am at a loss WITHOUT my UV filter. I have a Canon Digital Rebel. You can definitely tell a difference between with/without.

And while photoshop can fix a lot - isn't it more rewarding to know that you did it yourself??

;)

[adina]

There are a couple threads about this in the digital imaging forum. If you do a search there for black and white you should pull up some great info from Asylum Steve and Trevor Ash.

adina

[another view]

I generally do what you suggest - only use a polarizer with my DSLR. Warming filters, etc compensate for the non-adjustable color temperature with film. This is a great advantage with digital - having a custom white balance for every shot without having to use CC filters, color temp meters, etc.

With B&W, personally I don't use any filters for digital and shoot in color. In Photoshop, I use the Channel Mixer method as described in the Digital Imaging forum thread. The advantage here is that you can apply however much red, green or blue filter you want afterwards.