the last word

Photography meets digital computer technology. Photography wins -- most of the time.

  • site home
  • blog home
  • galleries
  • contact
  • underwater
  • the bleeding edge
You are here: Home / The Last Word / Filter frustration

Filter frustration

May 2, 2012 JimK Leave a Comment

The slit scan photography that I’m now doing requires that I use, at various times, three different filters: infrared pass, infrared block, and polarizing. The lenses I’m using for the series – 65 mm, 75 mm, 90 mm, 135 mm, and 210 mm – all take different filters. Some of the filters that I need are not available in the filter diameter of all the lenses. In addition, in trying to save some money, I wanted to use the same filter on more than one lens. For both those reasons, I purchased a set of filter step up (or step down, depending on your point of view – more on this later) rings. These allowed me to use the same filter on more than one lens.

A confusing factor is terminology. Some manufacturers say that a step up ring allows you to use a filter of larger diameter on a lens meant to accept a filter of a smaller diameter. Other manufacturers say exactly the opposite: a step down ring allows you to use a filter of larger diameter on the lens meant to accept the filter of a smaller diameter. Read the fine print before you buy.

A source of extreme frustration is an inability in some circumstances to remove the filter from the ring. It is maddening to watch the light fade as you try to remove an infrared pass filter so you can put on an infrared blocking filter to get a sunset. I’ve used silicone rubber to get enough gripping surface so that I could remove filters from lenses, but they do not work at all in providing grip on the ring. I have filters that are essentially permanently attached to their step up rings.

I have decided to abandon the idea of reducing my filter count by trying to use one filter on more than one lens. I am now looking for each of the three kinds of filters in the native diameter of all of my lenses. If I can’t find the right filter, I will purchase an adapter ring, and thereafter consider it part of the filter.

There’s got to be in a better way to attach filters to lenses. I have used cameras that use bayonet mount filters, and they seem to work perfectly. However, they’ve been around for years, and haven’t exactly taken over the marketplace; all but a tiny number of lenses use conventional screw in filters. Are therse filters the QWERTY keyboards of photography?

 

The Last Word

← Nikon D4 summary Fighting flare in slit scan photographs →

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

March 2023
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Jan    

Articles

  • About
    • Patents and papers about color
    • Who am I?
  • Good 35-70 MF lens
  • How to…
    • Backing up photographic images
    • How to change email providers
  • Lens screening testing
    • Equipment and Software
    • Examples
      • Bad and OK 200-600 at 600
      • Excellent 180-400 zoom
      • Fair 14-30mm zoom
      • Good 100-200 mm MF zoom
      • Good 100-400 zoom
      • Good 100mm lens on P1 P45+
      • Good 120mm MF lens
      • Good 18mm FF lens
      • Good 24-105 mm FF lens
      • Good 24-70 FF zoom
      • Good 35 mm FF lens
      • Good 60 mm lens on IQ3-100
      • Good 63 mm MF lens
      • Good 65 mm FF lens
      • Good 85 mm FF lens
      • Good and bad 25mm FF lenses
      • Good zoom at 24 mm
      • Marginal 18mm lens
      • Marginal 35mm FF lens
      • Mildly problematic 55 mm FF lens
      • OK 16-35mm zoom
      • OK 60mm lens on P1 P45+
      • OK Sony 600mm f/4
      • Pretty good 16-35 FF zoom
      • Pretty good 90mm FF lens
      • Problematic 400 mm FF lens
      • Tilted 20 mm f/1.8 FF lens
      • Tilted 30 mm MF lens
      • Tilted 50 mm FF lens
      • Two 15mm FF lenses
    • Found a problem – now what?
    • Goals for this test
    • Minimum target distances
      • MFT
      • APS-C
      • Full frame
      • Small medium format
    • Printable Siemens Star targets
    • Target size on sensor
      • MFT
      • APS-C
      • Full frame
      • Small medium format
    • Test instructions — postproduction
    • Test instructions — reading the images
    • Test instructions – capture
    • Theory of the test
    • What’s wrong with conventional lens screening?
  • Previsualization heresy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Recommended photographic web sites
  • Using in-camera histograms for ETTR
    • Acknowledgments
    • Why ETTR?
    • Normal in-camera histograms
    • Image processing for in-camera histograms
    • Making the in-camera histogram closely represent the raw histogram
    • Shortcuts to UniWB
    • Preparing for monitor-based UniWB
    • A one-step UniWB procedure
    • The math behind the one-step method
    • Iteration using Newton’s Method

Category List

Recent Comments

  • JimK on Fujifilm GFX 100S pixel shift, visuals
  • Sarmed Mirza on Fujifilm GFX 100S pixel shift, visuals
  • lancej on Two ways to improve the Q2 handling
  • JimK on Sony 135 STF on GFX-50R, sharpness
  • K on Sony 135 STF on GFX-50R, sharpness
  • Mal Paso on Christmas tree light bokeh with the XCD 38V on the X2D
  • Sebastian on More on tilted adapters
  • JimK on On microlens size in the GFX 100 and GFX 50R/S
  • Kyle Krug on On microlens size in the GFX 100 and GFX 50R/S
  • JimK on Hasselblad X2D electronic shutter scan time

Archives

Copyright © 2023 · Daily Dish Pro On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Unless otherwise noted, all images copyright Jim Kasson.