The most valuable accessory in your arsenal of media production gear could be the smallest, lightest and cheapest item in your equipment bag – a lens filter. Filters are transparent or translucent glass (or gelatin elements) that attach to the front of a camera lens to protect the lens and alter light passing through the lens.
(1) A UV filter is a transparent filter that blocks ultra-violet light, to reduce the haziness in daylight recordings. Because a UV filter does not affect the majority of light entering the lens, it is a perfect form of lens protection. Tip: Purchase a screw-in UV filter for your camcorder and protect your lens from dust and flying particles that may nick or scratch your lens. A $19 investment may protect your $6000 camcorder lens from irreparable damage. Note: Screw-in filters are specific to the width of your camera lens (ex., 72mm).
(2) Like the UV filter, a Polarizer filter reduces atmospheric haze, but also reduces reflected light that passes to your camera’s sensor. Often used for landscape recordings, a polarizer filter reduces glare and reflection on water and other surfaces, and reduces the contrast between the sky and land. Tip: Use a polarizer filter to eliminate reflections when shooting through a glass window or into water.
(3) The Neutral Density (ND) filter reduces the amount of light reaching the camera’s sensor equally throughout the image, and is useful for enabling greater motion blur and image detail when a slower shutter speed is used. A variant on the ND filter is the graduated ND, which effects the reduction of light in a graduated, neutral level from 100% to 0% across the length of the filter. Tip: Use a graduated ND to record landscapes or seascapes, and reduce the brightness of the sky while maintaining an accurate exposure of the land or water.
(4) Color Balancing filters, often referred to as cooling or warming filters, change the white balance of light and are used for visual effect and artistic expression. A cooling filter can accentuate the camera’s white balance daylight setting to a cooler blue while a warming filter can alter the camera’s tungsten light setting to a warmer reddish-orange color balance. Tip: Use a warming filter to give your outdoor recording the feel of sun on a cloudy day. Please note that color correction can also easily be achieved in post-production with image processing or video editing software. But using a filter on location allows you to immediately see the effect in your viewfinder.
As with every new accessory, practice and experimentation are the keys to expanding your creative expertise. Check out the variety of available filters and make an investment to protect your lens and enhance your recording skills.
Written by Kate Lee, Smith College Senior Media Producer