Filters / Lenses

Fristles

Here I am again asking for help... sorry folks.. =/

I bought some filters and well, one that I bought doesn't fit my lense (the kit lense that came with the Canon XT) the other one does... What do I look for in the filters to be sure they will fit on my Lenses??

Ok, the other question... I bought bunch of Cokin filters and well, I don't know how to use them! I saw on the back of the box on one of them that I gotta have a Lens Hood (?) is that right??? Or what do I need for me to use the color filters, I'm such a newbie at filters/lenses... so I have no clue what I'm looking for, just know what I like.

Please let me know,

Thanks,!
Lace

gus

Re filter size..its easy...i have a 77mm lens thus i bought a 77mm filter. The filter size is written on the filter & the lens size is written on the lens.

rpcrowe

Gus was perfectly correct and...
Gus was succinct and perfectly correct in his answer to your filter size question.

Now for your other question, “Ok, the other question... I bought bunch of Cokin filters and well, I don't know how to use them! I saw on the back of the box on one of them that I gotta have a Lens Hood (?) is that right??? Or what do I need for me to use the color filters, I'm such a newbie at filters/lenses... so I have no clue what I'm looking for, just know what I like.”

Cokin actually comes in two basic types square and screw-in. The ones I have most often seen are the square models, so I will talk about these.

Square filters a\come in several sizes and can be adapter to any lens up to the maximum diameter allowed for that size filter.

Rather than list the various filters and the size lenses with which they are compatible; I direct your attention to this website which explains the sizes and their uses very completely.

Basically a Cokin system is composed of the filter, a filter holder and an adapter ring which screws into the lens. You really only need to purchase the relatively inexpensive adapter ring for each size lens. The filter and filter holder is interchangeable.

The concept is great and should save a lot of money. In reality I find that the system is not as handy for me as separate screw-in filters are. Since I shoot digital, the number of filters that I use is far smaller than when I shot film because you can replicate the results of almost any filter (excepting a CPL) by using Photoshop.

I have one Cokin filter in my inventory. It is a graduated neutral density filter, half of which is dark and half of which is clear. I occasionally use this for landscape shooting. The way to use this filter is to place it so that the dark portion is over the sky and the clear portion over the rest of the image. The darkened (neutral density) portion of the filter prevents the sky from being overexposed and blown out. It cuts down on the exposure range of an image to one which the sensor can more easily record.

The reason I use a COKIN for this technique is that a round filter will have the line between neutral density and clear right through the center of the filter. This forces you to either put your horizon across the center (boring composition) or to severely crop your image so that you can move the horizon up or down.

I can slide the Cokin up and down so that I can place the horizon of my image at any level I wish. In reality, I seldom use this filter because it is difficult (for me) to get an image that I like. I prefer to shoot several exposures on a tripod with varying exposures and mesh these in Photoshop.

ian408

hey rpcrowe

Just a quick note to let you know I edited your post to remove the black
text.

Black is a difficult color to read on some skins (take a look down at the
bottom of the page and you can see just how to change your skin).

Fristles

First of all, thanks for your answers.... they helped!

I bought the square types of filters. So now I guess I need filter holder, correct? Is the filter holder, have to be the same size of the lense, correct? just wanted to be sure before ordernig one. Is there a best/reasonable price website that sells Filters, etc for Dig. camereas? Is there any possible way for you to let me know what to get exactly?

The one filters that I bought is a Soft Image and a White Oval filter, both are the screw-ons filter. And of course, one isn't the right size, unfortunately - I don't know what I was thinking, I should have looked at the size.

Lace

rpcrowe wrote:

Square filters a\come in several sizes and can be adapter to any lens up to the maximum diameter allowed for that size filter.

Rather than list the various filters and the size lenses with which they are compatible; I direct your attention to this website which explains the sizes and their uses very completely.

Basically a Cokin system is composed of the filter, a filter holder and an adapter ring which screws into the lens. You really only need to purchase the relatively inexpensive adapter ring for each size lens. The filter and filter holder is interchangeable.

The concept is great and should save a lot of money. In reality I find that the system is not as handy for me as separate screw-in filters are. Since I shoot digital, the number of filters that I use is far smaller than when I shot film because you can replicate the results of almost any filter (excepting a CPL) by using Photoshop.

I have one Cokin filter in my inventory. It is a graduated neutral density filter, half of which is dark and half of which is clear. I occasionally use this for landscape shooting. The way to use this filter is to place it so that the dark portion is over the sky and the clear portion over the rest of the image. The darkened (neutral density) portion of the filter prevents the sky from being overexposed and blown out. It cuts down on the exposure range of an image to one which the sensor can more easily record.

The reason I use a COKIN for this technique is that a round filter will have the line between neutral density and clear right through the center of the filter. This forces you to either put your horizon across the center (boring composition) or to severely crop your image so that you can move the horizon up or down.

I can slide the Cokin up and down so that I can place the horizon of my image at any level I wish. In reality, I seldom use this filter because it is difficult (for me) to get an image that I like. I prefer to shoot several exposures on a tripod with varying exposures and mesh these in Photoshop.

Fristles

New question
Is there any type of a cord that plugs into an TV or Monitor, where you could view the image before shooting?

Most studios have a screen with the camera hooked on to it(a cord going to the LCD screen to the Camera) so customers could see the shots and they can see the shots too without looking through the camera. I was just wondering if there is a type of cord or something that could get that would do this?

Lace

ian408

Fristles wrote:

Is there any type of a cord that plugs into an TV or Monitor, where you could view the image before shooting?

Most studios have a screen with the camera hooked on to it(a cord going to the LCD screen to the Camera) so customers could see the shots and they can see the shots too without looking through the camera. I was just wondering if there is a type of cord or something that could get that would do this?

Lace

It depends on whether your camera supports that feature or not.

Most have some video output capability but not all have "live view" capability.

Your manual will be a great resource when it comes to identifying the
features available to you with your specific camera body. However, I don't
think the Canon Digital Rebel XT supports live video output--I could be wrong
so check the manual.

rpcrowe

Thank you...

ian408 wrote:

hey rpcrowe

Just a quick note to let you know I edited your post to remove the black
text.

Black is a difficult color to read on some skins (take a look down at the
bottom of the page and you can see just how to change your skin).

I didn't know how to correct this. What happened was that I formatted the reply in MSWord, copied it and pasted it into the forum.

Thanks for correcting it and for letting me know how to correct it in the future.

z_28

rpcrowe wrote:

I didn't know how to correct this. What happened was that I formatted the reply in MSWord, copied it and pasted it into the forum.

Thanks for correcting it and for letting me know how to correct it in the future.

It happens because it's hard to see black text on dark gray background -
one of basic DGrin layouts.

Fristles

Filter & Holder
Would this work???? -

http://cgi.ebay.com/52-55-58mm-Ring-Filter-Holder-For-COKIN-P-Series-201_W0QQitemZ160160792995QQihZ006QQcategoryZ30059QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

rpcrowe wrote:

Gus was succinct and perfectly correct in his answer to your filter size question.

Now for your other question, “Ok, the other question... I bought bunch of Cokin filters and well, I don't know how to use them! I saw on the back of the box on one of them that I gotta have a Lens Hood (?) is that right??? Or what do I need for me to use the color filters, I'm such a newbie at filters/lenses... so I have no clue what I'm looking for, just know what I like.”

Cokin actually comes in two basic types square and screw-in. The ones I have most often seen are the square models, so I will talk about these.

Square filters a\come in several sizes and can be adapter to any lens up to the maximum diameter allowed for that size filter.

Rather than list the various filters and the size lenses with which they are compatible; I direct your attention to this website which explains the sizes and their uses very completely.

Basically a Cokin system is composed of the filter, a filter holder and an adapter ring which screws into the lens. You really only need to purchase the relatively inexpensive adapter ring for each size lens. The filter and filter holder is interchangeable.

The concept is great and should save a lot of money. In reality I find that the system is not as handy for me as separate screw-in filters are. Since I shoot digital, the number of filters that I use is far smaller than when I shot film because you can replicate the results of almost any filter (excepting a CPL) by using Photoshop.

I have one Cokin filter in my inventory. It is a graduated neutral density filter, half of which is dark and half of which is clear. I occasionally use this for landscape shooting. The way to use this filter is to place it so that the dark portion is over the sky and the clear portion over the rest of the image. The darkened (neutral density) portion of the filter prevents the sky from being overexposed and blown out. It cuts down on the exposure range of an image to one which the sensor can more easily record.

The reason I use a COKIN for this technique is that a round filter will have the line between neutral density and clear right through the center of the filter. This forces you to either put your horizon across the center (boring composition) or to severely crop your image so that you can move the horizon up or down.

I can slide the Cokin up and down so that I can place the horizon of my image at any level I wish. In reality, I seldom use this filter because it is difficult (for me) to get an image that I like. I prefer to shoot several exposures on a tripod with varying exposures and mesh these in Photoshop.

claudermilk

Maybe. Two things you need to check. First, what is the filter size for your lenses? It will say on the front; that ebay kit will work with 52mm, 55mm, and 58mm filter threads. Second, what series of Cokin filters do you have? Again, the auction specifies the holder is for the P-Series filters (i.e., A-series filters are too small to fit & X-Pro are too large).

Fristles

Are there any differences between the A-series, P-series, etc?? besides the sizes? Do they all have the same style such as the colors, designs?

The 4 filters that I got are A-Series.

Cuong

Fristles wrote:

Are there any differences between the A-series, P-series, etc?? besides the sizes? Do they all have the same style such as the colors, designs?

The 4 filters that I got are A-Series.

Here's a link http://www.cokin.com/ico15-A.html that shows the differences between the series.

I normally get my filters from http://hvstar.net/. They also carry the Cokin filter holders and adapter rings. Their pricing is very competitive even with the shipping charges.

Cuong

claudermilk

Fristles wrote:

Are there any differences between the A-series, P-series, etc?? besides the sizes? Do they all have the same style such as the colors, designs?

The 4 filters that I got are A-Series.

Size is the main thing. Your A-series won't work with that example ebay item, your filters are too small. I have a bunch of A-series that I never use now, since they are too small for my newer glass (77mm threads). IIRC, the A-series has more of the gimmick filters while the P and X-Pro stick more to the ND/GND and color-correcting filters.