I just spent a lovely day visiting Nokogiriyama ("Sawtooth Mountain") in Chiba learning why it is very important to check your camera before you take it out. I've had an indestructible smudge on my polarization filter for about a year, but since it never affected my shots, I let it go. This week I decided to buckle down and snag a new filter, but went for a UV filter to see what the difference was.
The difference, I discovered, is that UV filters make your blue skies look like they're made of neon goo. The weather was lovely, and every sky shot turned out like junk. However, I also learned that a UV filter will give you some decent shots in low light since it doesn't halve your light intake like the polarization filter.
Damn. The skies looked really nice today, too.
The waterspots on the sunset shots are fun—there was 40-knot gale smacking me in the face.
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Shuko (Thursday, 06 January 2011 15:36)
What a valuable discovery! Better now than in 10 years or never :)
Bob (Sunday, 09 January 2011 05:49)
Hmm... Are you sure about that? Of course, polarizing filters can dramatically darken skies, but UV filters should have almost no effect at all. In fact, they are often just referred to as clear filters and used by some people (a lot of people, actually) as protective covers for the front element of the lens. A long time ago, some films were slightly sensitive to UV light, and could appear to be a little bit hazy. But digital cameras and newer films are almost completely insensitive to UV light, so UV filters have been completely unnecessary for quite some time, except for the protective aspect. I think it's better not to use them because all filters will degrade your image somewhat. But in any case, they shouldn't be changing the color of the sky!