Using Filters For Wildlife

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trapper12

trapper12

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Hi all,just a quick question regarding filter use for wildlife photography a lot of you out there are much more experienced than myself,i dont use them but just would like some general opinions on whether there is a use for them would love love hear your thoughts thanks
 
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Generally speaking, I don't use filters for wildlife, except for a polarizer occasionally when there's an issue with glare as, for example, when shooting black skimmers along the water at the beach. UV filters are a waste of money IMO, so I never use them. Hope this helps.
 
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I use a CP with f/2.8 and f/4 lenses (77mm screw on filters and drop in filters for big lenses), but with f/5.6 lenses the loss of light associated with a teleconverter creates a challenge with ISO and shutter speed. The cost is also a factor with some lenses like my 200-500 - a lens that needs a large, expensive filter that would have rare use. Beyond that, using a CP depends on the subject and situation. I almost always use a CP photographing alligators, snakes and turtles. With birds it depends on the scene and lighting. For mammals I usually use a CP, but you need to be careful about losing the shine on fur so you might not use it at maximum polarization.

Don't forget that many wildlife images benefit from an environmental context - not maximum zooming. So the same thought process you would use for landscapes can be helpful.

A clear filter is only used when conditions require it - blowing mist, blowing sand, or moving through brush.
 
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As others have posted I very rarely use a circular polarizer for wildlife images. It can be handy for macro work and occasionally with longer lenses when glare is an issue but it's generally not worth the cost in terms of lost light and it won't help unless there's some polarized glare to remove from the animal or scene. I don't use any other effect filters and only use a clear or UV filter if there's a lot of junk blowing around like salt spray or sand same as Eric posted above.
 
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With film I used an 81A to warm the image. Since I have switched to digital, many, many, many moons ago, I no longer use a warming filter. As far as UV filters go, I use to believe that they protected my front element. But after years of not having a filter protect anything I decided not to use them. Just one more surface to flare and a slight degradation in the image quality from another piece of glass added to the system. I occasionally use CP to remove glare and perhaps reflections. Occasionally I will use a ND filter if I want to stop motion such as running water and the wild is very still or get a blur.

Bottom line - skip the UV filter, CP occasionally if you have enough light (as other have said), ND on the very rare occasion for a blur
 
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I too don't use filters for wildlife, as Light is always not enough (I'm usually in dense forests and have only F5.6 telephoto lenses).
For Landscape I use CPL and 6 Stop ND filter (and quite often both combined.
 
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I use a polarizer on occasion for sea turtles, seals, etc., to cut the glare on the water, but otherwise no.

A couple of months ago I took a pic of a Hawaiian Monk seal pup on the beach that was published by a Honolulu TV station, but it would have been better with a polarizer. The pup was black, and wet, and his fur was very shiny. It was a good pic, good enough for the news, but it could have been better. If you are looking for perfection and take pics in or near water you might consider one.
 
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There is a place for ND filters, got several for next Africa trip. When trying to slow pan moving herds/wildebeest for example in the daytime ND filters allow you to get the slow shutter speeds you need w/o excessively closing down the aperture.
 
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