Step up ring & filter

[miaoeyes]

Hi all,

Where is the best place to look for filter?
It there a place that i can look around freely at the filters?

Also, for step up ring is there many size (46-52, 46-67) or i just buy one then can use all the different size of filter?
My lens are 46mm and 52mm.
eg. if i have a 67mm filter then i got to buy one step up ring for the 46mm (46-67, 46-52) and another one for the 52mm (52-67)?

Thank you.

 

[catchlights]

best is you do your homework first, study what filter you need and the price, call the stores to check the filter you want is in stock.

some filters will be like permanently attach, like UV filter, for this, best is get right size filter for each lenses.

some filters are use occasionally, like ND, GND, polarizer, you can get the bigger size filter and use the step down ring, do note some wide angle lens need slim filter to prevent vignetting.

and if you have a 67mm filter, you can get 52 to 67 step up ring easily, but not the 46mm to any size, you may need to buy online.

 

[miaoeyes]

catchlights, i was thinking of getting a close up filter.
Maybe a polarizer also. Any advices that i need to look out for before i get the filter?

If i get a step up ring of 52 to 67 is that mean i only can use 67mm filter on the ring, not any size between 52 to 67mm

Sorry for some silly question, i am totally new to photography, now trying to read up on it. But still not very sure about many things. ;p

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

catchlights, i was thinking of getting a close up filter.
Maybe a polarizer also. Any advices that i need to look out for before i get the filter?

If i get a step up ring of 52 to 67 is that mean i only can use 67mm filter on the ring, not any size between 52 to 67mm

Sorry for some silly question, i am totally new to photography, now trying to read up on it. But still not very sure about many things. ;p

52-67 step up ring means one side is 52mm thread, and the other is 67mm thread. So you can ONLY use 67mm filter, not any size in between.

hope that helps.

* btw, what are you gonna do if you've bought all this, then later buy a lens with a 77mm thread?

 

[miaoeyes]

ZerocoolAstra, thanks for the info. now i understand liao ;p


the 67mm close up filter is loan from friend, want to try it before i get my own.

or should i just get the 52mm close up filter and forget about the step up ring?

for the close up filter i should get a +4 right? what is the +4 mean?

I been trying hard reading up notes and magzines but sometime still blur blur. Think only can try it out then can know what is what.

 

[Dream Merchant]

ZerocoolAstra, thanks for the info. now i understand liao ;p


the 67mm close up filter is loan from friend, want to try it before i get my own.

or should i just get the 52mm close up filter and forget about the step up ring?

for the close up filter i should get a +4 right? what is the +4 mean?

I been trying hard reading up notes and magzines but sometime still blur blur. Think only can try it out then can know what is what.

Miaoeyes, if you just want to try try with your friend's filter, use blutac. As long as you get the filter relatively 'flat' to the lens, you should be fine.

Later on when you decide if you want to get your own, it's best to get one that fits directly on your lens without step-up or down rings. Reason is to get the least amount of image degradation, you need to get such attachments as close to the taking lens as possible. A ring will move such attachments further away from the taking lens.

As for filter diopters (+1, +2, +3 etc), have a look at megaweb's contribution on what it means, and how it affects focusing distances/image magnification.

CHEERS!

7. What is a close-up filter ?
It is an add-on lenses, works more like a magnifying glass which you can screw it onto the end of your lens on the filter threads. Such filter allows you to move much closer to a subject than you normally can, permitting macro photography at the cost of some image sharpness. Cheap closeup filters have only one glass element and thus are very vulnerable to chromatic aberration. Better closeup filters have two elements.

The focusing distance is mainly depend on the diopter value of the close-up filter and not the focal length of the lens. See below focusing distance calculation:
+2 close-up filter will give about 1000/2 = 0.5m
+4 close-up filter will give about 1000/4 = 0.25m
+5 close-up filter will give about 1000/5 = 0.2m
+10 close-up filter will give about 1000/10 = 0.1m

- 100mm with +2 close-up filter
- 200mm with +2 close-up filter
- 300mm with +2 close-up filter
- 400mm with +2 close-up filter
All above setups will have same or similar focusing distances but the magnification increases when focal length increases.

 

[miaoeyes]

Dream Merchant, thanks for sharing