Filters. Whew, those are some hotly contested digital camera accessories right there. The most often argued are clear or UV filters, which are very popular for protecting lenses. The UV filters are a hold-over from the film day, where UV rays from the sun could cause hazing on the film, which unlike our eyes could “see” a little into the UV spectrum. Digital sensors can see way into the spectrum, and so all of them have a filter over the sensor to block UV rays anyway, so this feature has become redundant and newer, clear filters are starting to come out.

The idea behind protectors is to keep the expensive front element on your lens from getting damaged. Some people refuse to use them, stating they increase flare and lower contrast, but I can say the Hoya Pro-1D on my 50-200mm has had absolutely no impact on my image quality in any lighting and is probably better coated than many entry lenses.

But, protectors aren’t all you can strap to those Canon lenses and Nikon lenses kicking around your bag. Here are a few other lenses not made obsolete by digital:

Neutral Density (ND): These filters are an even grey, and do nothing more but reduce the amount of light hitting your lens. After you’ve just spent your life savings to buy that f2.8 lens for more light it might seem counter-intuitive to try to decrease the light. But, if you’re shooting in broad daylight and need slow shutter speeds, you’ll find you might not be able to get where you want without an ND filter.

Graduated ND: These are like NDs, but transition to clear over the frame. They’re used to block light out from bright skies, allowng you to mix the darker ground with the brighter sky in one shot, and not having to combine multiple shots in post processing.

Tungsten Color Balance (82A & 82B): OK, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, Derek, you nut, my camera can balance my color for me now. I’m free of the shackles of those silly blue color balance filters. True, so true. But, there are still a few shooters who like to use them in low-light and night shooting. Why? Because most low-lighting light sources are low wattage, and very yellow. They’re also typically very much brighter than the scene around them. The blue filter not only helps balance the light, but in doing so it lowers the brightness of the light sources, making it easier for your camera to balance between the light and dark areas of your image. Neat-o.