Camera Filters Buying Guide

• Learn About Camera Filters
• Select a Camera Filter
• Attach Your Camera Filters
• Find Camera Lens Filters on eBay
• Buy Camera Lens Filters With Confidence

Learn About Camera Filters

Camera filters give you an easy way to exercise more control over your shots. By simply placing a filter in front of your lens you can achieve a variety of effects and reap certain benefits. Some popular applications include:

• Lens protection: A common use for filters is to protect your camera lens. While replacing a damaged camera lens can be very expensive, replacing a camera lens filter is not.
• Color correction: Numerous color filter options allow you to correct or modify the colors of your exposure.
• Special effects: Many camera lens filters help you apply special effects, such as creating a soft focus for portraits.

Select a Camera Filter

As you shop for camera filters on eBay you will find a tremendous variety of filter types. Consider your lenses, intended applications, and budget as you buy.

• UV, haze, and protection filters: Think of UV, haze, and protection filters as lens insurance. The filters are often left in place at all times to protect the camera lens from dust, moisture, and scratches. As for affecting your film, UV filters (often called skylight) absorb the ultraviolet rays that can hinder the quality of your outdoor photographs.
• Polarizing filters: Polarizing filters reduce reflections from the sun and other polarized light sources. Make sure to choose the appropriate type. Autofocus cameras call for circular polarizing filters, while linear polarizing filters usually suit manual focus cameras.
• Contrast and color correction filters: Contrast and color correction filters permit more light of a specific color to pass to the film. For example, a yellow filter, which is a very popular choice with photographers shooting in black and white, increases the yellow light (while reducing the rest of the spectrum), which increases the contrast between clouds and the sky. Each filter is color-specific to give you control for enhancing your photographs. The most popular are yellow camera filters, green camera filters, orange camera filters, and red camera filters.
• Digital camera filters: Most digital cameras feature controls, such as “white balance,” which may deliver equivalent effects and corrections otherwise achieved with a filter. What’s more, with digital-imaging software, you have the ability to add effects and perform corrections post-production. Still, you may want to use digital camera filters for polarizing, special effects, light balancing, or simply to protect a valuable lens.
• Color conversion filters:Use color conversion filters (or color temperature filters) to produce cooling and warming effects with color film. Cooling filters are blue. Warming filters are a pale yellow.
• Fluorescent filters: Several filter types perform light balancing to correct for unnatural lighting, such as overhead fluorescent lights.
• Special effects:Produce special effects by using filters such as starburst filters, diffusion filters, soft focus filters, mist/fog filters, and special color effects filters.
• Infrared filters: Used primarily for surveillance and science applications, infrared filters transmit light that is only detected with UV film.
• Neutral density filters: Get a neutral density filter if you plan to shoot long exposures by daylight. This type of filter is very useful for shooting subjects such as snow, sand, or other bright scenes.

Manufacturing camera filters

Camera filters may be laminated, sandwiched, or made of colored resin or glass.

• Laminated: The filtration is laminated onto a piece of glass or resin.    
• Sandwiched: The filtration is sandwiched between two pieces of resin or glass. Polarizing filters are made with this technique.    
• Glass: The filtration material is mixed into molten glass or resin. The finished product can be cut into extremely thin filters.

Attach Your Camera Filters

You can buy camera filters to meet your specific needs or enjoy greater value by purchasing camera filter kits and sets. In either case, you have a number of options for attaching your filters to your camera or lens.

• Screw-on filters: The most common, and easiest, way to attach or mount a camera filter is to screw a ring-shaped filter onto the lens. Screw-on filters come in a variety of sizes to match the diameter of the lens. Determine if you need a 52 mm, 58 mm, 62 mm, 67 mm, 72 mm, 77 mm, or another size filter.
• Drop-in filters: If you have a long telephoto lens with a wide diameter (300 mm or above) it may include a convenient drop-in system. A small compartment near the rear of the lens houses a drop-in filter.
• Modular filter systems: If you have many lenses of different sizes, a modular filter system will provide a degree of flexibility that will better serve your budget. Using this type of system calls for mounting a filter holder to the front of your lens. Modular filter systems are available in several sizes and shapes, but are most often square. Some are proprietary and some are universal, so determine your camera type and needs before you buy. On eBay, you can search for kits and sets to fit Canon cameras, Fuji cameras, Kodak cameras, Minolta cameras, Nikon cameras, Olympus cameras, Sony cameras, and other cameras.
• Filter ring adapters: A filter ring adapter allows you to fit a non-compatible filter to a specific size lens. These are often called stepping rings, because a step-up ring allows you to use a larger filter than your lens size and vice versa for step-down. Note that size designations are always lens first, then filter.

Find Camera Lens Filters on eBay

Once you know what type of camera filter you want, go to the Cameras & Photo portal. Under Lenses & Filters, click Filters, and start searching for item listings on eBay.

• Categories: The Categories list on the left side of each page will help you narrow down your listings by item type. You'll find links for Kits & Sets, UV, Haze & Protection, Polarizing, Special Effects, Color Conversion, and more. As you dig deeper into the site you'll also be able to narrow down your choice by brand.     
• Brand and mounting choices: Tiffen, Hoya, B&W, Cokin, Hama, Tamron, Singh-Ray, Jessops, Sakar, Sonia,Vivitar, and Kodak represent the lion’s share of filter makers. You need not select by brand, however, certain companies specialize in round glass filters, while others specifically make square filters, so the type of mount system you plan to use may also help narrow your search.     
• Keyword search: Search eBay listing titles for specific words. For example, if you wanted to find a filter for your digital camera, you'd type "digital camera filter" (without quotation marks) into the search box. Click "Search title and description" to expand your results. Visit eBay's Search Tips page for more tips on searching with keywords.

If you can't find exactly what you want, try shopping eBay Stores, tell the eBay Community what you want by creating a post on Want It Now, or save a search on My eBay on My eBay and eBay will email you when a match becomes available.