Best camera filters for photographers | Amateur Photographer

The best camera filters allow you to create all sorts of stunning effects in your photos, many of which aren’t easy or possible to replicate in post-processing. Constructed from high-quality moulded glass, filters are designed to alter the light that hits your sensor in various ways, without negatively impacting the quality of your images. There are plenty of different types of filters available, and in this guide, we’ve picked out a selection of the best.

Filters are used for many different purposes. They tend to be very popular in landscape photography, and indeed, we have dedicated guides to the best filters for landscape photography, as well as a step-by-step on how to use filters for better landscapes. The most commonly used types are neutral density (ND) filters and polarisers, but there are also B&W filters, light-pollution filters for astrophotography, close-up filters and plenty more to consider.

We’ve included them all in this guide, but don’t worry if you’re not too familiar with the terminology — we’ve included a guide on how to choose a camera filter and what the different types do at the end of this article. We’ve also added some explanations on the differences between square and circle filters, and how to find the right fit for your lens. So, let’s get into it

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Read on for full details of each filter, with price guides, size options and our technical team’s recommendations…

At a glance:

When you’re testing a filter, it makes sense to put it through the wringer. We gave the Kase Revolution filters something of a baptism of fire by trying them out on the Sony A7R IV, a full-frame mirrorless camera with a whopping 61MP of resolution. If you want to measure the optical effect a set of filters has on an image, this is the camera to do it with – and the Kase Revolution passed the test with flying colours.

Optical quality

The optical quality is hugely impressive, and we detected no real loss of detail. If you stack a bunch of the filters together on a really sharp lens, you’ll notice a little vignetting, but not enough to seriously ruin an image. There’s also a slight warm colour cast, something that’s easy to correct in software should you wish to.

Swap in seconds

These filters operate via a clever magnetic attachment system; simply screw the magnetic adapter onto the front of your lens, and you can quickly take filters on and off, or swap between them in seconds. We tested out the Pro kit, meaning we got an ND8, ND64 and ND1000, as well as a polariser. They’re colour-coded (silver for polariser, blue for ND8, gold for ND64 and red for ND1000), though there’s no clear logic to the colour choices so it’s not exactly intuitive. The fact that we have to get into the colour coding to find something to criticise should indicate to you how good these filters really are.

Read our Kase Revolution Magnetic Circular filters review

At a glance:

Urth, previously known as Gobe rebranded to reflect the company’s commitment to positively impact the planet by using low-impact materials to create products that last. Their filters use German Schott B270 glass and 10 layers of nano-coating on each side for easier cleaning and better light transmission. The Magnetic ND Selects Filter Kit PLus+ includes three neutral density filters, a lens adapter and two end caps for safe storage. The three magnetic circular filters allow you to cut down light by 3, 6 or 10 stops. The adapter provided in the kit mounts to the front of your lens so you can easily snap on or change between ND filters. However, if you use lenses with various filter thread sizes, it is worth noting that Urth doesn’t sell stepping rings or adapter rings, these can be purchased separately (£15-£19).

Thanks to the magnetic system you can stack multiple filters on top of each other creating an even stronger ND effect, this results in a slight vignetting in the corners, but this is barely noticeable at regular viewing sizes.

Read our review of the Urth Magnetic ND Selects Filter Kit.

At a glance:

LEE Filters was famous for years for its powerful light-stopping filters that were exclusively available in square format (of which you’ll see more shortly). It was music to the ears of many landscape photographers when the company announced it was finally going to release circular versions of its popular ND filters, naming them the ‘Elements’ range.

Superb construction

The Elements Little Stopper reduces incoming light by six stops. While it produces less dramatic an effect than the famous 10-stop Big Stopper and LEE Filters 15-stop Super Stopper, it’s built with no less attention to optical quality. The filter is constructed from a high-end optical glass. There’s very little of the pronounced vignetting effect you sometimes get with cheaper filters. The frame of the filter is constructed from robust black anodized aluminium, with knurled edges for better grip in all weather. There are a number of sophisticated coatings on the glass elements, including scratch-resistant and anti-reflective, as well as hydrophobic and oleophobic for easier cleaning.

Vs the Big Stopper

As mentioned, the six-stop light reduction of the Little Stopper is less pronounced than that of its 10-stop sibling, meaning you can use it to a more subtle effect. LEE Filters recommends it particularly for the very beginning and very end of the day when light is low and the 10-stop reduction of the Big Stopper might simply be overkill. The LEE Elements filters are also stackable, meaning you can combine their effects for ultra-powerful light reduction if needed.

Handily, the Elements Little Stopper also comes with its own protective hard case. It’s available in only four sizes, which isn’t as many as some other filter options.

At a glance:

The Hoya Fusion circular polarisers attach directly to the camera’s filter ring, so you need to select the correct size – they are available in common filter sizes from 37-82mm. You can also get polarisers from many other filter makers to fit square filter holders.

Polarising filters have three main effects. They darken blue skies, cut through reflections in water, glass and polished surfaces, and increase colour saturation in glossy, reflective surfaces, which can be as diverse as man-made objects or leaves in a landscape.

It’s possible to replicate the blue sky effect in software, but not the other two. Polarising filters change the properties of the light itself and the way light is reflected by the surfaces of objects in a scene. If you need to cut through the glare off a car’s paintwork or windows, or off the surface of a lake or river, a polarising filter is the only thing that can do it. Software won’t help you.

At a glance:

Given that photo and video gear can be expensive, it makes sense to find savings where you can. The K&F Concept Variable ND4-64&CPL is a filter that gives you the effect of both a polariser and a variable ND filter, for about the same price total as either one of those would run you up individually. The filter has two independently rotating sections; twist the front section and you’ll control the neutral density effect between 2 and 6 stops, and rotate the entire filter to manipulate the polarisation effect.

As you can see, the filter has large orange grips that make it easy to control its effects, though they do mean it can’t be used in conjunction with lens hoods. These grips also serve to visually signify the polarisation angle — which, it’s worth noting, will change whenever you adjust the density effect, meaning it’s a good idea to visually keep track of it.

This filter is part of K&F’s Nano-X range, and this means the glass has been treated with nano coatings to cut reflections and ensure the utmost quality. As such, while our testing did record a very slight warm colour cast, we also found no real perceptible impact on image quality or detail. The filter is also waterproof, oil-resistant and scratch-resistant, and comes with a handy protective pouch for when you’re not using it.

Read our full K&F Concept Variable ND4-64&CPL review.

At a glance:

This is the legendary LEE Filters ‘Big Stopper’, a neutral density filter that cuts the light passing through the lens by 10 stops, allowing long exposures of many seconds even in bright daylight. This is the version designed for Lee’s square filter system, but you can also get circular versions to fit straight onto a lens.

Reducing the light might sound like a crazy thing to do when most photographers want fast shutter speeds to freeze action and avoid camera shake – but these filters are designed to deliberately lengthen exposures so that moving subjects such as water or clouds become blurred. They can also be used successfully in busy urban scenes when you’d like to prevent people from ruining your shot.

The only way to achieve this is with long exposure times of several seconds or even longer, and the only way to get this in regular daylight is with an ND filter. Obviously this means using a tripod, but this landscape blur effect has become such a standard ‘look’ that many photographers will regard it as an essential add-on.

At a glance:

Variable ND filters might seem a potentially useful alternative to regular ‘fixed’ ND filters, but actually they have a different purpose. This PolarPro Peter McKinnon Signature Edition is at the premium end of the market – cheaper alternatives are available. It offers a 2-5 stop darkening effect, but you can also get a 6-9 stop version.

The side-effects

Variable ND filters work by combining two polarising filters which can be counter-rotated to produce a variable darkening effect. So far so good. But this cross-polarisation has side-effects that limit its usefulness. If you push it too far, you get a kind of soft ‘X’ shape in the middle of your images that’s impossible to edit out. Variable ND filters can only operate effectively within a relatively narrow 3-5 stop window, and the wider your lens’s focal length, the quicker this X-effect appears.

That’s the bad news. For stills photographers, variable ND filters are a very poor substitute for ‘fixed’ ND filters because they don’t offer enough strength and because of the potential for that cross-polarised ‘X’ effect.

For videography

But for videographers it’s different. Here, a variable ND can be extremely useful for adapting to changing light without altering the aperture (iris) value and hence the depth of field, or the shutter speed/shutter angle.

This is such an important control that many high-end cinema cameras have switchable ND filters built in. For cameras that don’t, a variable ND filter is the next best thing.

At a glance:

The Cokin name will be instantly familiar to those brought up on film SLRs, and it’s still going strong. This Z-Pro Expert Kit contains a selection of landscape filters plus a filter holder and lens adapter rings – but you can get graduated filters and holder separately too, and in various kits.

Graduated filters are the easiest type to reproduce digitally – provided you capture an image with enough highlight detail in the sky. Usually, if you shoot raw files and are careful with the exposure, this will give you all the extra sky detail you need. You will be able to bring this out in your photo-editor and with a lot more control than a graduated filter fitted over the lens.

The disadvantages

There are advantages to using a graduated filter on the lens, to be sure, but there are some serious disadvantages. First, the darkening effect will be ‘baked into’ your photo. You will be able to modify it later in software, but it may be more complicated than with a ‘straight’ image. A graduated filter will produce a ‘soft’ or a ‘hard’ gradation which you may have to work around later.

Second, graduated filters will also darken buildings or other objects that jut up into the sky. They are pretty blunt tools!

On the plus side, a graduated filter can bring a bright sky within the dynamic range of your sensor, and can save you some editing work later if you don’t like spending time in Lightroom or Photoshop. You will, however, need a square filter system, with all the fuss that involves.

At a glance:

Here’s a filter type that’s designed to have no optical effect at all!

Lenses are expensive and we’re all acutely aware of that – especially if we get a bit of grit or sea salt stuck to the front element or buy a lens with what the previous owner called ‘cleaning marks’. That’s scratches in the coating, by the way.

So we all probably think from time to time about lens protection, and the simplest and most popular solution is a UV or ’Skylight’ filter, or these days just a plain, clear ‘protection’ filter that is not designed for any image improvement but has the more definite advantage of protection against knocks, scratches or other accidents.

It’s unlikely that modern sensors need UV filtering or ‘Skylight’ filters to warm up blue-sky landscapes, but having an extra layer of protective glass in front of your lens may be reassuring. It might also affect the image quality, but hopefully not by much.

At a glance:

Anyone who has spent some serious time working at astrophotography will know what a pain light pollution can be. A decidedly modern-day problem, light pollution refers to an excess of artificial light making it difficult or impossible to photograph (or even see) the stars in the night sky. If you live among the wan, yellow haze of streetlights, or in the 24-hour glare of a modern city, you probably don’t spend much time stargazing.

As an alternative to driving out to a rural area every night, consider this light pollution filter by Kase. The Wolverine is available in circular and 100mm square configurations, and it works by filtering out light of specific wavelengths, targeting the ones produced by artificial lighting. The idea is that only the natural light of the stars and moons is left. While it doesn’t solve the problem entirely, the Kase Wolverine does radically reduce the orange glow of streetlights (it’s less effective with LED lighting). Constructed from tough, scratch-resistant glass, it’s a well-made filter that improves the possibilities of astrophotography in urban environments.

At a glance:

Infrared photography was popular amongst film users because you could get black and white and colour films especially sensitised for infrared wavelengths, which are much longer than those of visible light.

You can get infrared photos on smartphones, and get infrared filters for digital cameras, but there is a problem. Sensors are specifically designed with infrared ‘cut’ (blocking) filters, so all that infra-red filters can do is block the visible light, allow infra-red through and trust that the camera sensor still has enough infra-red sensitivity to make an image.

The likelihood of success depends on the camera and sensor, but an infrared filter like the Hoya R72 infrared series is certainly a cheaper alternative to try if you don’t want to get your camera converted to infrared. There are companies that can do this, but it’s a one-way process.

At a glance:

Black and white film users will be used to using different ‘contrast’ filters, such as red, yellow, orange or green filters to change the way these colours are turned into shades of grey. Yellow, orange and red filters are popular amongst landscape photographers, for example, for darkening blue skies and lightening vegetation.

In principle, you can still use these filters on a digital camera, and you’ll see the effect if the camera is set to black and white mode. However, because of the way sensors work, using a red filter, for example, means only the red photosites on the sensor will receive any light, so the quality will not be the same as you would get from a red filter with black and white film.

In fact, using a black and white filter when you shoot will not achieve anything you couldn’t do later in software with ‘channel mixing’ techniques, though you will at least see the effect live in-camera. With that in mind, you might not want to spend too much on black and white ‘contrast’ filters, so the Tiffen range is a good start (filter colours other than red are available).

At a glance:

Close-up filters, or close-up lenses, are a quick and simple way to photograph small objects when your camera lens can’t focus close enough. They are typically sold in sets of three with different ‘diopter’ settings, which is the language usually used for spectacles and reading glasses. This Hoya close-up filter set is pretty typical, and probably as much as you would want to spend.

Effectively, they apply a fixed close-up correction, and the effect and the possible magnification will depend on the lens you’re using and how close it can focus in the first place.

In principle, you can use close-up lenses in combination to get even more magnification, but because these are generic optical corrective lenses, you can’t expect the same quality as a regular camera lens, and this will only get worse if you use them in combination. For casual use, though, they are a much cheaper option than a macro lens.

At a glance:

Revoring is one of the newer names in filters and gets its name from its unique spring-loaded filter attachment that can fit a range of filter thread sizes, not just one.

Revoring is probably best known for its combined polariser/variable ND filters, but it also makes a series of Black Mist filters in strengths from 1/2 to 1/8.

Soft focus filters have gone out of fashion somewhat as photographers can now create a soft focus effect with much more control in software – or use some of the newer ‘artisan’ lenses deliberately designed to give a soft effect when used wide open. One old trick is to smear vaseline over a clear filter, or stretch stockings over the lens. This looks odd but does actually work!

What we’re seeing now, though, is this new type of ‘black mist’ filter which does give some of the effect of a soft-focus filter and reduces image contrast at the same time, so could be particularly useful for portraits shot in high-contrast lighting, for example.

Absolutely they do. It is of course true that Photoshop has made filters less essential than they once were. However, there are multiple filter types that produce effects that are difficult or impossible to replicate digitally.

Examples include polarizing filters, ND filters, infrared filters, light pollution filters and close-up filters. These all change the behaviour of the light, the intensity of the light and the light spectrum reaching the sensor.

There are other filter types which can be replicated digitally, but that you may still find useful to use, either because they save editing time later or because they help you visualise the end result while you’re shooting, rather than having to guess at what you can achieve later. Examples here included graduated filters and black and white ‘contrast’ filters.

Camera filters are particularly commonly used in landscape photography, where slower shutter speeds are often used to create specific effects.

In most cases, yes you can. Circular filters can be stacked on top of each other, either to intensify one effect or add multiple effects at once. For instance, you might be shooting an image of a lake, and want to reduce the amount of light coming in so you can slow down your shutter speed to get a smooth look on the surface of the water. That necessitates an ND filter. But then, you also want to cut down on the reflections that are being created by the high summer sun – so you add on a polariser. Ta-da – both effects in one shot!

However, it’s important to remember that there are drawbacks. Adding an extra layer of glass will always have some impact on image quality, and this goes double if you’re adding two filters. Essentially, any common effect that is generally introduced by filters, such as vignetting (darkened corners of an image) will be compounded by adding more than one. So try to resist the temptation to go wild! Also, more expensive filters will have less of an impact than cheap ones, so if you’ve gone for budget filters, it might be best to stick to using one at a time where possible.

The short answer: it depends. No camera filter is necessary in the sense that you can always take a photo without one, and many photographers have no use for them. It really comes down to what you like to shoot, and how you treat your equipment.

For instance, a UV filter generally doubles up as a protective filter, and many photographers leave one attached to the front of their lens at all times as it generally has a minimal impact on image quality. This is not strictly speaking necessary – until the moment you accidentally drop your £1,500 lens with the front element facing down. Then you may find that the UV filter on the front was very necessary indeed.

There’s also the fact, as we’ve said several times, that if you want to achieve certain effects, a filter is the only real way to do it. You’ll never replicate the reflection-cancelling effect of a polarizer; you need to use a polarizer. There’s also not really a way to handle a sky that’s much brighter than the ground, beyond using an ND grad.

Just like your lenses, most camera filters are constructed from high-grade optical glass, with advanced coatings on the outer surface that are vulnerable to rough treatment. As such, when it comes time to clean your filters, you want to be a little more gentle than just smearing household cleaner on a cloth and wiping it.

It’s best to take the cleaning process in stages. The first step is to remove any larger particles of dust or dirt; the best way to do this is to blow them away with a compressed-air rocket blower or similar device. Once this is done, you can apply some lens-cleaning solution to a cloth (ideally a microfibre cloth, or a lens tissue) and then gently rub the surface of the filter in circular motions, working from the centre outwards.

This isn’t something you have to do regularly – we’d recommend only cleaning the filter when it actually needs it. Too much cleaning may introduce more problems than it solves!

Camera filters may sound like a relic of a bygone era – surely we can just do it all with Photoshop these days? But the truth is, as any seasoned photographer will tell you, that camera filters are vital for producing effects that can’t easily be replicated in software. They can modify the intensity and quality of light before it hits the camera sensor (or the film negative, for that matter), and this can lead to all sorts of interesting and useful effects.

For example, neutral density or ND filters reduce the amount of light coming into the sensor. This allows for the use of longer shutter speeds than would otherwise be possible, meaning you can blur the motion of a moving subject without letting in too much light and blowing out your highlights. Polarisers, meanwhile, reduce the glare of sunlight and light from reflections, delivering richer colours and making it possible to see through reflective surfaces, everything from shop windows to lakes and rivers.

Filters come in two main types: circular filters which attach directly to the lens, and square filters designed to be used in a filter holder screwed onto the lens. Both have their pros and cons.

Round/circular filters are simpler to use, but you have to get a filter size that matches your lens’s filter thread. If you want to use filters with a number of lenses you face the possibility of having to buy a different-sized filter for each.

There are ways around this, for example buying a filter big enough for all your lenses and then using inexpensive ‘stepper’ rings to fit the filter to smaller ones. There’s also the interesting spring-loaded Revoring system which takes a single-size filter but can adapt to different-sized filter threads. Another option for users of Canon EF lenses on RF bodies is the ‘drop-in’ filter, which is inserted between the camera and lens – see our piece on the pros and cons of drop-in filters for mirrorless for a lowdown on how this all works.

Even with these workarounds, round filters have another limitation. They are ideal for some filter types, such as polarisers or ND filters, but no good at all for others that require careful angling and positioning, notably graduated filters. They’re not great if you want to combine filters, either, because while you can screw one round filter on top of another, this increases the risk of vignetting, or ‘corner shading’ with wide-angle lenses.

Square filter systems are popular with enthusiast and professional photographers because they allow you to combine two or more filters such as a polariser, a graduated filter and an ND filter – a combination often used in landscape photography. There are still some differences between square filter systems though. Some offerings such as the PolarPro Summit Landscape Filter System are based around the idea of using filter frames that slot into a square filter holder.

Filters that come with their own filter frame are a good idea. Not only they can help prevent chipping or damaging the filter but they also give a highly durable and hardwearing feel compared to plastic alternatives. The other benefit that filter frames provide is that they can prevent you from handling the surface of the filter itself with grubby, oily fingers, helping to ensure the filter surface remains spotless at all times.

But the cost can quickly mount up if you choose higher-quality premium filters, and square systems are quite bulky and fiddly to use since most include a special adaptation for mounting a circular polariser along with the rest. With a square filter system, you can quickly run out of hands, patience and space in your camera bag.

Ultimately, the decision is yours. Round filters are simple but you need to match the size to your lens’s filter ring, and they are no use for graduated filters. Square filter systems give you more scope, but they are fiddly and bulky and best suited to slow and deliberate work not fast-moving handheld photography.

Text by Rod Lawton, with contributions from Jon Stapley & Michael Topham.

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I've been taking pictures since the 1980s and I've been writing about cameras, lenses, accessories and photo editing since the dawn of digital imaging. I've done stints as a technique editor, reviews editor and online channel editor. I'm currently an independent photography journalist and content creator. I cover everything from smartphone photography through hybrid mirrorless cameras to medium format.