Filter fulfilment

Peter Rowlands · Issue 11, Feb/Mar 2003 · pp. 23–27

Products mentioned: URPro filter, Nikon Coolpix 5000, Subal CP5 housing, Olympus C40, PT-012 housing

In my review of the Nikon Coolpix 5000 and Subal CP5 housing (UwP8 Aug/Sept 02) I was praising the ability of the “manual white balance” facility. This is a feature which video cameramen have benefited from for a long time but it was not until the advent of digital still cameras that this feature became available to stills photographers. Conventioanl (film) still images can/could be improved by adding colour filters to reduce the strong blue/cyan cast of clear water and, if the depth of water and strength of filter are chosen correctly, the results can be very impressive but what a conventional camera does not have is any way of adjusting colours “in” the camera. It merely records the light being presented to it. Digital still cameras, on the other hand, have electronic circuits which automatically try to get the white balance correct. However, they are not designed to compensate for the…