Filters messing up color on XL1s ... help!!!
 

I recently purchased a three-filter set for my XL1s. They are Opteka filters, 72mm. The kit included the UV, polarizing, and fluorescent filters. I read that you should always keep a UV filter on your camera. When putting the filter on, it seems to mess up the color quality the camera puts out. Even when I have the camera set on the "sunlight" white balance setting in broad daylight, it seems like the colors are off (or when I manually white balance, for that matter). The recorded product shows orange items in a pinkish hue, and blue items in a more greenish color. When I remove the filter, it looks perfect. Can anyone give me some tips on using filters?

Also ... I use this camera for filming nature scenes in the outdoors, especially in mid to low-light conditions. What filters, if any, would be best for filming outdoors, in nature?

Sounds like a white balance issue.Which can fluctuate outdoors , shaded area..... bright sunlight at noon...... morning or evening light, Did you manual white balance to a white card (full frame) under the actual light you were shooting in?

Hey Jack, thanks for the reply. To answer your question, yes we did manual white balance with a card in the light we were shooting in. The color still didn't seem right ....

Jody,

Are you experiencing the incorrect white balance and off colors issue only when you are using the Opteka filters?

I must admit that those filters sound suspect to me. They look to be very low grade as far as filters go.

IS your camera working fine when you don't use those filters?

Please do let us know,

- don

Hey Don,

When I take the filter off, the quality looks great. It only changes when I add a filter. I'm positive it's not a white balance issue, I make a lot of effort to keep the camera in proper wb. This is my first attempt at using filters of any sort.

Jody...

I would forget about using the fluorescent filter and have the camera white balance for it instead. The fluorescent filter is useful when shooting on film. Unnecessary when shooting with video.

The UV filter should have no effect on the color. The polarizing filter should also have no effect on white balance as it's -supposed- to be neutral grey. However, if it's a cheap filter it might shift the white balance. In which case you'll need to white balance with the filter in place, and re-balance when removing the filter.

For other color effects I'd depend on doing a lot of it in post. While shooting I prefer to get a clean, neutral image and tweak it in post if necessary. This provides a lot more control.