Recently purchased a Nikon D40 camera with an 18-55mm lens. Should I get a particular type of filter for it?

I take alot of outdoor photos of motocross and supercross and I am purely an amatuer photographer who just does it for fun.
I do take the frequent family photo's both in and outdoors as well.

Many people use a UV filter simply to protect the front element of their lens from damage. "UV filters absorb ultraviolet rays which often make outdoor photos hazy or indistinct." (from: http://www.thkphoto.com/products/hoya/gf... )

We get this question often enough that I decided to upload a sample to Flickr showing the same subject taken with and without a UV filter. Download the image, cut a small section out of the top half and drag it to the same section in the bottom half and see what you think. The photos were taken about 15 seconds apart in subdued sunlight, so I think the lighting was virtually identical for each. There was no post-processing at all so you can make a fair comparison. I will not comment any further and let you decide for yourself if there is any color shift.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7189769@N04...

The picture was taken with a Nikon D200 at ISO 100 with the Nikon 18-200 VR lens @ 112 mm at f/5.3.

Here's a comparison that I did by accident. Read the comments and you'll understand: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstei...

Buy a name brand like Hoya or Tiffen. Don't get cheap junk to put on the front of your fine lens. Personally, I am now switching over to plain high quality optical glass "filters" from Nikon for lens protection, even though they cost more than a good UV filter.

Thanks. I'll try to share the love and choose everyone here as a best answer to one of my questions soon. Report It

Yes

Get either a skylight or UV filter to protect the front element of your lens.

That's all you need ...all the white balance is done in your camera.

To the excellent suggestions I'll add this: a Circular Polarizer. Use it to darken a blue sky and to remove glare/reflections from water, snow, glass, sand and painted metal - but not polished metal. It even improves colors.

Definitely buy the best - Tiffen, Hoya, B+W.

Just add a UV0 filter to protect the front lens...

One of 1A/1B/UV and a Circular Polarizer would be your basic kit. A graduated neutral density filter is the only other filter I carry when packing light. Its nice to have in your bag for outdoor photography when the brightness of the sky would otherwise overwhelm the detail in the landscape.