USING FILTERS ON POINT & SHOOT CAMERAS

  Now that many "point & shoot" digital cameras are approaching almost pro image quality they are being used by many of us in situations that formerly we only used bigger cameras for.  Examples of such high end cameras are the Sony DSC-HX10 and DSC-RX100.

  Unfortunately, because the principle design goal for these cameras was to make them easy to use by most anyone, they lack some features that some of use need.  One such desirable feature is the ability to add filters such as polarizers or neutral density.  Such filters can help in many lighting situations.

  If you look at the front lens barrel on these cameras, like the HX10 to the right, you note that it is totally smooth and without any way to use a normal screw-in filter.

  I have seen indications on the internet of developments that will lead to being able to attach screw-in filters to such cameras but it is not know on what schedule these developments are proceeding.

  I just ran across a YouTube video that provides a "quick and dirty" way to attach a filter to such cameras.  I've already tried this technique with my Sony RX100 and it works.



  The preceding video mentions the use of a 49 mm filter but I happened to have a set of 46 mm filters and they are sized perfectly for this application since the 1/2" square Scotch tabs fit inside the filter rim without interfering with the camera's lens port when open.  Smaller filters can be used but will require cutting down the size of the tabs.  The Scotch restickable tabs I used can be found at Amazon.  

SOME UPGRADES BEYOND THE ABOVE VIDEO

  I came up with what I believe to be improvements on the above technique.  

  First, because I didn't want to remove the filters each time the camera lens retracts, I actually stacked two of the Scotch tabs so that the screw-in clear UV filter I am using as the base filter is held clear as the lens retracts.  Note in the photo at right that's there's a small gap between the attached UV filter and the camera's front lens body when the camera is off.  Thus, the filter doesn't have to be removed each time the camera is turned off.

  Also, different from the technique in the video, I applied the restickable tabs to the screw-in side of the filter (rather than the front) so that additional filters can be added to the attached filter.  

  After attaching the UV filter to the camera using the restickable tabs additional filters can be screwed into it as desired.  The RX100 has a maximum shutter speed of 1/2000 of a second.  In bright lighting conditions this may not be short enough to get the aperture open as much as desired.  I can now add an ND filter by screwing it into the UV filter and have better control of exposure.

  Or, I can screw a polarizer filter onto to the UV filter to improve image quality.  (See my previous post on polarizers for why polarizers can be helpful.)

  It's quite easy to remove the filter attached with the Scotch restickable tabs and re-attach it using the same tabs.

A CAUTION

  The small gap indicated by the arrow in the image above can be a problem if you're using a darker filter outside in the sunshine.  An bright overhead light (like the sun) can leak through an create extraneous light on the image.  The image on the left below show an example of the light leakage when in the bright sun.  I had an ND3 neutral density filter screwed into the base filter for these shots.  The picture on the right was taken with my fingers covering gap between the RX100 lens barrel and the base filter.

  You can avoid this in a couple of ways - either make sure the camera is in the shade or by putting something over the gap like gaffer tape.  Of course, using gaffer tape to cover the gap will prevent the camera lens from closing when the camera is turned off.

SUMMARY

  This technique for adding filters may be a little "Rube Goldberg" but it does work and can be used until something better comes along (which I believe will happen in the not-to-distant future).