Use of Filters help

I bought a DZ-MV580A Hitachi DV Camcorder for our cruise to the Panama Canal. I don't have a lot of photographic experience so I'm looking for some down-and-dirty advice.

I have been experimenting with it and find that under bright light conditions the photos seem to lose contrast. (I have jet black goats whose facial features blend into their bodies so they appear to be a black outline).

Under tropical light conditions, would a Polarizing filter help correct this? If not, what would you advise?

Thanks for your help.

Melissa

Melissa, I don't really know much about polarizing filters although I do know they will darken a picture so may not work for something already dark. A place to get photo questions answered is dpreview.com, you may find people with better info. I am planning to get one for my camera as we are going to Hawaii & I think it will help with glare in water photos.

A polarizing filter will remove glare, just like a pair of polarized sunglasses. If your camera uses throught the lens metering, it should compensate automatically for the reduced amount of light. This filter should work great in the caribbean.

There's some with/without examples here:

http://www.geocities.com/cokinfiltersystem/polarizer.htm

Be sure to get a circular polarizer. Hoya is a reasonably priced, good brand.

I use still photography. I'm wondering if the situations you are shooting are just a bit too bright. If so, a polarizer would help. Yes, it cuts glare, but it's also fairly dark. You wouldn't use a polarizer in low light situations.

If you didn't want the polarizing effect, and you just needed to make the scene darker, you would use a neutral density filter. They're available in various darknesses.

I think DPreview.com is mostly still photography. You might try:

http://www.digital-world.info/

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/

Have a wonderful cruise!

Thanks for the responses. I'll experiment with the filters I got with the camera before I go.

:o