Polarizing filters

[jacsul]

Hey all,
I'm looking to buy a Polarizing filter (my first), there are many brands and prices to choose from $289.00-14.95 USD. What are some of the brands you folks use? I'm looking to spend about $100.00 USD or so.

Thanks,
Jack

[Colin Southern]

Hi Jack,

For what it's worth, I have 2 expensive ones, and never use either

[PopsPhotos]

I have a polarizing filter running around here someplace. It came with one of the cameras. I've never used it and really don't know where it is hiding, at the moment.

Pops

[Radu Dinu Cordeanu]

Hi,
Bad news for You-pola and gnd are,perhaps, most important filters.
(I use Hoya and Cokin pola.)
Success!
Radu Dinu

[arith]

I've got one but if you are going to get one you have to get a good one. If I use mine for ND instead I get ghosting which isn't good. Avoid the cheapest and go for a professional version that is good value for money. I've heard the Cokin ones are useless but that is what I heard, and Hoya professional are the best, again what I heard.

As you can see I have a Sigma I got second hand; it does the job but is not easy to use. You need a circular polarizer with a digital camera so that focus ect works and you get what you pay for. cheers

[schnaninski]

I have a Kenko 62mm. It listed for $107.00 but, I got it for $54.00. I find it useful for reducing glare ie(glass and water) and enhancing blue skies in bright sunlight.

[rogerb]

I use the polarizing filter to remove glare from foliage and, to a lesser degree, enhancing contrast in the sky. However be careful at high altitudes because it's very easy to over-do the sky contrast thing. Use on wide angle lenses is also tricky.

I have a Nikon which is very good and Singh-Ray makes an excellent one but both of those would probably break your $100 budget. The Hoya Pro is also very good and cheaper than those mentioned. Price also depends on the size you're looking for.

Roger

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Jack,

I also use a Hoya Pro-1 Digital (CPL), seems good to me.

Cheers,

[taon]

Hi,
I am also planning to get some filters, wanted to get polarizer to ustilise my 17-40mm glass and shoot landscape. But I read here and there that they are not good for wide angle lens. I thought it is natural for those two to work together. Well....

I shoot around the city most of the time so getting the sun rays at 90 degrees is difficult most of the time. And I experience a lot more problems with the sky being overexposed.

So, paying attention to the first few posts, i don't want my filter just to lay around somewhere.

And my advice is, if you love it go for the good ones. I believe, poor people cannot afford cheap things, simply cos they don't last long or don't do their job properly and and of the day you end up paying twice.

P.S. I think that enhancing colors can be pretty much done in pp, so polarizer..... but I'm just a complete amateur... just my opinion.

[Colin Southern]

Hi,
I am also planning to get some filters, wanted to get polarizer to ustilise my 17-40mm glass and shoot landscape. But I read here and there that they are not good for wide angle lens. I thought it is natural for those two to work together. Well....

I shoot around the city most of the time so getting the sun rays at 90 degrees is difficult most of the time. And I experience a lot more problems with the sky being overexposed.

So, paying attention to the first few posts, i don't want my filter just to lay around somewhere.

And my advice is, if you love it go for the good ones. I believe, poor people cannot afford cheap things, simply cos they don't last long or don't do their job properly and and of the day you end up paying twice.

P.S. I think that enhancing colors can be pretty much done in pp, so polarizer..... but I'm just a complete amateur... just my opinion.

Polarisers give uneven skies with wide angle lenses ... because the light is arriving at the lens from a wide angle.

If you're having trouble with blown skies then what you really need is a GND filter.

[Dave Humphries]

In a city, a CPL may be helpful to control sky reflections from a single, flat, glass covered building, although if too close, the same issue of light arriving from too wide a range of angles will apply.

That said, it is usually the reflections of other buildings in the glass ones that people shoot in a city.

Cheers,

[PopsPhotos]

That said, it is usually the reflections of other buildings in the glass ones that people shoot in a city.

Hmmm I think I have one of those floating about here.

Pops

[Dave Humphries]

Hmmm I think I have one of those floating about here.

That's funny, it crossed my mind too

[jacsul]

And the winner is.....
B + W 58mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer Filter in Wide Angle Slim Mount, MRC Coated Glass. $113 USD.

Thanks for all the insight.

PS Very useful Colin
http://singhray.blogspot.com/search/...lin%20Southern

[Amberglass]

P.S. I think that enhancing colors can be pretty much done in pp, so polarizer..... but I'm just a complete amateur... just my opinion.

Unfortunately the polarizing filter effect is one of the very few filters that Ps can not effectively reproduce. It's one of the reasons why CPLs are still the most commonly used filters carried over from film.

[Amberglass]

And the winner is.....
B + W 58mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer Filter in Wide Angle Slim Mount, MRC Coated Glass. $113 USD.

Be aware that though slim mount filters will help with vignetting, the lens cap will be difficult to keep on because of the "thin" edge. Always leave your lens hood on; once you scratch your CPL, it becomes useless. It's very easy to over or under tighten the filter onto your front element; due to the rotating top. Also carry wide rubber bands in your camera bag to help you grip the CPL for removal if stuck.

Kaesemann are stiffer (when rotating) than most CPLs on the market which is normal, due to the seals to keep out moisture.

[DrJeans]

Hi, I use a polarizing filter on all lenses. My choice of filters Marumi, I am satisfied. The wide angle gives the contrasting sky and clouds, the average angle eliminates unnecessary glare and extends the dynamic range.

Below is a collage of two photos with a polarization filter. Highlights on the machine and without glare, pale sky and the contrasting sky.



Canon 5D, 16-35 f/2.8L II, Marumi 82 mm WPC CPL, city of St. Peterburg.

[Steve H]

Hi folks,
Google has failed me. I am in the market for a polarising filter and being a cheapskate want to know if I get a 77mm CPL will it work ok (with a step up ring) on a 72mm lens?

I have 2 lenses at the moment (in sig) one 77mm the other 72mm and thought I'd be cunning and buy just the one CPL - anybody else done this?

By the way I'm looking at this filter "Marumi 77mm 77 Super DHG MC CPL Slim Thin Filter Japan" from a popular trading site.

[Colin Southern]

Hi folks,
Google has failed me. I am in the market for a polarising filter and being a cheapskate want to know if I get a 77mm CPL will it work ok (with a step up ring) on a 72mm lens?

Yes

[rpcrowe]

Hi,
I am also planning to get some filters, wanted to get polarizer to ustilise my 17-40mm glass and shoot landscape. But I read here and there that they are not good for wide angle lens. I thought it is natural for those two to work together. Well....

Polarizing filters sometimes produce erratic effects with very wide angle lenses because the angle of the sun on one side of the image is different from the other side giving uneven polarization. However, while the 17-40mm may be a wide lens on a full frame camera, if you are using a 1.6 crop camera this lens is not really a wide angle but more like a medium range zoom. I never had problems with uneven polarization when using my 17-40L on my 1.6x crop cameras. Additionally, I never had vignetting problems when I used a "normal" CPL. I did not need to purchase a thin CPL designed for wide angle lenses.

IMO, if you are shooting outdoors the polarizing filter is one of the most important tools you can use. It can (always depending on the angle of the sun in relationship to the plane of the filter) darken skies and accentuate clouds, enhance the vibrancy of foliage and rock formations by reducing reflections and it can reduce or remove reflections on non-metallic surfaces like water and glass. Most effects of other filters can be duplicated using Photoshop. Even the effect of a GND can be duplicated using various single and multishot techniques and post processing. However the reduction of reflection and the resulting ability to view through glass windows and below water cannot be duplicated.

A secondary, yet very important, result of the CPL darkening the sky is the general reduction of dynamic exposure range of an image. This often results in a dynamic range than can be captured by the sensor of a digital camera.

And yes... Purchase the best CPL or none at all. I use a combination of Hoya Multi Coated and B&W CPL filters. Cheap filters tend to badly degrade images.