circular polarized filter

steffynj · Jan 12, 2008

Hello,

I bought a Nikon D200 with a Af-S Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens.

I would like to buy a circular polarized filter to be able to shoot tennis indoor through glass and I was wondering what I should get.
Would a Tiffen 72mm circular polarizing glass filter do the trick? Should it be wide angle? And what difference would it make compared to a "non wide angle" one?
Thank you for your help.
Steffy

Sideburns · Jan 12, 2008

filters for wide angle lenses just mean that they have a thinner rim (to avoid vignetting on wide angle lenses)

I dono if you'd need it with an 18 on a crop camera...probably not.

I just got a B+W MRC Polarizer, and I love it...no glare, no bad effects at all other than losing some ilght...but if that's too expensive...a tiffen should work as long as you get the multicoated version.

Sw1tchFX · Jan 12, 2008

The tiffin will work fine, but you do know that the polarizer will knock off 1 1/2 to 2 stops right? so if you're shooting at f/5.6 1/125th of a second without it, WITH the polarizer, you'll be shooting at f/5.6 1/30th of a second. Nowhere near fast enough to freeze action.

And VR doesn't freeze someone running, fast shutter speeds do.

steffynj · Jan 14, 2008

Thank you guys for your answers.

No, Sw1tchFX, I didn't know that the polarizer would knock off 1 1/2 to 2 stops. So, obviously it won't be good for freezing the action.

What are my alternative to shoot tennis indoor through glass?

Thank you
Steffy

Big Mike · Jan 14, 2008

Welcome to the forum.

Shooting tennis...indoors, though glass...sounds like a very hard thing to do. Especially with a slow lens like that.

I would think that you are going to need all the light you can get, so forget about the C.P. You might need to shoot at ISO 800, 1600 or higher.

As for shooting through glass, try to shoot from an angle that doesn't give you reflections...or get right on the glass. If you are shooting straight though, you could even put the front of the lens against the glass. Or maybe get s cheap rubber hood to block the light from reflecting off of the glass.