circular polfilter

spako · May 25, 2006

I have been reading about these filters here and I was wondering what their effect is, where you use it (indoor/outdor) and for what kind of shots...
and I think you can rotate these filters on the lens, what is this for?
any help would be very much appreciated!

Philip Weir · May 25, 2006

Gooday [I'm Australian]
Polarising filter, the most valuable and useable filter in the photographers kit. They can be used indoors or outdoors, but are probably more useful outdoors. I suppose in laymans language, they cut out reflection. They must be rotated to get the effect you want, but you can see though the lens on an SLR what you are getting. With an auto exposure camera, they will compensate for the density, though if you are setting the exposure manually, you should add about 1.5 stops. There is much more to say, but this should be sufficient for now. Philip.
www.philipweirphotography.com

Rob · May 25, 2006

It makes skies and water look a lot better and helps with contrast, particularly on bright days when there's light being scattered.

Rob

LaFoto · May 25, 2006

I so miss my polariser, which I once lost in a wilderness and even a thorough search on the following day did not bring it back

It intensifies colours, makes the sky look bluer, and if you photograph reflecting surfaces (water, shop windows, just to name two), you can, by turning the filter, block out the reflection and kind of "look through the water", while normally you would not be able to. With your camera, you will be able to see the effect while looking through the viewfinder and turning the filter.

It is mostly used in outdoor photography on sunny days.
The effects are minimized on overcast days when the light is very widely distributed by the cloud cover.

spako · May 25, 2006

Thank you so much for the help!
I think I'll invest in one of those

Richard Daley · May 25, 2006

By far the most popular filter used by professional nature photographers for all the reasons above. Also cuts out some haze in the mountains (BUT please don't let some sales person convince you to "always use a skylight filter" and then keep it on when you use your polarizer. Every piece of glass in front of the lens slightly degrades the image quality SO you should know exactly why you are better off with any filter. That said, I use a polarizer at least 85% of the time for my nature photography and recommend them to every student I have if they don't have one.

From Sedona, good luck,

Richard Daley

PopPicker · May 25, 2006

As a note.

Don't forget that auto-focus SLR's require circular polarisers so the the auto focus system doesn't get confused.

A manual focus SLR can use either linear or cicular.

With DLRS's it's best to consult the manual and see what they suggest as it varies i think.

PP

Rob · May 26, 2006

PopPicker said:
As a note.

Don't forget that auto-focus SLR's require circular polarisers so the the auto focus system doesn't get confused.

A manual focus SLR can use either linear or cicular.

With DLRS's it's best to consult the manual and see what they suggest as it varies i think.

PP

Some zooms don't rotate the barrel and some do - that's the point which needs bearing in mind as you'll need a circular if the barrel rotates when zooming. Get a circular one, and you'll cover all the bases.

Rob

spako · May 26, 2006

Thank you! I bought a circular filter

now I can't wait for the weather to change so I can try it out!

PopPicker · May 26, 2006

Rob said:
Some zooms don't rotate the barrel and some do

Well well is THAT what it's about, I never ever bothered to find out. LOL

Thanks Rob.

PP

Luke · May 27, 2006

Rob said:
Some zooms don't rotate the barrel and some do - that's the point which needs bearing in mind as you'll need a circular if the barrel rotates when zooming. Get a circular one, and you'll cover all the bases.

Rob

im not too sure, i wrote a short expose article about this a while ago, and im pretty sure you're wrong about the autofocus thing, thatll be a problem with any polarizer, if it turns, the light will change, autofocus problems have to do with the way the camera focusses, using a split beam system.
http://www.deviantart.com/view/27094884/