Need best circular polarizer ever made

[hamlet]

I am having a lot of trouble with blown out backgrounds and i am looking for a 77mm circular polarizer, the best ever made in the whole world to be more specific.

 

[sashbar]

I am not sure about the best in the world, but 77 mm B&W polariser is a good filter that will suit your needs. It is on sale on Amazon for £120 in UK, probably it is cheaper in US.

 

[hamlet]

Yes, but if i can get it here at a higher price it's better. Import fees from the US are crazy, but i will endure it if i can't get it here.

 

[sashbar]

Yes, but if i can get it here at a higher price it's better. Import fees from the US are crazy, but i will endure it if i can't get it here.

Sorry, I thought you were in US

 

[The_Traveler]

Blown out backgrounds won't be cured with a circular polarizer, that's an operator issue.

 

[Overread19 7]

Is a polarizer going to help you?

It reduces the light entering the lens by around 1 to 2 stops (varies between polarizers and 1.5 is a good rough value) but that is over the whole of the frame. If you're getting blown out backgrounds it means that the dynamic range (range of light from the darkest to the brightest part in the scene) is too great for the camera to capture in a single exposure.

You might find that a solution is to use some exposure compensation and underexpose a little so that you're sitting in the middleground where the foreground is bright enough to bump up a little in editing and where the background is no longer blowing out.

IF you've got a clear cut divide; eg a sunset over the sea, where you'd have bright sky and dark foreground with a clear line between the two - then a filter holder and neutral density filters would be of use as you can block some light from the brighter area and thus reduce the dynamic range of the light hitting the sensor

If its a more complicated scene you might have to use tone mapping or even HDR methods to blend two or more exposures so that you can expose as needed each different brightness area and then blend them into a single photo.

 

[480sparky42 42]

CPLs don't help much in managing dynamic range, which is what your problem is. Either you just aren't shooting the scene correctly, or the dynamic range of the scene exceeds what the camera is capable of recording (yes, there is a difference in the dynamic range capabilities from camera to camera).

If it's the former, learn to bracket exposures until you master proper exposure technique. If it's the latter, your choices are: learn HDR, upgrade your camera. or invest is a best-in-the-world graduated ND filter system.

 

[robbins.photo]

Hamlet,

A couple of real quick thoughts here - as others have mentioned a CPL probably isn't your best choice to accomplish your goal. A CPL works great for cutting down reflections so it is a wonderful thing to have in your bag if you are say trying to shoot through glass or water or any other surface that will generally reflect light. An ND Filter would probably be a better bet, but really I think you'll find you probably won't need one at least the vast majority of the time.

As others have mentioned HDR or Bracketing can make a huge difference in this regard, one other thing to keep in mind is your metering mode, depending on the situation you might want to use matrix metering. One other thing that might help a bit is point your camera at the sky first, take your reading on the sky and then use your AE lock before composing your shot.

Hope that helps.

 

[Braineack]

...or the most expensive Nikon body in the world to utilize the Auto-FP your flash unit can do.

 

[SCraig]

Expose for the highlights, post-process for the shadows.

 

[astroNikon]

here's the best ... I think it costs more than your camera body
Singh-Ray 77mm LB ColorCombo Warm Circular Polarizer/LB RT-6 B&H

or if you want to go the cheap route
Heliopan 77mm Circular Polarizer Multi Coated Filter 707746


j/k listen to the above advice

 

[The_Traveler]

a less expensive route with probably better results - http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Exp...88073196&sr=1-2&keywords=photography+exposure

 

[tirediron]

Better yet, Hamlet, how about you post a couple of these images with full details on the circumstances and some of the members here can probably give you some much better guidance as to how to achieve what you want.

 

[Braineack]

Better yet, Hamlet, how about you post a couple of these images with full details on the circumstances and some of the members here can probably give you some much better guidance as to how to achieve what you want.

he already found the answer online elsewhere and didn't tell us, stop derailing his thread.

 

[runnah]

I use a dry erase marker to color in my lens to act as a filter. Try different colored markers for different effects.