Nikon 10-24mm Polarizer that Won't Vignette

[JG_Coleman]

Ever since I got my Nikon 10-24mm, I've been using a standard-thickness polarizer in some situations (ex. knocking glare off of rivers and waterfalls). The annoying thing about this filter is that it leaves opaque vignettes in the corner of the frame at the wide-end, effectively rendering the lens a 12-24mm when I'm using the polarizer. This is especially frustrating, since I opted for the 10-24mm over the 12-24mm for the sole fact that I REALLY wanted the expanded field-of-view offered by those 2 extra millimeters.

So, I'm basically looking around at the "slim" models of polarizer to try and find one that will allow me to shoot at 10mm without having to crop the shot in post or use spot-healing to cover up vignettes.

My concern is that I don't want to shell out the bucks for a slim-style polarizer only to find that, for example, it eliminates vignetting at 11mm but still vignettes at 10mm. A bit of darkness at the edges would be acceptable... but the opaque, lose-all-detail vignettes are what I'm trying to avoid.

So, to anyone out there who uses (or has used) a Nikon 10-24mm with a polarizer... have you found a filter that doesn't vignette on this lens?

 

[KmH]

Get an 82 mm filter and a step ring?

 

[480sparky]

Sounds like you've got a champagne taste and a beer budget.

I use a B&W thin polarizer. I bought it $45 used.

 

[JG_Coleman]

Get an 82 mm filter and a step ring?

Wow... that's actually a great idea. In fact, I feel like this was sort of a stupid question now, since I currently use the "step-up ring solution" on a different lens of mine! For some odd-ball reason, I never associated that fix to this problem. Thanks, Keith.

Still, I wonder if the combined thickness of a step-up ring and an 82mm filter would ultimately still cause vignetting? Perhaps I'm just going to have to buy a filter and a step-up ring and find out for sure... after all, this does sound like my best bet.

Sounds like you've got a champagne taste and a beer budget.

I use a B&W thin polarizer. I bought it $45 used.

Yes, that's exactly the case... and my "PBR" polarizer just isn't cutting it...lol. I mean, I can afford a slim, higher-quality 77mm polarizer with my current budget... but I certainly can't afford to be buying an assortment to find one that actually does the job (I suppose I could always return anything that doesn't come through for me... eh, that's a hassle).

So the 77mm B & W Thin CPL doesn't vignette at 10mm, at all? At least, not with opaque vignettes?

 

[Big Mike]

I was also going to suggest the step up ring option...but like a think filter...you probably want to try it out before buying it, only to find that it doesn't work.

Are you near a well stocked camera store? You might be able to go into the store and just try out a thin filter or step-up ring and see if it vignettes or not.

 

[JG_Coleman]

Well, there's certainly no well-stocked camera stores within my immediate vicinity. As a result, I've never actually been to one in Connecticut (most all of my camera gear has come from the Internet). Though, I did just recently find out about a camera store that still exists along the coast, roughly 45 minutes away. Maybe I'll have to head down there this weekend and check them out.

 

[KmH]

For what it's worth, I buy used B+W filters from B&H or KEH.com.

 

[480sparky]

...........So the 77mm B & W Thin CPL doesn't vignette at 10mm, at all? At least, not with opaque vignettes?

 

[480sparky]

I should mention.... the B&W doesn't have any threads on the front, so the standard Nikon lens cap won't work. You'll need to find one that force-fits around the outside. Nor can you stack another filter on top of it (if you did, you'd get vignetting).