Polarizer for ultra-wide angle lens

[pgriz]

I've got the 10-22 and a 77mm polarizer. When used against the sky, the effect is exactly what fjrabon said. As you rotate the polarizer, different parts of the sky go dark, and others lighten. If used against polarized light from a surface (say, water) the wide angle of view guarantees that not all the polarized rays across the full width of the view will be intercepted (darkened). In fact, even with my 24-105 lens, the wide end is a bit problematic with the polarizer.

 

[Derrel]

I've got the 10-22 and a 77mm polarizer. When used against the sky, the effect is exactly what fjrabon said. As you rotate the polarizer, different parts of the sky go dark, and others lighten. If used against polarized light from a surface (say, water) the wide angle of view guarantees that not all the polarized rays across the full width of the view will be intercepted (darkened). In fact, even with my 24-105 lens, the wide end is a bit problematic with the polarizer.

The effect described above is pretty standard...polarizing with very wide-angle lenses can easily result in pretty wonky polarizing effects on skies, where it is noticeable, much of the time.

 

[fjrabon]

In my case, 12mm on a full frame using a 77mm polarizer on a clear sunny day yielded very uneven polarization... I trashed the frames.

Any way to avoid this?

There's been some experimentation with things like spherical polarizers for very specialized applications. The issue is in how polarizers work, their very nature means that the different angles that light enters a very wide angle lens, the more angled light gets polarized differently than the light that is coming into the lens more 'head on'