Should I get a Filter/Polarizer?

[crowl31]

I'm headed to San Diego this weekend and i was wondering the importance of having a Polarizer or Filter that I read about.

I would love to take some sunset pictures is there a filter that works best for taking shots in the sun/sun light.

thanks

 

[manaheim]

Yes!



Oh, wait, I should probably read more than your subject.

It's really good to have a circular polarizing filter for pretty much every lens you own. I cannot recommend them highly enough. How or if they will work in any given circumstance varies wildly based upon the amount of light and what your subject is, but in my opinion it is a "must have" in every camera bag.

CPOLs cut down harsh light, reduce or remove reflections and help to saturate colors (helpful in harsh light!)

As far as other filters, a graduated neutral density filter is nice as it cuts down light gradually from top to bottom (which is good for overly bright skies).

Beyond that, my personal thought is that you don't need warming or cooling filters with digital because you can do that post-processing in Photoshop or whatever, but I have no real experience with those other kinds of filters to tell you if I'm right or not. Others would be able to help here.

 

[Big Mike]

It's really good to have a circular polarizing filter for pretty much every lens you own.

Good quality CP filters are expensive. It would much cheaper to buy a CP for your biggest (filter size) lens and then use step up rings for the other lenses.

I would certainly recommend a CP filter. I use them most of the time when I'm shooting outdoors. They won't really do much for you with a sunset though.

A circular polarizer works in varying degrees, depending on how the front element is rotated and the angle to the sun. You can get the strongest effect when pointed at 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the sun's rays. So when pointing at the sun, you have little or no effects.

 

[manaheim]

Oh you know I forgot about that step up ring trick. I should look into that. Don't the larger CP filters have some sort of necessary side-effect that could be considered a drawback for a smaller lens, though? I can't recall... something about thickness. I'm probably totally wrong.

What is "expensive", btw... I think I spent about $100 for the 70ish mm one for my Sigma 10-20.

 

[Tolyk]

Well, expensive is if you look into buying Rodenstock, B+W or Singh-ray, all of these Cpols are over 200 dollars for a 77 (Singh-ray being the cheapest, with Rodenstock almost 300 canadian, and B+W even more than that)

The step ring is a great idea and I tend to recommend it, unless they intend to use bayonet style lens hoods. Screw on lens hoods are fine, as long as they're the right size, but step up rings hinder you getting on a bayonet style hood.

 

[Big Mike]

Good point about the lens hood.
Also, a lens hood can make it a pain to adjust the filter.

I actually have three sizes of CP filters...but I got great deals on them.

 

[Tolyk]

Good point about the lens hood.
Also, a lens hood can make it a pain to adjust the filter.

I actually have three sizes of CP filters...but I got great deals on them.

I have a very bad c.pol and need to invest in a better one

That's one advantage of screw in lens hoods too, don't get in the way of the c.pol

 

[Big Mike]

Yes, I've got a couple of cheap 'screw-in' lens hoods...but they usually vignette on the wide end of the zoom lenses.