Starter Polarized Filter for Canon 20D??

[iSellJerseyShore]

Whats a good Polarized Filter to use with my Canon 20D? I am currently shooting with the 28-135mm IS USM f/3.5 - f/5.6 lens...

I am looking for a decent "starter" polarized fitler.. Any suggestions/recommendations greatly appreciated..




-iSellJerseyShore

 

[Mike Jordan]

You might as well get a good one if you are going to spend the money. You will need a circular polorizer for the lens. This is one that you put on the front of your lens and turn it with your fingers. It' smade up of two pieces of glass and one rotates in front of the other, changing the way it polorizes the light.

I have the B+W brand for my lenses. It does a good job. You won't need a slim type, those are for very wide angle lenses. Although they will work on non-wide angle lenses, they are real thin and harder to get your fingers on to turn them.

Besides cutting down glare on water and glass, a polorizer can be used for getting deeper saturated color as well. In fact, that is what I use mine for more than polorizing. Also, because you lose about 2 fstops with one, I use mine to get slower shutter speeds when I need them, like when shooting waterfalls or moving water and I want a slower speed to get movement.

I ended up buying a couple too, as I switch from my 24-70 2.8L lens to my 70-200 2.8L lens and didn't want to have to remove the polorizer and put it on the other one when I did. If you only have one lens right now, it won't be a problem for you.

Mike

 

[Rob]

As Mike quite rightly says, a circular polarising filter is the chappie to get. It's worth bearing in mind that the pictures are only going to be as good as the weakest bit of glass in front of the film, so a cheapo filter will give cheapo results.

I paid a small fortune (about £250) for my Nikon beast, but only after I'd wasted £50 on a crap one from Jessops which went in the bin. The cheap ones are really difficult to see results (which you need to do) when twiddling the bit on the front which is an absolute pain when you're using a zoom lens and need to adjust the angle with every shot. So I'd say to spend as much as you can afford on a decent branded one like B&H or Lee or Canon.

I would guess that lens is going to be about a 72mm, so you'll probably pay about $100 for a Canon one, which seems a reasonable price.

Don't forget that you'll lose a stop or so with it, but you'll probably not need to worry as generally you only want to use them in the sun anyway!

Rob

 

[iSellJerseyShore]

Thanks for all the detailed info!

Yes the lens im using is 72mm...




-iSellJerseyShore

 

[ksmattfish]

I've always heard that B + W is the best (and the prices reflect that), followed by Heliopan, Hoya, Tiffen, etc... Multicoatings add a lot to the price; they help with lens flare. I use the standard Hoya and Tiffen filters (single coated?), and I've never really had a problem with them, although I always use a lens hood. A B+W pol filter is going to be as color neutral as possible, while a Hoya or Tiffen may have a slight color shift. Once again, it's never been a problem for the work I do.

 

[laudrup]

Hi, one piece of advice if you've spent a fortune on a very good camera like the canon 20d then it doesn't make sense to skimp on a polariser!!!

I'd go with what the other guys have said a circular polariser is the best bet, the main advantage being that you can rotate the polariser to change the effect. For example rotation the polariser can add some definition to clouds in a pretty uninspiring sky, totally cut out reflections on water or keep them as you wish. They can deepen the colour of skies and shiny objects too and seem to help with saturation of colours!

I generally use a skylight filter on my lenses if i'm not using a polariser partly because they are relatively inexpensive and a good way to protect a lens from scratches i.e. it cheaper to replace a filter than a scratched lens and also the benefit of eliminating a blue haze on your photo's that can be caused by uv light/shooting at high altitude.

I do this with a canon t90 which although it's an excellent camera is worth a fraction of the cost of your camera. If i'd spent a small fortune on the 20d i would invest in these kinds of things without fail, even if it's just to protect your lenses!

In terms of a brand I can only go from experience and i use a Hoya HMC multi coated circular polariser and Hoya Skylight/uv filter when i don't need the polariser. They seem to work perfectly well and i'm pleased with the results i've had.

I also learnt to be careful of the types of filters you use with a wideangle lens, i had several films developed where i'd been lazy and used the skylight & polariser on my lens, or used a cokin p series graduated tobacco filter and had some nasty vignetting around the edges of some pics! A costly mistake that ruined hours of hard hiking to get to the location i was looking for and hours wasted composing shots!!! incidentally on the same trip i missed a few rain drops on the lens and ruined some of the other shots too...Doh!

I'm pretty new to this so i learn a little more with each film i get back, that's the beauty of our hobby/passion it's a continuous learning curve that's get more rewarding the more you pick up!

Hope this helps

Laudrup

 

[thebeginning]

how much does the B+W polarizer cost?

 

[K_Duffer]

I would also suggest getting the largest size for the lenses available for your camera (for a Nikon, it's 72mm) and buying step down rings to fit your smaller lenses. This will save you a lot of money in the long run.