Leaving your polarizer on?

FreeloaderJoe

FreeloaderJoe

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Might be a question i could anwser by taking some test shots, but my polarizer is out of action at the moment.

Can i leave the filter on the lens all the time (if I use it alot)...e.g. is there a point at which the lens is twisted so that it has no effect at all. Its a B&W SL Circular Polarizer!
 
FreeloaderJoe said:
Might be a question i could anwser by taking some test shots, but my polarizer is out of action at the moment.

Can i leave the filter on the lens all the time (if I use it alot)...e.g. is there a point at which the lens is twisted so that it has no effect at all. Its a B&W SL Circular Polarizer!
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It can have no effect at all depending on the position, but you lose about 1.5 stops.
 
Mine has it's home on the end of my 24-70, it only comes off when shooting non sky/water shots (not very regularly!)
 
If you are shooting into the light or if the light is behind you the CPL will have no effect.
As the light moves to your left, or right then the CPL will have an effect, the amount can be varied by rotating the filter.
It will block light however, 1.5-2 stops ?? and any extra glass on the front of a lens can increase flare, degrade the image etc. etc.
 
The CPF works at it Max when at 90deg to the sun also if you have a wide angle lens it might only work on part of the image that is with in the 90deg angle.
I do not like to use any filters apart form this one and only when needed. Any glass in front of your lens will have some effect of the image often softening it a touch.
 
As already mentioned, you'll get considerable light loss whatever position the polariser is set to, also if the sun is behind or in front of you it will have no or minimal effect. Additionally, if you are trying to deepen a sunny sky with the polariser on a wide angle lens, it can make one side significantly darker than the other, then the polariser shouldn't be used, grad ND filters are more effective. Any filter can degrade a good lens a little, I never fit a filter unless it's needed and rely on a lens hood to protect the front lens element.
 
steveb said:
As already mentioned, you'll get considerable light loss whatever position the polariser is set to, also if the sun is behind or in front of you it will have no or minimal effect. Additionally, if you are trying to deepen a sunny sky with the polariser on a wide angle lens, it can make one side significantly darker than the other, then the polariser shouldn't be used, grad ND filters are more effective. Any filter can degrade a good lens a little, I never fit a filter unless it's needed and rely on a lens hood to protect the front lens element.
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I agree with that, however I'm lazy and would forget it if it wasn't screwed on...:lol:
 
Some landscape photogrpahers leave a polariser on all the time. Even when the sky isn't blue, there is polarised light coming off all reflective surfaces, and a polariser will improve the colour saturation there. For this kind of effect, it doesn't really matter how the polariser is rotated, as the reflections will be at all sorts of random angles and it will always work on some of them.

Hoya have a new polariser, called HD. It reduces transmission by only 1.1 stops, which is at least half a stop less than most others. Might be handy if you intend to use it all the time. And it's multi-coated. V good price on Amazon, so good it could be a typo! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hoya-Digita...PMGS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1245270276&sr=8-1
 
I leave the polariser on my 17-70 about 90% of the time as I only really shoot landscapes. The only time I normally take it off is if I need a little extra light or want to take a pano so need an "even sky" across the pano shots

simon
 
HoppyUK said:
Some landscape photogrpahers leave a polariser on all the time. Even when the sky isn't blue, there is polarised light coming off all reflective surfaces, and a polariser will improve the colour saturation there. For this kind of effect, it doesn't really matter how the polariser is rotated, as the reflections will be at all sorts of random angles and it will always work on some of them.

Hoya have a new polariser, called HD. It reduces transmission by only 1.1 stops, which is at least half a stop less than most others. Might be handy if you intend to use it all the time. And it's multi-coated. V good price on Amazon, so good it could be a typo! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hoya-Digita...PMGS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1245270276&sr=8-1
Click to expand...

Looks interesting, although at that price for the 77mm I don't even want to see the price for an 82mm (if they do it)...:lol:
 
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