Circular Polarizer
Aug 3, 2019 10:02:10 #
nmw1004
Loc: Dresher PA
I have a camera that has scene settings. The one for landscape brings out the greens and blues. Except for reflections, do I really need to use a circular polarizer?
Aug 3, 2019 10:09:01 #
nmw1004 wrote:
I have a camera that has scene settings. The one for landscape brings out the greens and blues. Except for reflections, do I really need to use a circular polarizer?
No
Aug 3, 2019 10:20:51 #
nadelewitz
Loc: Ithaca NY
A polarizer also will darken blue skies at certain angles to the sun, making clouds stand out more. And eliminating glare at certain angles to the sun (not reflections) is a primary reason for polarizers.
Nothing to do with bringing out blues and greens. Do you know how the camera does that?
Scene settings use manufacturer-formulated schemes for shutter speed, aperture, focusing, controlling depth of field, etc etc. All toward making the camera simply a point & shoot with no thought processes involved.
Nothing to do with bringing out blues and greens. Do you know how the camera does that?
Scene settings use manufacturer-formulated schemes for shutter speed, aperture, focusing, controlling depth of field, etc etc. All toward making the camera simply a point & shoot with no thought processes involved.
Aug 3, 2019 10:24:45 #
A polarizing filter can really help at times. Even leaves often reflect the sky and can kill color. Polarizers also help pop out clouds and darken the skies. They also cost you over two stops of light most of the time. They only really work perpendicular to the sun as far as sky is concerned. In film days I left one on my camera most of the time. With Photoshop it's not as necessary, but can still help at times. With low ISO settings a tripod can become almost necessary. Any polarizer works, it's just that the circular models read the exposure better on most late model cameras. Few use them today so picking up a used one cheap and trying it out should cost next to nothing. More saturated colors because of the elimination of glare is the main advantage, but bringing out clouds against the sky is probably the most common use. Slight color variation between brands is common.
Aug 3, 2019 10:51:04 #
nmw1004 wrote:
I have a camera that has scene settings. The one for landscape brings out the greens and blues. Except for reflections, do I really need to use a circular polarizer?
Yes. Its absolutely the most useful filter you will ever own.
Aug 3, 2019 10:55:57 #
nmw1004 wrote:
I have a camera that has scene settings. The one for landscape brings out the greens and blues. Except for reflections, do I really need to use a circular polarizer?
Here's what fellow UHHer Steve Perry has to say. And when Steve Perry says, it's always worth a listen!
https://backcountrygallery.com/how-to-use-a-polarizing-filter/
Aug 3, 2019 11:18:59 #
rodpark2 wrote:
A polarizing filter can really help at times. Even... (show quote)
They certainly can.
Of course it depends on the time of day, relative angle of the sun (light), if you want to get rid of reflections, ...
Aug 3, 2019 13:20:05 #
alx
Loc: NJ
"Scene settings" are essentially software tweaks. Software CANNOT replicate what a polarizing filter does since the filter works directly with the light entering the lens. Even if you were to Photoshop on a pixel by pixel basis, you couldn't duplicate the details that the polarizer will transmit and let you capture.
Aug 3, 2019 13:21:02 #
nmw1004 wrote:
I have a camera that has scene settings. The one for landscape brings out the greens and blues. Except for reflections, do I really need to use a circular polarizer?
You surrounded by reflections. Indoors, outdoors, in the sun, in the shade. Simply look around you, and you will see them. Even a pencil under artificial indoor lighting gives off reflections. The polarizing filter allows you some control over these reflections. And sometimes you will absolutely want that control. This alone should be reason enough to get a polarizing filter and learn how to use it. Anyone who says the polarizing filter is mostly useless or only good for darkening blue skies does not understand all that this magical filter can do! Whenever I browse through the UHH Gallery, I see many posted images that really could have benefited with the use of a polarizing filter.
Aug 3, 2019 13:23:34 #
alx
Loc: NJ
rook2c4 wrote:
Whenever I browse through the UHH Gallery, I see many posted images that really could have benefited with the use of a polarizing filter.
AGREE. Every day
Aug 3, 2019 14:54:05 #
nmw1004
Loc: Dresher PA
Thank you for your information. It's great to have an experienced community to draw from.
Aug 3, 2019 18:27:32 #
nmw1004 wrote:
I have a camera that has scene settings. The one for landscape brings out the greens and blues. Except for reflections, do I really need to use a circular polarizer?
Yes. Not always, but when you have certain situations, there is no substitute. Taking landscape images can benefit from using a CPL - harsh reflections from foliage, water reflections etc will be controllable or even eliminated, skies can be darkened if your position is 90° from the sun. Images without the strong reflections will take on a more saturated look to them, without the false or overcooked look of camera or post processing-produced saturation and luminance adjustments to the blues and greens. No amount of post processing or camera settings can provide this.
Aug 3, 2019 20:06:01 #
Wet foliage with a CPL on a cloudy day - especially during the "golden" and "blue" hours - cannot be duplicated by ANY software, unless you wish to spend hours and hours, maybe even days, in PP. Saturation, lack of glare primary reasons. Seeing "through" sunlit reflecting on water and getting the details of the bottom of the body of water is also impossible without a CPL. It is probably one of the two or three most important filters you can own.
(My two or three: #1-CPL #2ND 6 or 10x #3 UV in that order)
(My two or three: #1-CPL #2ND 6 or 10x #3 UV in that order)
Aug 4, 2019 08:08:36 #
nmw1004 wrote:
I have a camera that has scene settings. The one for landscape brings out the greens and blues. Except for reflections, do I really need to use a circular polarizer?
A CPL give you better color when the sun is at a 90° to the camera. It helps dampen the reflection from the sun from nature but not from metal or glass. Getting a decent CPL will add to you outdoor photos.
here are a lot of links. Read before you spend.
https://backcountrygallery.com/how-to-use-a-polarizing-filter/
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/09/my-not-nearly-complete-but-rather-entertaining-circular-polarizer-filter-article/
http://www.lenstip.com/139.25-article-Polarizing_filters_test_2015_Results_and_summary.html
http://www.techradar.com/how-to/photography-video-capture/cameras/best-circular-polarizer-filter-5-top-models-tested-and-rated-1320842
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Circular-Polarizer-Filters.aspx
http://www.lenstip.com/index.php?art=139
http://nikonrumors.com/2014/07/26/how-to-use-a-polarizing-filter.aspx/
http://www.lenstip.com/115.1-article-Polarizing_filters_test.html
http://www.lenstip.com/115.4-article-Polarizing_filters_test_Results_and_summary.html
http://www.techradar.com/how-to/photography-video-capture/cameras/best-circular-polarizer-filter-5-top-models-tested-and-rated-1320842
Aug 4, 2019 08:53:14 #
srt101fan wrote:
Here's what fellow UHHer Steve Perry has to say. And when Steve Perry says, it's always worth a listen!
https://backcountrygallery.com/how-to-use-a-polarizing-filter/
https://backcountrygallery.com/how-to-use-a-polarizing-filter/
I'll second this. Steve's commentaries are always accurate, concise and easy-to-understand. I'll add that while polarizers used to cost up to two f stops, my Hoya high-transmission polarizer advertises only a half a stop loss. I don't know if it's true but it really doesn't matter because like Steve said, I can slightly bump up the ISO if necessary, with no loss of quality.
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