Circular Polarizer Question: I probably should know this by this late time, but I don't; therefore, when using a CP filter should I be able to look through the viewfinder and see the...

Floyd Loc: Misplaced Texan in Florence, Alabama

I probably should know this by this late time, but I don't; therefore, when using a CP filter should I be able to look through the viewfinder and see the effects of turning the lens? I have, somewhere, back down the line, purchased a Hoya CP and in the camera's, viewfinder I cannot tell any difference in sky, etc. when twisting the lens even after taking the same picture with and without the filter.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I can see the change from rotation in the viewfinder in my T1i.
It depends on the declination and azimuth of the sun relative to the scene being shot how much of an affect the polarizer has on the view. Some angles affect the polarization more than others.

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

The strongest effect of a CPL is with the sun at 90 degrees to it. (Directly overhead or to your right or left hands.) Otherwise it acts like a
1 1/2-2 stop Neutral density filter. It can also remove reflections from leaves and other non-metallic things on an overcast and/or rainy day.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Longshadow wrote:

I can see the change from rotation in the viewfinder in my T1i.
It depends on the declination and azimuth of the sun relative to the scene being shot how much of an affect the polarizer has on the view. Some angles affect the polarization more than others.

Please note what he said about the angle relative to the sun.

Some might also say it's more noticeable in the sky when the sun is at right angles to the lens.

I can see the effect when rotating the CPL when looking through the viewfinders on all my cameras, both optical viewfinders and EVF.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Floyd wrote:

I probably should know this by this late time, but I don't; therefore, when using a CP filter should I be able to look through the viewfinder and see the effects of turning the lens? I have, somewhere, back down the line, purchased a Hoya CP and in the camera's, viewfinder I cannot tell any difference in sky, etc. when twisting the lens even after taking the same picture with and without the filter.

Try setting the camera to manual and then turning the polarizer. That locks in the exposure so it cannot change with the reduction of reflected light by the polarizer. Once the polarizer is set, change back to the mode you want for shooting. I find the same problem with my camera because as the highlights are brought down, the shadows are bought up exposure wise. This changing exposure makes it much harder to judge the actual changes to the sky.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

wdross wrote:

Try setting the camera to manual and then turning the polarizer. That locks in the exposure so it cannot change with the reduction of reflected light by the polarizer. Once the polarizer is set, change back to the mode you want for shooting. I find the same problem with my camera because as the highlights are brought down, the shadows are bought up exposure wise. This changing exposure makes it much harder to judge the actual changes to the sky.

You don't see the effect of rotating the filter in the viewfinder?

Floyd Loc: Misplaced Texan in Florence, Alabama

Longshadow wrote:

I can see the change from rotation in the viewfinder in my T1i.
It depends on the declination and azimuth of the sun relative to the scene being shot how much of an affect the polarizer has on the view. Some angles affect the polarization more than others.

Thank you for your reply.

Floyd Loc: Misplaced Texan in Florence, Alabama

flyboy61 wrote:

The strongest effect of a CPL is with the sun at 90 degrees to it. (Directly overhead or to your right or left hands.) Otherwise it acts like a
1 1/2-2 stop Neutral density filter. It can also remove reflections from leaves and other non-metallic things on an overcast and/or rainy day.

Thank you for your reply. I now remember about the 90 degrees so I'll try the filter again tomorrow.

Floyd Loc: Misplaced Texan in Florence, Alabama

JD750 wrote:

Please note what he said about the angle relative to the sun.

Some might also say it's more noticeable in the sky when the sun is at right angles to the lens.

I can see the effect when rotating the CPL when looking through the viewfinders on all my cameras, both optical viewfinders and EVF.

Thank you for your reply also; I'll try again tomorrow.

Floyd Loc: Misplaced Texan in Florence, Alabama

wdross wrote:

Try setting the camera to manual and then turning the polarizer. That locks in the exposure so it cannot change with the reduction of reflected light by the polarizer. Once the polarizer is set, change back to the mode you want for shooting. I find the same problem with my camera because as the highlights are brought down, the shadows are bought up exposure wise. This changing exposure makes it much harder to judge the actual changes to the sky.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I find I'm still not too old to learn.

Floyd Loc: Misplaced Texan in Florence, Alabama

Longshadow wrote:

You don't see the effect of rotating the filter in the viewfinder?

No. I'll try the above suggestions tomorrow.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Longshadow wrote:

You don't see the effect of rotating the filter in the viewfinder?

Yes and no. With the camera on program mode most of the time, when I put the polarizer on, the exposure can change based off of less reflected light. As already mentioned, the affect is strongest on the sky at 90° and on most reflections at ~35°. But with other different angles shots, the affect is not as strong. By changing to manual mode, the base exposure is locked. Now when the polarizer is turned, only the reflected light is changed in the viewfinder. If the affect is strong enough, it can be determined without moving to manual mode. But with other more subtle angles, extreme wide angle, or thinly hazy sky, the change to manual mode helps to determine the best polarization angle for the shot. With extreme wide angle shots, it is very important to me not to maximize the polarization at the 90°. By dialing down the polarization at the 90° in an extreme wide angle shot, one can spread a slightly lesser polarization effect over more sky than keeping the polarization at the max 90°.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

It depends on the poloriser. My previous Marumi CP definitley added a tinge to the sky and gave it a 'royal' blue hit, and you could see this increase as you went from min. to max.

When I went FF I had to get a replacement. I bought a Breakthrough one. It makes a difference but no where near as noticeable in the image or TTL. It's well made and I bet it's worthy of all the compliments it gets in the U.S. as the skies are often bluer and clearer (once out of the Suburban areas), but I have reservations on it here in the U.K. Just sometimes I'd like to see that richer blue I have had with other CP's, but not prepared to dump the Breakthrough. It's more than good enough for most things.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

I have foiund it also depends on the camera you use - for a DSLR, where you are viewing the actual photons that pass through the lens, you should see the "sky darkening" effect (and depending on the angle between the sun and your subject and you that can be quite obvious). however, I have seen with some mirrorless cameras, the electronic viewfinder - where you are viewing what is essentially a small TV screen behind the eyepiece, sometimes that effect is not obvious, even though it makes a difference in the actual image file. Newer EVFs do seem to show the effect more readily (though in myexperience not as obviously as a DSLR) but the point is that is something to mention - what kind of camera do you use?

Also, a way to tell if the angles are appropriate is to just look through the CPL filter itself and twist it clockwise to see if your naked eye observes the effect.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Floyd wrote:

I probably should know this by this late time, but I don't; therefore, when using a CP filter should I be able to look through the viewfinder and see the effects of turning the lens? I have, somewhere, back down the line, purchased a Hoya CP and in the camera's, viewfinder I cannot tell any difference in sky, etc. when twisting the lens even after taking the same picture with and without the filter.

Depends on the angle of the sun. The further you are to left and right of the sun, the greater the effect. And yes, as I turn the ring on the CPL filter, I can see the image change, the effect is most striking on the sky. It would be a little harder to see the effects of a CPL filter if you have no sky in the image. You would however be able to see it change for reflections on water and windows. Or maybe from a any shining object.