What's Your Pick...GPS or CP Filter (Page 2): Since this is a gift, I would get the GPS, because it's not something that a person would usually get for himself. A CPL is more of a...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Haydon wrote:

I haven't decided on a last minute unexpected present for my SO.

If you had to pick between a B+W Circular Polarizer or Canon's GPS Receiver GP-E2 assuming you had neither, what do you think would get more use.

Thanks in advance everyone.

Since this is a gift, I would get the GPS, because it's not something that a person would usually get for himself. A CPL is more of a utility item, but it's also something a person might want to pick out personally. Prices can range from a few dollars to over $200. The GPS would be more of a surprise and "Gee whiz!" gift.

Here's a link to a CPL review3. I got the Marumi.

http://www.lenstip.com/115.4-article-Polarizing_filters_test_Results_and_summary.html

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Haydon wrote:

I haven't decided on a last minute unexpected present for my SO.

If you had to pick between a B+W Circular Polarizer or Canon's GPS Receiver GP-E2 assuming you had neither, what do you think would get more use.

Thanks in advance everyone.

If you have a smartphone, you can download a free app to create a gps tag for your images as you take them. It follows your path and sees a pause in movement as a picture taking opportunity - I use GPS4Cam and it works well. So I would opt for the polarizer.

Haydon

Thanks everyone for your suggestions but I dumbed down to a dumb phone a while back.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Gene51 wrote:

If you have a smartphone, you can download a free app to create a gps tag for your images as you take them. It follows your path and sees a pause in movement as a picture taking opportunity - I use GPS4Cam and it works well. So I would opt for the polarizer.

The only issue I seem to run into using an app on my phone is that it kills the phone battery, unless I reduce the accuracy and update time way down to almost worthless. I will look for the app you mentioned and take a look.

blackest Loc: Ireland

A Hiking type Sat Nav such as a garmin etrex could be used. it will track your position and you can flag locations and there will be an associated time (you usually get 8-12 hours out of a pair of AA batteries). Totally inconvenient of course but you can download the tracks put the data in a spreadsheet and plot to a map.

I once had the misfortune of hitting a diesel spill while my garmin was tracking me (i used to use a pocket pc with the garmin hooked up to it for sat nav). My car span out but with no damage, later i was able to plot the course of that journey and you could see the spin on the plot and my speed which was only 20mph at the time. so pretty accurate locations.

GPS4Cam seems a good alternative to a specialised gps device, the CP filter will be more useful to the final image even if you are not sure where you were.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Polarizer

Tom47 Loc: Gettysburg, PA

CPL Hands down, there are several other means of gathering GPS information.

banjonut Loc: Southern Michigan

Haydon wrote:

I haven't decided on a last minute unexpected present for my SO.

If you had to pick between a B+W Circular Polarizer or Canon's GPS Receiver GP-E2 assuming you had neither, what do you think would get more use.

Thanks in advance everyone.

I would personally use a GPS more than a CP

Kristoes

Haydon wrote:

I haven't decided on a last minute unexpected present for my SO.

If you had to pick between a B+W Circular Polarizer or Canon's GPS Receiver GP-E2 assuming you had neither, what do you think would get more use.

Thanks in advance everyone.

Definitely B+W Circular Polarizer, IMHO. One of the few effects that can not be recreated in PP, so you either use it to get your great shot, or you wish you had used it!

Happy holidays,
Kristoes

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Definitely the C-Pol!

Don't have, don't need and don't want GPS. I can remember where I took my shots. I don't need to have it mapped for me and the info logged in the image EXIF.

A quality C-Pol is far, far more useful, IMO. I do have those, in sizes to fit each of my lenses. Most are B+W Kaësemann or Hoya HD. They do get used a lot.

Maybe if I were a crime scene photographer I'd want GPS data recorded in each image for legal reasons. But for a hobbyist or most other photographic purposes, I just consider it silly.

Kristoes

jerryc41 wrote:

Since this is a gift, I would get the GPS, because it's not something that a person would usually get for himself. A CPL is more of a utility item, but it's also something a person might want to pick out personally. Prices can range from a few dollars to over $200. The GPS would be more of a surprise and "Gee whiz!" gift.

Here's a link to a CPL review3. I got the Marumi.

http://www.lenstip.com/115.4-article-Polarizing_filters_test_Results_and_summary.html

Thanks for the linked CPL review Jerry, as always you bring so much extra to the table!

I am a fan of the quality extra coatings on the B&W CPLs because they are reputed to reduce flare (especially in wide angle lenses), and since sunlit situations lending themselves to using a CPL and thus are prone to flare, this extra investment makes sense to me.

That said, I found the detailed cost versus value analysis graph and ratings very interesting.

Thanks again :thumbup: :thumbup:
Kristoes

Carl 383 Loc: Southampton UK

Since I have GPS on my Sony A77 as standard (just sayin') I would go for the CPL.
GPS will do nothing for my shot.
I use GPS on every shot, CPL when and if.

bgtmd Loc: San Angelo, TX

CP

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Haydon wrote:

I haven't decided on a last minute unexpected present for my SO.

If you had to pick between a B+W Circular Polarizer or Canon's GPS Receiver GP-E2 assuming you had neither, what do you think would get more use.

Thanks in advance everyone.

The polarizer would be my choice. I can always make a note about where I took a photo. I can't duplicate a polarizer effect with pencil and paper.
--Bob

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Haydon wrote:

I haven't decided on a last minute unexpected present for my SO.

If you had to pick between a B+W Circular Polarizer or Canon's GPS Receiver GP-E2 assuming you had neither, what do you think would get more use.

Thanks in advance everyone.

What would your SO use most?

I'm an old geezer who shot lots of slides in my youth, using a polarizer to darken skies and foliage for dramatic effects. So I'd want the circular polarizer.

My iPhone has plenty of GPS apps on it, so I could care less about stamping files in the Canon with GPS data. I can always snap the same scene with the phone if I need location. But if your SO needs to USE GPS coordinates *in* photo files, that's a different situation!