HOYA 58mm PRO 1 DIGITAL Circular Polarizing Filter

[marc570]

i've just started off in the wonderfull world of photography and i bought

myself a canon 400d with canon 17-85mm lens, i also bought the HOYA 58mm PRO 1

DIGITAL Circular Polarizing Filter as i was wanting to take some nice sunset

pictures, my questions is, what does the dial on the front of the filter do?

[NK Guy]

Polarizing filters can rotate relative to the lens in order to increase or decrease the amount of

polarization.

 

Check it out yourself. Find a nice blue sky and look through the lens with the polarizer in

place. Rotate the ring to see the effect change.

[lester_wareham]

As per NK Guy's reply, but the amount of polarisation in the sky tends depend on the angle relative to the sun, maximum when the sun is at 90 degrees to the sky without any veiling cloud. So it may have limited utility for sunsets.

 

You will probably be better off with a couple of square graduated ND filters to balance the brightness of the sky with the ground for sunsets.

[hjoseph7]

Hoya is a good brand, but why is this filter called "Pro Digital" ?

[emre]

Pro1: slim line with regular lens cap thread

 

Digital: less reflantance to cope with light reflections from the sensor (?)

[lester_wareham]

"Digital: less reflantance to cope with light reflections from the sensor (?)"

 

That is the suggestion in the Hoya literature, but no numbers are given.

 

As far as I can tell Pro 1 are slimline filters in 1mm optical glass with the SHMC coating and an added easy clean top coat that the straight SHMC don't have AFAIK. Additionally the edge of the glass is painted black and stuff like that.

 

The addition of the word digital may just be marketing hype.

 

But yes Hoya is a good brand and the Pro 1 seems to be one of the best on the market. Table of manufactures info including claimed reflectance here http://www.zen20934.zen.co.uk/photography/LensTests/Flare/FilterData.htm

[j_p12]

On the Pro 1 circular polarizer filters. There is a Pro1 Digital MC (Multi Coated) and a Pro1 Digital S-HMC version. Both are slim and have front threads. In talking with Hoya last week, I found that the Pro1 S-HMC version is now discontinued. The logical replacement for the Pro1 S-HMC is the standard Cir/Pol S-HMC. It is also a slim filter but it lacks front threads. You will need a push-on lens cap, however, my S-HMC circ/pol came with one in the box. Get extras, they wear out. I did not find out how many coatings were on the MC versus the S-HMC because I was mostly interested in getting the hardened outer coating of the S-HMC anyway.

[mendel_leisk]

Here's a read on circular polarizers, and what they can do. It's specific to B+W, but most of the info is applies to any brand:

 

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/B+W-77mm-MRC-Circular-Polarizer-Filter-Review.aspx

[james_sigle]

A polarizing Filter is very useful for reducing reflections and sometimes darkening the sky. They are easy to use because you can see their effect. Unfortunately, your 17-85mm lens has a 67mm filter thread and the 58mm filter won't fit. Return it to get a 67mm polarizer. Other useful filters are haze filters (for reducing the glare of haze or fog) and split neutral density filters (for keeping detail in a bright sky). Most other filter effects can be done in your editing software. Enjoy the new caqmera!

 

Jim

[mendel_leisk]

Here's an example on a partially cloudy day. The first with the polarizer rotated to max effect:<div></div>

[mendel_leisk]

Screwed up the size, try again. With polarizing:<div></div>

[mendel_leisk]

And with polarizer still on, but rotated to minimize effect:<div></div>

[mendel_leisk]

Here's a walk-around shot, with dramatic clouds. Notice also the windows:<div></div>

[mendel_leisk]

With that last shot, you can see the "90 deg from the sun" effect. The sky is darkest a little to the left of center, and really getting lighter towards the right edge (the sun is beyond the right side). This was at 24mm on full frame, I believe. The longer the lens, the less this is a factor.

[marc570]

thanx james, that was my mistake, it is a 67mm :-)

[marc570]

and thanx everyone for your explanations, i did'nt expect to get such a large response, there seems to be so much stuff to learn about

[alan_myers]

Hi Marc

 

No one seems to have mentioned, if the sun is in your sunset photo, or right near the edge of the frame, you will be best to leave off the polarizing filter, or any other filter for that matter.

 

First, a polarizer won't have much effect pointed at the sun. Second, any filter will most likely cause more flare and reduced contrast when pointed at a bright object (stong lights and bright reflections can do the same as the sun). A polarizer is worse than most filters, because it is multi-layered. Most filters are a single layer, but will still have some neg effect in these circumstances.

 

Best bet, try it with and without the filter and see for yourself.