Beginner with Polarizer questions, HELP!

[lynnwood42]

Question, I am relatively a beginner and am looking for a filter that

in a color photo really "makes the blue sky and the white clouds

stand out". I think that I would have to use a Circular polarizer

for that?? .....am I correct or wrong? Also, is there a certain

type of polarizer I should buy? (circular or linear...thin...?) I

have a Minolta maxxum 5,...should I stick with a Minolta brand

polarizer or it doesn't matter. HELP!!

[Guest]

Circular vs linear depends on how your camera diverts light from the viewfinder for metering/autofocus. For your Maxxum, get a circular one. Brand? Cheap ones may have a slight colour cost, Nikon ones are nice because they have glass larger than the thread size, which helps avoid vignetting. But if you're not stacking filters, don't worry too much about this. Certain films - Velvia, famously or infamously depending on your preference - will help punch up colours. Polariser will also help cut reflections in windows, glare on water, etc.

[Guest]

P.S. Sky has to be blue to start with, so polarisers don't always work here in England, alas! Degree of polarisation varies with rotation of filter and angle to sun (if shooting sky): 90 degrees clockwise from position of sun gives most effect, I think, but you will see all this through the viewfinder as you play with the filter. Wide-angle lenses like 20mm or thereabouts will give uneven polarisation because they cover such a wide field of view, i.e., sky may go from dark blue in one corner to actual blue in the other.

[stephen hazelton]

As to whether you need circular polarizer or not, check your camera manual.

 

Experiment with the polarizer to see what you like. Oftentimes, if you turn the polarizer to give maximum effect, things look sort of dead, too, so maximum is not always best. The effect may be more pronounced with slide film than print film, due to contrast differences. The polarizer can also make colors in flowers or leaves look more saturated, but this depends on angle of lighting.

[kevinteo]

B+W and Heliopan make Käsemann (Kaesemann) type

polarizers that are available in circular and linear, and also

warm-tone in circular and linear. Käsemann polarizers have the

highest extinction ratio (measure of a polarizer's effectiveness)

of any type of polarizer.

 

These type of polarizers are edge sealed, which ensures

durability under extreme conditions. This sealing also keeps the

polarizer foil under tension, thus ensuring the foil stays flat.

 

Käsemann polarizers can be custom ordered in a variety of

configurations, including having a full-wave plate instead of a

quarter-wave plate in a circular polarizer.

 

One of the most important things about using a polarizer is that

is should be color neutral. Many polarizers tend to make an

image colder, hence the introduction of warm-tone polarizers.

[lynnwood42]

Is it true though that a circular polarizer is the type of color filter I would use to make the blue in the sky brighter and the clouds appear whiter? Thanks again!

[Guest]

It's not a colour filter: it polarises light rather than blocking light of a certain wavelength. Don't ask me to explain the physics of this as I don't know. But someone will have explained the physics somewhere in the archives.

[Guest]

It would make the sky deeper, not brighter, because it cuts glare/polarised light/whatever. The clouds would not get whiter, they'd just seem that way (as when using an orange or red filter to shoot a sky in black and white).

 

There are many sites on the web about all this, with pictures, too, which you're probably looking for. A search on Google will get you all you want, or you could start with http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm/recid/210

 

Filters, by the way, all work on different cameras. What you need to do is get one that's the right thread size for your lens. Brand doesn't matter. I've never seen Minolta filters. Do they make them? Hoya is probably what you'll find at your local camera shop.

[stephen hazelton]

Lynn, either a circular polarizer or linear polarizer will make the sky darker blue and make the clouds stand out more. The look is about the same, maybe exactly the same. The linear polarizer messes up the autofocus on some cameras, if yours is one, then get circular. If not, get whichever is cheapest or easiest to find.

[rich_b1]

I must disagree with some of the posts regarding the cheapest polarizers are the best.

Without starting an argument, since everyone's experience may be different, I have found that brand does make a difference. As some posters noted, some inferior filters may have an unwanted color cast. I have even seen some cheapos in which the manufacturer doesn't use quality components and the photo looks out of focus in places. Another factor is flare. The more glass surfaces the more likely you may get flare. When you get a zoom lens with multiple glass surfaces, and then a filter on top of it, in bright light, you may be asking for flare (which may or may not be a bad thing). To minimize this from happening, you need a multi-coated filter, just as your lens is probably multi-coated. IMO the Hoya or B & W make the best filters, but others may also be fine.

 

It just doesn't make sense to spend $200-$400 or more on a decent lens and then have a $20 piece of glass negate the engineering in that lens.

Good luck

Rich B

[lynnwood42]

Does anyone know if the Minolta brand 55mm Circular Polarizer Filter-Thin is any good? I have 2 Minolta brand lenses and a Minolta camera and wondered if anyone had heard if their Polarizer was worth purchasing. (Also, can I use it with both of my zoom lenses....28-80 and 75-300 D).?

[kevinteo]

It depends on which version of the 28-80 you have. One of the

28-80 Minolta zooms needs a 62 mm filter. You can use the 55

mm filter with the 75-300 D.

 

If you find that the filter diameters of your lenses are of different

sizes, buy the filter for the larger diameter and use a step down

ring.

 

I've don't know how good Minolta polarizers are, but I'll tell you

that you can't go wrong with a Kaesemann polarizer.