I am off to a seaside port tomorrow and with the forecasts for blistering sun, I was toying with the idea of replacing my UV filter and leaving the Polar filter on till I return home.
I'm aware of the fact that the let less light in but I was hoping that the extra light will compensate.
Serious answer....when I am out in the sunshine I tend to keep the filter on, it only comes off when the shutter speeds are starting to look low. If the pic is looking a bit over-polarised (aforementioned "crazy blue" skies etc you should be able to adjust the polariser to reduce the effect. There are situations where you are better to take it off but I'll leave you to read up on this sort of thing in your own time - plenty of arguments and opinions about "when and how"...
In reply to The Lemming: There's only any point in using a polariser when the shot requires it - otherwise you're cutting out 50% or 75% (1 or 2 stops) of light which tends to either mean higher ISO (more noise) or slower shutter speed (higher chance of noticeable camera shake). I don't think polarisers shouldn't be used "always on" like you see UV and protection filters being used.
However when it helps the shot, they can work wonders! Be careful using them at focal lengths equivalent to 24mm or less, full frame, because the filter has most effect when it's facing perpendicular to the light-source. If the shot is wide-angle the sky in the corners will likely be washed out if the centre is properly exposed.
In reply to The Lemming:
I suppose you are talking about circular polarizer filter
1 - Over 3000m polarizers will make your photos look like moon landing pics. So beware
2 - They do add some contrast and better cloud deffinition, but also remove about 2 f-stops worth of light.
UV filters are quite good lens cap replacements. So you don't have to remove the cap to shoot.
In reply to radson: I don't use my UV filter to filter the UV. I use it as a lens cap so I don't have to fiddle about with a plastic one when I'm trying to get a shot of a fast moving target.
I use my Polarised lens for days like most of this week. creates a lovely picture when used in bright sun if used correctly!
In reply to The Lemming: does the part of the lens you fit the filter to rotate when you focus? some do, some don't. If it does it can mess with the polarising filter
For anybody that is interested, so far I have had 50-50 results but of the winners, the skys have been deep blues.
It is only because it is so hot and bright that I am considering this experiment.
At the moment I am reviewing the results on my Tablet. It seems as though the filter is making the images blurred and out of focus. Is that par for the course?
Definitely not par for the course. What were your shutter speeds? If you check your shutter speed but then rotate the filter to increase the polarising effect your shutter speed will have got slower. So it's possible to shoot at a slower speed than you were expecting. A cheap filter shouldn't matter as long as it is clean.
In reply to The Lemming: Mostly I use my camera for taking pics when I'm out climbing or doing other outdoorsy things. I bought a circular polarising filter on the recommendation of some people here when I got my DSLR about 6 years ago and used it loads. This winter I somehow lost it, missed it, so just bought another one. Mine both cost about six quid from 7day shop.
I find for climbing they're great, they stop the sky washing out when you're focusing on the person climbing in the shadows. Maybe you can do all that messing with the settings, but I'm often shooting all on auto one handed while belaying or the like and it just seems simpler! When I use my compact the pale skies are often a bit disappointing in what is otherwise a nice pic. eg snapped on my compact http://www.ukclimbing.com/images/dbpage.php?id=141183 I like the pic but the sky was bluer to the naked eye! http://www.ukclimbing.com/images/dbpage.php?id=215691 Gives a good feel of just how lovely a day it was and was shot by my belayer on handed on auto as he belayed me and encouraged me to man up and go for it (I had been about to give up and lower off!).
In reply to The Lemming:
I use one regularly if there's enough light. It makes the sky a lot more blue, and brings some more colour into pictures.
For photographing bugs, consider to use 'cross-polarization', where you use a polarizer on your camera and on your flash. It's a little tweaky to set up, but it gives really cool results with very little highlights...
