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Archive 2014 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters

  
 
tmpollard
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


Looks like i'm gonna be in the market for some filters for my lenses. Just wondering what percentage of you guys are using a high quality Clear Protective filter on your lenses? Also, any recommendation on brand?

Also, i've been recommended a Marumi Circular Polarizer. As I understand it this is a pretty high quality filter, are there other brands that I should investigate as well.

I've spent a little money on a cheam CP in the past so if i'm gonna step out and spend some more money I want to make sure I get a good one.

Final thought, If I get a CP is there really a need to purchase a Linear polarizer as well?

I know I have asked a lot of questions but I know you guys are the experts and appreciate all of your feedback. Thanks



Nov 13, 2014 at 09:34 AM
schlotz
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


As indicated in your other post, you get what you pay for. Liner Pol probably not needed. Personally, I do not use protective filters. The more you put in front of your lens the more degraded it can become. CPL's are a very important tool for landscape work. Marumi, B&W and my preference, Singh-ray are all good mfg'ers. There are others but have no personal experience with them.


Nov 13, 2014 at 09:48 AM
Paul Mo
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


Nowadays I mostly use Hoya HMC UV (C) filters on my lenses. They are cheap and the glass is good.

Below is the same filter...

http://www.lenstip.com/113.15-article-UV_filters_test_Hoya_72_mm_HMC_UV-0.html

I use B+W F-Pro 77mm polariser. I'd buy a Marumi Exus if I had money to burn - but as it is I don't need one. No need for a linear pol. - just buy a high quality CP-L.






Nov 13, 2014 at 10:12 AM
Two23
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


I used to use "protection" filters, until one day one of them broke and scratched the hell out of my front element. That happened to one of my buddies too. I started using a lens hood, which not only keeps stuff from hitting the lens in the first place it also helps absorb impact if droppped. When not taking a shot I have the lens cap on--that's the very BEST lens protector there is. Unbreakable, and totally unable to scratch a lens up. The thing that really turned me off on filters is that they do catch light and can easily cause flare, both the "sun spots" kind and the more insidious veiling flare, which decreases contrast & saturation. I will sometime use a filter IF I am at the base of a waterfall and there is grit laden spray or similar situations, but don't routinely use one. I've come to see them as more of a hazard to my lens than a help. Finally, consider this. For me to put a top quality on my lenses would COST MORE than a repair would! This makes no sense at all. I've been shooting outdoors in very extreme condtions and have yet to have any damage to a lens, with the exception of the time a filter shattered and destroyed my lens. I collect "ancient" lenses, some made pre-Civil War, others from around 1910. None of those lenses ever had a filter on them and yet they are perfect. Use a lens cap and lens hood and your lenses will have the very best protection possible. A filter lulls you into thinking a lens is protected, but really it's even more at risk. Nothing scratches glass like broken glass.


I'm a polarizer "addict" and have owned different brands. I think all the multicoated ones are pretty good. My favorite is the Marumi. It gives great performance and is reasonably priced as well. I do own a couple of linear polarizers, but only use them on my film cameras such as Chamonix 4x5 and 1920s vintage Voigtlander Bessa, which don't have an in-camera meter or autofocus.


Kent in SD



Nov 13, 2014 at 09:26 PM
Imagemaster
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


Lens hoods give better protection than filters, IMO. Or use your lens caps.

Having a lens that costs hundreds or thousands of dollars, then putting a piece of glass on the front makes no sense to me.



Nov 14, 2014 at 12:07 AM
Paul Mo
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


Imagemaster wrote:
Having a lens that costs hundreds or thousands of dollars, then putting a piece of glass on the front makes no sense to me.


Canon don't seem to have an issue with it when they recommend a filter to complete weather sealing.

Night time with direct light sources - they will cause flare/ghosting.

The fear of filters is overblown.



Nov 14, 2014 at 01:06 AM
Chestnut
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


I agree about using the lens good as your primary protection. However, I'd also consider your shooting environment. I used to shoot for am engineering lab, and was constantly around machinery that could fling debris towards my lenses. I definitely used a UV filter as additional protection to my hoods. But otherwise, I agree that the more you add in front of the lens, the more degradation you're introducing to the system.

I ALWAYS use my hoods. ALWAYS.
yes, and if you have a good C-PL, you don't need another linear polarizer.



Nov 14, 2014 at 01:39 AM
runamuck
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


I will use a clear filter when there is a chance of damaging the lens. I like shooting a local lighthouse when the wind is strong and the waves high. Blowing beach sand at 60 MPH is like being in a sandblaster. Luckily it rarely gets more than a foot or so above the surface.Even so, there is a clear filter on the lens when I go. A pair of sneakers was literally sandblasted white in one trip.

I have been using Marumi Circular Polarizers for years now. All my other brands have been sold off. Some here sing the praises of B&W, but it's too rich for my blood.



Nov 14, 2014 at 09:29 PM
shworl
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


My camera bag fell from my rental car, I was unable to catch it, and it struck a small pebble in exactly the right spot to put a large spider crack in my lens, even though the lens cap was attached. Keeping the hood attached made it too large for my bag. Fortunately, the crack was in my CPL (insured) so my 16-85 was spared. I keep protectors on every lens now, except when using a CPL. I have Nikon and Hoya and have been quite satisfied with them. By the way, I also got a larger bag.


Nov 15, 2014 at 09:31 AM
tmpollard
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


Hey guys, is anyone familiar with the brands Haida or NiSi for CPL's?


Jun 22, 2015 at 06:48 AM
jcolwell
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


I use clear or UV filters for protection when shooting in a hostile environment, like blowing sand or salt spray; otherwise, not.

When I use themm I use B+W MCR Neutral, Clear Nano, and UV-haze 010M
protection filters (depending on when I bought them), and B+W MRC KSM (Nano) Circular Polarizing filters, plus one Zeiss T* C-Pol which is also very nice.




Jun 22, 2015 at 07:10 AM
sjms
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


I use clear or UV filters for protection when shooting in a hostile environment. the world has proven to be just that. so pretty much all optics gets one.

as to Filter branding, both the brands you mentioned are product lines from China. their overall quality will be for you to decide. it going to take some time for the shake out of who is the real quality challengers from over there. lots of quality range coming out of there.

http://www.nisidigital.com/en/about

http://www.haidausa.com/about-haida



Jun 22, 2015 at 07:30 AM
Two23
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


tmpollard wrote:
Hey guys, is anyone familiar with the brands Haida or NiSi for CPL's?


No. If they aren't multicoated I wouldn't buy one either.


Kent in SD




Jun 22, 2015 at 07:38 PM
Aaron D
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


Like Chestnut, Jcolwell and Sjms.....in a hostile environment I would use a UV filter. I used to think I should have a UV on every lens. However, I learned they can effect AF and IQ. Now I leave a UV on my lenses until Im ready to shoot...then I remove them.

As for polarizers, you don't want a linear polarizer, as they can most definitely effect AF and metering. You usually want to use a CPL on a modern, AF camera.

But in my experience, a CPL can drastically effect the focusing of a long telephoto lens (ie more than 100mm). But my experience in this regard could be related to the use of a low quality cpl, or "entry level" telephoto (canon 55-250IS), or the combination of both.




Jun 22, 2015 at 11:15 PM
jcolwell
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


Aaron D wrote:
... in my experience, a CPL can drastically effect the focusing of a long telephoto lens (ie more than 100mm). But my experience in this regard could be related to the use of a low quality cpl, or "entry level" telephoto (canon 55-250IS), or the combination of both.


The largest effect is probably the reduction in light available to the camera, because the lens isn't very fast wide-open (f/4 to f/5.6, for 55mm to 250mm). When you add a two-stop CP filter (as most of them are), then its widest aperture at 55mm produces the equivalent amount of light as an f/8 lens without the CP filter (or f/11 at 250mm). Many cameras won't AF at f/8 and none that I know of at f/11. Of course, the camera doesn't know that you put on a CP filter, as it would for a reporting extender, and so it just tries its best to work for you. The AF problems you experience with a CP on the 55-250 IS demonstrate why the camera says, "no way", when you get to the same equivalent f-stop using an extender.



Jun 23, 2015 at 06:03 AM
Aaron D
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Clear Protective and Circular Polarizer Filters


jcolwell wrote:
The largest effect is probably the reduction in light available to the camera, because the lens isn't very fast wide-open (f/4 to f/5.6, for 55mm to 250mm). When you add a two-stop CP filter (as most of them are), then its widest aperture at 55mm produces the equivalent amount of light as an f/8 lens without the CP filter (or f/11 at 250mm). Many cameras won't AF at f/8 and none that I know of at f/11. Of course, the camera doesn't know that you put on a CP filter, as it would for a reporting extender, and so it
...Show more

This was what I figured was going on. The AF goes all over, hunts, misses like crazy. Another good reason to upgrade to a 70-200/2.8 .



Jun 23, 2015 at 03:56 PM





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