Have any owners of the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 lens used a standard circular polarizer without vignetting? If so which brand? Or is a special wide angle (e.g. very thin and expensive) polarizer required? And how bad are the CP side effects (e.g. sky gradients) with this lens? I suspect the effects would be the same as a 20mm lens on a full frame camera, in spite of being effectively a 40mm lens on micro 4/3, true?? In other words -- all-in-all, is a CP even worth considering
CalW wrote:
Have any owners of the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 lens used a standard circular polarizer without vignetting? If so which brand? Or is a special wide angle (e.g. very thin and expensive) polarizer required? And how bad are the CP side effects (e.g. sky gradients) with this lens? I suspect the effects would be the same as a 20mm lens on a full frame camera, in spite of being effectively a 40mm lens on micro 4/3, true?? In other words -- all-in-all, is a CP even worth considering
I have the 20/1.7 and have used a standard CP on it without issue, but I admit that I'm not a big CP user. As far as issues with the impact of the lens being a 20mm The lens has the FOV of a 40mm lens on FF. The effects that you are describing are caused by the FOV, not anything inherent because the lens is a 20mm FL. For m43 the 20mm is a slightly wide normal lens and it works exactly like you would expect a slightly wide normal lens to perform.
Good input, Cal. What you say about field of view does make sense and I was thinking backwards on that. I am intending that a GF1 be my "travel-light camera" and have used a CP quite a bit in that application, including on the G10 it is replacing. Thanks (from another Cal.)
Just use a slim one... no worries.. and glad you know you can get away with the less expensive non circular Many people are confused on that.. save the money.
I think the B+W slim is only about $45
edit - the MRC one is $58 it seems.. of course plenty of less expensive options!
Yes, a linear polarizer will work for contrast-focus systems. But a circular polarizer will likely have better resale potential. And I have found that multi-coated filters do give better results in many circumstances. I have found a 5mm slim 46mm multi-coated CP for the surprisingly low price of $37 made by Marumi (www.2filters.com.) Anyone have experience with the brand?
Many people are confused on that.. save the money.