Polarizers And Infra Red Issues

[albertknappmd]

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I am about to jump in and buy my m8... I have been shooting with M6 and 7s for a bit but have always found the polarizer to be an essential tool for my landscape work. Given that the m8 image is prone to changes secondary to inadequate IR filtering and given that a polarizer may actually INCREASE IR penetration, does anyone know whether I can even use a polarizer on an M8?

Thanks as always!

[gurtch]

I am about to jump in and buy my m8... I have been shooting with M6 and 7s for a bit but have always found the polarizer to be an essential tool for my landscape work. Given that the m8 image is prone to changes secondary to inadequate IR filtering and given that a polarizer may actually INCREASE IR penetration, does anyone know whether I can even use a polarizer on an M8?

Thanks as always!

 

I recently shot some seascapes with M8, 21mm ZM lens and Leica swing out polarizer, no IR cut filter. I, too, use a polarizer for my work extensively. The photo is here:

http://www.modernpictorials.com/D217A%2072dpi%20L1000096.jpg

 

I had also shot some seascapes with very low sun, and reflecrtions in water with polarizer, and the reflections had a magenta shine, so it could be the polarizer works with some subjects and not others. Good luck

Dave

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[Vivek Iyer]

It is < 2minute job to unscrew the front of the polarizer and pop in an additional 49mm IR cut filter (if you have the old Leitz swing out filter. The newer one may need a slightly larger sized filter).

[JeffreyTotaro]

I have never had consistently good results from polarizers and digital. Although I have not tried it on the M8 yet, I have tried on Canon 10D, 20D, 5D and Phase One P25/45. I used them often on 4x5 film. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it's horrible! Mostly the skies tend to go murky instead of deeper blue they get gray and splotchy. You should try to test it out before you buy. Shoot in several different directions in relation to the sun. Wide angle and polarizer never to get along anyway. Software can be better for even results.

[gurtch]

I have never had consistently good results from polarizers and digital. Although I have not tried it on the M8 yet, I have tried on Canon 10D, 20D, 5D and Phase One P25/45. I used them often on 4x5 film. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it's horrible! Mostly the skies tend to go murky instead of deeper blue they get gray and splotchy. You should try to test it out before you buy. Shoot in several different directions in relation to the sun. Wide angle and polarizer never to get along anyway. Software can be better for even results.

Jeff:

I have had great success with my 1DSII and polarizer with my seascapes. Frequently I use the 17~40, with polarizer at the 17mm end, and results are to my liking. If there are lots of puffy white clouds, the uneven polarizing is not an issue. Generally I isolate the sky and foreground, each on their own layers. Then I add separate adjustment layers on sky and foreground, which allows you to tweek each individually.

An example is here:

http://www.modernpictorials.com/D209B%2072dpi%20.jpg

Good luck

Dave