18-56TL with Polarizer?

[wlaidlaw]

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I am off to two family events in Barbados and Antigua in a few days' time. In the Caribbean at this time of year, it is quite common to get a high altitude haze from midday onwards, which can result in flat light, not kind for photography. I have bought a 52mm Hoya Fusion Pro multi-coated, anti-static, circular polarising filter. I wondered if anyone had been using the 18-56 with a polarizer and if so, does it work well with one? 

 

In similar circumstances I have been using an 82mm Rodenstock circular polarizer on the 24-90SL. I found it gave a noticeable improvement in contrast and saturation in flat lighting conditions. I found it was not particularly sensitive to the rotation orientation of the filter, unlike if I use the linear polarizer in my Cokin 100mm square filter kit. You just have to remember to take it off in the evening for low light use. 

 

Wilson

[wda]

I have a very similar lens on my X Vario and use a pol filter successfully to reduce reflections on foliage at near ranges. For landscapes filter rotation does not appear to make a significant difference.

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[Starwolfy]

Hello.

 

I have decided on a 67mm filter system for all my TL lenses.

 

I have put step up rings on all my lenses as well as Manfrotto filters magnets so I can swap them in and off very easily.

This includes the 18-56 (so step-up from 52 to 67mm) and it is working very well as I can use the same filters on all my lenses no matter their original filter threads.

 

Regarding the CPL...you have to be aware that depending on the sun position the polarizing effect can vary a lot.

 

 

Best

[wlaidlaw]

Hello.

 

I have decided on a 67mm filter system for all my TL lenses.

 

I have put step up rings on all my lenses as well as Manfrotto filters magnets so I can swap them in and off very easily.

This includes the 18-56 (so step-up from 52 to 67mm) and it is working very well as I can use the same filters on all my lenses no matter their original filter threads.

 

Regarding the CPL...you have to be aware that depending on the sun position the polarizing effect can vary a lot.

 

 

Best

 

I mark the midday position at the top of the filter with a small line on the outside of the ring, with a gold paint felt tip pen. The idea then is that you point the midday line at the angle of the sun rising or setting. As I posted above, this did not seem at all critical with the 24-90 and Rodenstock filter. Auto brightness on the EVF does not help either when trying to find the optimum angle of a polarizer. 

 

Wilson

[Photon42]

Why would the Rodenstock polarizer behave differently in principle from any other one? I have trouble understanding this. Rather, I am pretty certain you would see the same effect. As you probably have both, you can try it.

[wlaidlaw]

Why would the Rodenstock polarizer behave differently in principle from any other one? I have trouble understanding this. Rather, I am pretty certain you would see the same effect. As you probably have both, you can try it.

 

I don't think it is particularly the Rodenstock polarizer. I think it is the way that a circular polarizer interacts with the 24-90 lens and the SL sensor. I suspect that any other circular polarizer would behave similarly. However, it is quite noticeable that some circular polarizers are darker than others, so there is a difference between the way various manufacturers make them. The Rodenstock 82mm is paler for example than a 49mm B+W that I have. The big difference in rotation I pointed out was between a circular polariser and a linear. 

 

For those who don't know this trick, the following can distinguish between a circular polarizer and a linear. If you turn the filter backwards and look through it at a mirror, the circular polarizer will be black, the linear polarizer clear. 

 

Wilson

Edited January 12, 2018 by wlaidlaw

[wlaidlaw]

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My Hoya 52mm "Fusion" MC circular polarizer has arrived this morning. It is very flat light with high altitude thin cloud cover this morning in my part of the UK. I did the mirror trick and it checks out as expected as a circular. Rotating the filter on the 18-56 makes no perceptible difference whatsoever, either visually or to the exposure (set to central weighted). The filter is between the pale Rodenstock and the dark B+W in its shading. 

 

Wilson

[Photon42]

Not being an expert on the topic by any stretch of imagination, I think polarisers are deleting polarized light in a particular plane. No polarized light means nothing to delete, I guess. Could that be what you observe, as I understand the Hoya behaves similar/identical to the Rodenstock?

 

Ivo

[wlaidlaw]

Not being an expert on the topic by any stretch of imagination, I think polarisers are deleting polarized light in a particular plane. No polarized light means nothing to delete, I guess. Could that be what you observe, as I understand the Hoya behaves similar/identical to the Rodenstock?

 

Ivo

 

I don't that is the whole answer, otherwise rotating a linear polarizer would have no effect either which it does to a small extent (I have just tried with my Cokin one). Any experts on how circular polarizers work out there? Rotating a circular polarizer in bright or hazy bright conditions does have an effect it just seems less pronounced than linear, when used in lower intensity flat lighting conditions.

 

I know that circular polarising filters are a two layer device with a linear polarizer combined with a quarter wave plate layer, which makes the light circularly polarized. I have read a very technical article on how this worked many years ago but the detail has escaped in the intervening years. I think the main idea of using a polarizing filter is to eliminate stray and unwanted reflections, which reduce contrast and saturation.

 

The downside is that for photographs where that reflected light forms part of the image, using a polarizer can have a very negative effect e.g. photos of rainbows and sometimes sunsets. The other time never to use them, is when trying to take a photo out of a plane window. You will get very peculiar effects indeed due the way that toughened glass is partially polarised in streaks. 

 

Wilson