Polarizing Filter

[boBQuincy]

I bought a B&W 1.8 ND filter in 77mm, not cheap but it fits my 24-105 and 10-22, the lenses I use the most.
I had a ND400 and sent it back because of a scratch and in the meantime decided I liked the B&W. It is *only* about 6 stops instead of 8 but I figured I would use it in daylight and would also like to use a polarizer with it.

Stacking filters is not generally a good idea but with one so dark I am not sure the standard rules apply. If I had the time and ambition I would do some of these photos differently, changing the shutter speed for more or less blur. AS hot as it was and as slow as the trains were to make a loop I just ran out of energy to do more.
Btw, for the third photo I was standing about 8' from the tracks since it was a good spot and the train was only going about 5 mph. Still, these things are *big* and very intimidating! No way would I get that close to a normal railroad!

 

[My2Girls66]

I've been buying Tiffens from Amazon. Prices seem very good and I've had no probs with them. I have UV, polarizing and ND in a few different sizes.

 

[kaffinito]

If you just want a filter to cover your lens then the cheap ones are good for that. I do get the more expensive ones (like Hoya) but I keep them in their case until I need to shoot with them. If it's just a party or some causal shooting or if I think the filter might get scratched, then I don't bring out the good filters.

 

[ElizK]

Ok, fair enough. Thank you! I want the filter for the bluer skies, more saturated colors, so I guess I'll suck it up and buy a better filter.

And now would someone explain what a ND filter is for?

 

[jann1033]

cheap filters do degrade the image quality so it depends on if you want the best image you can get or not( which could be because it's not a really important photo to you or because that's what you can afford at the time) just be aware of it.
nd filters allow you to lower your shutter speed( or widen your aperture, which ever you are after) to get the affect your want, ie bobq just posted some photos of trains in bright light with motion blur( which takes a slower speed than you could normally get in bright light), or water falls or fountains if you want silky water... graduated nd filters are good for things like sunsets where the sky and land might be very contrasty and one or the other would be incorrectly exposed
i have a cokin graduated nd filter , reasonably priced as far as those types of things go

 

[RBennett]

So question; just to make sure I understand all of this right (because I'm looking at getting a ND filter before my trip in November.) The ND400 is an 8 stop filter, right? Is that what you used on all of your pictures Justin?


eta: ok, I just saw two posts up that it was an ND400 and it's a 9-stop filter. So let me redirect my question: does anyone know how much one should cost, so that I know if I'm paying too much or not?

 

[zackiedawg]

Yes...the Hoya ND400 is an approximately 8-stop filter. It is for all effects and purposes, black. You can't see through it unless you hold it right to your eye and stare at a light source. Even in daylight, you may have to manually focus, as the autofocus may not be able to see anything (I've discovered a massive advantage to a live view camera here - my Sony 717 & H5 prosumers never had a focus problem, since the live view contrast-detect systems gain up in low light and seem to always find focus. My DSLR has a live view option - in OVF mode, it can struggle to focus some scenes with this filter, but in live view mode, it gets it 100% of the time. And live view mode has the advantage of gaining up to show you the effects of the slow shutter, for proper metering too).

Of course, the other option if you want to autofocus and are having problems with a scene using the filter, is to focus with the filter off, then set focus to manual to lock it, and thread the filter on.

 

[ElizK]

Ok. Thank you for educating me. I knew I could count on ya'll!

 

[annnewjerz]

does anyone know how much one should cost, so that I know if I'm paying too much or not?

I bought a Hoya NDx400 on B&H about 8 months (give or take) ago. It's a 52 or 55mm thread size, can't remember off the top of my head, and it was in the neighborhood of $60. I wanted to get the 72 or 77mm size so that i could just use step-up/step-down rings (I always forget which is which) and use it for all of my lenses, but just couldn't justify the $150 then. Right now on B&H, the 77mm is about $160, which to me seems about right.

I have popped into a couple local family-owned camera shops and they would have to special order an NDx400 filter and each size was about $10-$15 more than they were going for online----so B&H seems to have a pretty competitive price.

HTH!
Ann

 

[Chikabowa]

Can I ask for some advice?
I've got this idea in my head that I can't get out. Seriously, it's driving me insane and until I make it happen, it will continue to drive me insane.
I've never played with the ND filters, so I'm not sure how many stops I actually need to get this accomplished.

I want the movement of people to be slightly blurred (when they are walking down the street), enough so you can't recognize faces, but I don't want super long streaks. So how many stops will I need? I plan on doing this during the day - hopefully a sunny one!

Any recommendation on high-quality filters? I'd need it for 72 sizing on my 24-70 f2.8 lens.

 

[jann1033]

Can I ask for some advice?
I've got this idea in my head that I can't get out. Seriously, it's driving me insane and until I make it happen, it will continue to drive me insane.
I've never played with the ND filters, so I'm not sure how many stops I actually need to get this accomplished.

I want the movement of people to be slightly blurred (when they are walking down the street), enough so you can't recognize faces, but I don't want super long streaks. So how many stops will I need? I plan on doing this during the day - hopefully a sunny one!

Any recommendation on high-quality filters? I'd need it for 72 sizing on my 24-70 f2.8 lens.

i don't know if this is even close to what you had in mind but the settings were f8 / 100iso/ 1/10 . i just had my cp on at the time...it was winter and i might have liked it if that stinkin pesky planter hadn't jumped into the photo at the last second... obviously a tripod would have been a better idea than a moving car) but i didn't get a second chance due to traffic. this was on a day with a blue sky and only a few clouds so my point being you probably wouldn't need that heavy duty of a filter esp if the day was a little overcast

. i do remember he was walking pretty fast so i would think the slower the shorter the streaks would be

 

[zackiedawg]

Much will depend on the light involved. With that winter scene above, shutter speeds of 1/10 would blur intently fast walkers. I would think by your description, you are probably looking for shutter speeds of 1/2 second to 1 second. That would give you enough blur of anyone moving to not identify them, but still get a slightly streaked image of the color of their clothes and even their sex in most cases.

The ND400 filter can be controlled to a pretty wide range of speeds, by adjusting your aperture as needed. If you were to shoot wide open at F2.8, using the ND400 in good, bright daylight and ISO100, you'd probably get a proper exposure at around 2 seconds shutter speed. ISO200 or ISO400 would give you around the 1 second mark...just about what you might be looking for. Stopping down your aperture to F11 can extend the shutter speeds to 15-20 seconds or more in good, strong light.

In very strong sunlight, like Disney is often bathed in, even 9 stops isn't as much as it sounds. I struggled on my P&S camera at F7-F8 (which on a P&S is the minimum aperture) and the ND400 at ISO100, I could sometimes only shoot up to 2-3 second shutter speeds, or I'd blow the whole scene out. I even stacked an additional ND8 on top a few times!

 

[Chikabowa]

Yeah, I want it to be strong sunlight, I definitely want to keep my aperture around f11 and I want to keep my shutter where I'll get the blur (Jan, that is about all the blur I want like in the example you posted). I want to underexpose my background slightly while keeping my subjects perfectly exposed with flash - however, I want the people around them to be blurred. Does that make sense?

 

[Morganw42]

Ok I've decided to invest $100+ for a hoya hd circular polarizer for my 70-300 lens because the hoya hd filter lets much more light through than any other filter and the big zoom is s l o w. However, I'm torn when it comes to buying a polarizer for my new Nikkor 35mm f1.8. I usually like to buy quality but I'm considering picking up a cheaper cp filter for this lens. I figure that I'll only be using the polarizer outside in good light. This lens'll be plenty fast so I'm thinking it can handle a darker cheap filter without any problems. Any thoughts?

 

[annnewjerz]

I have been thinking recently about getting a polarizing filter and a few questions came to mind:

1. Is it worth having? I'm sure I could find a way to make the skies bluer in post-processing, but I'd much prefer not having to do that extra step to every picture I take outdoors.

2. What filter brands are best? I am looking at Cokin, Hoya and B&W, any other recommendations?

3. I read online that autofocus cameras should use circular rather than linear filters, is this correct?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Ann

 

[JoeDif]

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/polarizers.shtml


This article is interesting and explains some of your questions

 

[zackiedawg]

I still use one on occasion - but I've noticed I don't need it as much with DSLRs. Still, there are times when I'm just used to it from film days, and it feels right to spin that little ring to blue in the skies (circ polarizer obviously).

You're fine with any of the main brands - the ones you named are all fine...one you didn't mention is Tiffen, who should also be considered on the same level. I've got Hoya, Tiffen, and B&W filters myself...no Cokins though. I'd consider them all of equal quality and build.

 

[Golf4food]

Good to have, not absolutely necessary. Good for taking glare off of water or glass and getting some extra blue into the sky on bright days (if facing 90 degrees - won't help if your subject is facing towards or away from the sun). I like the effect a CPL can bring to outdoor shots, personally. Don't need them all the time, of course, but good when you do (like you I also prefer to limit the amount of time I spend post-processing).

 

[boBQuincy]

I consider a polarizer an important accessory and almost always have one on the lens as long as there is enough light. There is a lot more glare and reflection out there than we realize, and a polarizer is about the only thing that will remove the glare. The result is more saturation and more contrast.

Hoya, Tiffen, B&W, you get what you pay for (if you are lucky). Multicoated is helpful, but I consider anything that says "digital" to be marketing hype. Hoya's new HD sounds interesting although I rarely bounce steel balls off my filters. If it really works and takes up less light it might be worth the $$$.

Circular is about all we will find these days but if the price seems too low it might be a linear polarizer.

 

[Code]

One cheap option you might consider is a 67mm to 52mm step down adapter then just use the expensive one on both lenses.