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Circular Polariser

autumnlight
Posted 05/01/2014 - 14:10 Link
Hi i'm looking to buy a circular polariser as the one i'm using is linear (i think), what's confusing me is the difference in pricing from over a £100 to the one i'm looking at buying a Hoya for £14, is this because of the coating? i've seen a similar post on here but i wanted to know about the pricing and why there is such a difference in price.
thanks for any help
johnriley
Posted 05/01/2014 - 14:18 - Helpful Comment Link
There are huge differences in quality. Many polarisers are not neutral and will have various colour casts. The very best ones will be very highly priced. Having said that, Hoya should be OK.

You only need the polariser when you have a shot that will benefit. You will lose maybe 2.5 stops of light, so don't leave it on the camera all the time.
Best regards, John
autumnlight
Posted 05/01/2014 - 14:35 Link
Thank you John, i know not to leave it on all the time but thanks for the reminder.
redbusa99
Posted 05/01/2014 - 14:58 - Helpful Comment Link
also if using on wide or ultra wide you need a slim bodied version to reduce the chance of vignette . i use Marumi myself and found them to be very good may be a bit dearer but depends on size you are after.
odd lens or 2

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autumnlight
Posted 05/01/2014 - 15:26 Link
It's a 62mm on a Tamron 18-200 camers is K5
redbusa99
Posted 05/01/2014 - 18:19 Link
i have always bought the slim versions as then there is no problem. is that a new one you are looking at or 2nd hand?
odd lens or 2

Flickr
McGregNi
Posted 05/01/2014 - 20:10 - Helpful Comment Link
redbusa99 wrote:
also if using on wide or ultra wide you need a slim bodied version to reduce the chance of vignette .

In fact there are some ultra-wides where it is impractical to fit any kind of polariser - my Samyang 14mm falls into that category. Of course, for wide shots with big skies a polariser can be a two-edged sword as it will generally produce an uneven effect, mostly noticable on blue skies, which would be fiddly to correct with gradients in software.

But, we are more fortunate now than ever and have some very flexible options ... I didn't worry about the lack of an optical polarisor for my Samyang, because I already have a quality and entirely controllable software polariser filter available!
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Edited by McGregNi: 05/01/2014 - 20:11
JAK
Posted 05/01/2014 - 20:51 - Helpful Comment Link
autumnlight wrote:
Hi i'm looking to buy a circular polariser as the one i'm using is linear (i think), what's confusing me is the difference in pricing from over a £100 to the one i'm looking at buying a Hoya for £14, is this because of the coating? i've seen a similar post on here but i wanted to know about the pricing and why there is such a difference in price.
thanks for any help

Linear polarisers are said to be fine with a Pentax DSLRs. (I use one I've had since the 1970's.) Some makes AF may get confused with them but not all so if you have one try it to make sure you wont be getting a new one unnecessarily.
John K
autumnlight
Posted 05/01/2014 - 21:12 Link
redbusa99 wrote:
i have always bought the slim versions as then there is no problem. is that a new one you are looking at or 2nd hand?

I'm not really bothered a good secondhand one would suit me as i won't be using it that much
ChrisA
Posted 05/01/2014 - 21:13 - Helpful Comment Link
JAK wrote:
Linear polarisers are said to be fine with a Pentax DSLRs. (I use one I've had since the 1970's.) Some makes AF may get confused with them but not all so if you have one try it to make sure you wont be getting a new one unnecessarily.

I've used linear polarisers exclusively for years and years - K10D and K-5.

The AF works fine with them, and the exposure is only affected a little bit on some occasions.

Personally I'd stick with the LPL and save your money.

Edit, here's one some here will have seen before. Linear polariser did just fine.

Comment Image
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Pentax K-3, DA18-135, DA35 F2.4, DA17-70, DA55-300, FA28-200, A50 F1.7, A100 F4 Macro, A400 F5.6, Sigma 10-20 EXDC, 50-500 F4.5-6.3 APO DG OS Samsung flash SEF-54PZF(x2)
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Edited by ChrisA: 05/01/2014 - 21:14
autumnlight
Posted 05/01/2014 - 21:14 Link
JAK wrote:
autumnlight wrote:
Hi i'm looking to buy a circular polariser as the one i'm using is linear (i think), what's confusing me is the difference in pricing from over a £100 to the one i'm looking at buying a Hoya for £14, is this because of the coating? i've seen a similar post on here but i wanted to know about the pricing and why there is such a difference in price.
thanks for any help

Linear polarisers are said to be fine with a Pentax DSLRs. (I use one I've had since the 1970's.) Some makes AF may get confused with them but not all so if you have one try it to make sure you wont be getting a new one unnecessarily.

The trouble with linear is that i have to shoot in manual, AF just seems to struggle
autumnlight
Posted 05/01/2014 - 21:42 Link
ChrisA wrote:
JAK wrote:
Linear polarisers are said to be fine with a Pentax DSLRs. (I use one I've had since the 1970's.) Some makes AF may get confused with them but not all so if you have one try it to make sure you wont be getting a new one unnecessarily.

I've used linear polarisers exclusively for years and years - K10D and K-5.

The AF works fine with them, and the exposure is only affected a little bit on some occasions.

Personally I'd stick with the LPL and save your money.
It certainly does look good i must say, the sky is fantastic.

Edit, here's one some here will have seen before. Linear polariser did just fine.

Comment Image

autumnlight
Posted 05/01/2014 - 21:44 Link
My message has got jumbled with yours sorry, i said it certainly looks good and the sky is fantastic.
Gamka
Posted 05/01/2014 - 22:08 - Helpful Comment Link
£14 for a Hoya seems rather cheap.

There are a lot of fakes out there and you do need to be careful especially on auction type sites.
JAK
Posted 06/01/2014 - 00:45 - Helpful Comment Link
autumnlight wrote:
JAK wrote:
Quote:
Hi i'm looking to buy a circular polariser as the one i'm using is linear (i think), what's confusing me is the difference in pricing from over a £100 to the one i'm looking at buying a Hoya for £14, is this because of the coating? i've seen a similar post on here but i wanted to know about the pricing and why there is such a difference in price.
thanks for any help

Linear polarisers are said to be fine with a Pentax DSLRs. (I use one I've had since the 1970's.) Some makes AF may get confused with them but not all so if you have one try it to make sure you wont be getting a new one unnecessarily.

The trouble with linear is that i have to shoot in manual, AF just seems to struggle

It depends what lens its being used with. A slow lens will struggle due to the extra light loss rather than the filter, same as if you use a teleconveter on a slow lens. If your lens's maximum aperture is around f5.6 you're around the limit for AF to work with a polariser, be it a linear or a circular one.

Try that filter you have with a faster lens and see how the AF copes then.
John K

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