DSLR Camera + Polarizer Filter

[TimeshareVon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close TimeshareVon]

After seeing the wonderful photos taken by Steve during his trip to Hawaii, I felt it would be a wise investment to pick up a (circular) polarizer filter for my Olympus DSLR camera. I typically use a UV filter on all of my lenses, more as protection than anything. I've read that you should not "stack" a polarizer on top of the UV filter (or any other for that matter) as it creates more glass and further restriction of light into the camera.

I'm curious to learn from members of this group, on your experiences with using the polarizer and any tips you might be able to provide. We are planning for a very active vacation in Hawaii next month and I want to make sure I don't mess up my photo ops while there.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions provided!

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

At one time I was into photography. I had a ton of Coklyn lens filters that added special affects. Now they just sit there. I used them on my Olympus OM2 and OM10 cammera as well as a Cannon full manual brass camera.

[gophish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close gophish]

Yvonne,
While most books and photographers will tell you to not stack other filters on top of UV filters, I can honestly say that I have done so with no detrimental effects of the photos. That being said, it was mostly just lazyness that had me do that, there really is no benefit to doing so. What people have told you about it being more glass andtherefore blocking light somewhat is true and some people say that it cost you an f stop although I have not noticed that to be the case. I would invest in a polorizing filter and use it on almost all landscape type photos. especially where you have blue skys and some clouds, the blues will be much deepter and vibrant and it will make the cloud definition really pop.
Many photographers, myself included, keep a UV filter on most of our lenses just for lens protection (a UV filter is a lot cheapter to replace than a cracked or scratched lens)
The circular polorizer is necessary for auto focus lenses that turn the lense barrel while they are focusing.
One last tip, while I use a polorizer for almost all landscape photos the one exception is that I take it off for most sunset photos.
Have fun shooting your vacation photos.

After seeing the wonderful photos taken by Steve during his trip to Hawaii, I felt it would be a wise investment to pick up a (circular) polarizer filter for my Olympus DSLR camera. I typically use a UV filter on all of my lenses, more as protection than anything. I've read that you should not "stack" a polarizer on top of the UV filter (or any other for that matter) as it creates more glass and further restriction of light into the camera.

I'm curious to learn from members of this group, on your experiences with using the polarizer and any tips you might be able to provide. We are planning for a very active vacation in Hawaii next month and I want to make sure I don't mess up my photo ops while there.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions provided!

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Yvonne - at least as important is knowing how to do basic adjustments of contrast, lighting, saturation, and color balance with a photo editing program. The photo program is the digital equivalent of dark room technques in film processing.

[Keitht Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Keitht]

To clarify a comment in an earlier post in this thread - circular polariser refers to the way the polarising is done by the filter, not the shape of the polariser. There are 2 types of polariser - linear and circular. Linear are cheaper but are incompatible with many auto-focus and metering systems. Using a linear polariser may result in wrong exposure and poor focussing.
The polariser needs to be used with caution. It is not the answer to all photographic problems, and can introduce problems of its own. With wide angle lenses the effect can be much more pronounced at one side of the image than the other resulting in a dark sky at one side and a light one at the other. It can also turn the sky almost black in some lighting conditions. In others it will have no effect at all. It is most effective when the camera is pointing at 90 degrees to the direction of the sun.
One other thing to be aware of if stacking with other filters is the risk of vignetting with wide angle lenses. The polariser generally has a deeper frame than other filters as it has two sections.

[TimeshareVon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close TimeshareVon]

Thanks for the feedback and input. I've received the circular polarizer I ordered and will play around with it some in the coming week before we head out for Hawaii.