Polarising Filters

[andrewilley]

Someone was recently commenting about getting a polarising filter, so I thought I'd post a couple of pictures where I think such a filter made a real difference to the final result. See what you reckon.

These were all taken at about the same time in the MK at WDW, with a Circular Polarising filter being used in two opposing ways. Note the differences go far beyond just making the sky bluer and reducing reflections (which you often want to keep anyway). The right setting of a polarising filter can also make colours richer and improve exposure in mid-tone & shadow areas (note the greens of the tress and bushes for example).

1 A

1 B

2 A

2 B

Which do people prefer, because there are pros and cons to every situation (e.g. the tone and contrast detail of the castle)

Andre

[debijeanm]

I'm not sure which I prefer. I like the way the filter pulls out the different shades of green, but I also like the subtlety of color in the non-polarized shot. The filtered blue sky is stunning, but not realistic to me.

Thanks for taking the time to show this to us. I didn't understand what a polarizing filter would do.

[andrewilley]

Circular Polarising filters are infinitely adjustable (you just turn 'em round!) so you can quickly try a few versions of each shot. Lucky that flash memory is so cheap, eh? :-)

[xfkirsten]

I use a circular polarizing filter pretty regularly - I absolutely love the richer colors that it creates!

[Neo]

i want one LOL i also need a camera that can have one.

[GreenLantern13]

I randomly attached some filters I bought to my video camera when I went on thursday. I'm not sure if any of them made a difference. I know the flourescent one I used helped in some morning-light situations. Was hard to figure out if the polarizing or neutral-density filters were doing anything good when I'm looking through the viewfinder or at the lcd though.

[andrewilley]

As far as I'm aware, a neutral density filter doesn't do much other than... well... make the picture darker, really. It's good in bright situations if you want greater f-stop and shutter speed control (so you're not forced into using small apertures or faster shutter speeds) but I can't see what real help it would be on a video camera? What are you using it for?

And I'd have thought a circular polariser might help a bit, but in very specific situations (with little camera movement, for example)

Andre

[GreenLantern13]

I have no clue what I was using it for I was experimenting with different filters to see how it effected stuff and it was in my bag so i tried it out.

[spock8113]

Polarizers can make sky bluer and eliminate water reflection all while enriching overall color. I use it when the conditions allow but sometimes you sacrifice shutter speed and F stop as a result. You also have to take it off while on any dark rides and hope it doesn't fall out of your pocket or break!
If you have a viewfinder, switch to it when rotating the polarizer. Seeing the subtle changes on an LCD screen on a sunny day is almost impossible.
I've used neutral density too. Same opinion, just darkens the picture.
UV/Haze to protect your lense and filter out Ultraviolet and haze, if that's what you want to do.

[tonichelle]

now I like the trees and the sky in the 1b shot
but the castle and water looks better, to me in 1a

both of the photos of #2 are too washed out for me to see a difference...