New Polarizer User

[Zipline]

This is probably a stupid question, but I need to ask anyway. I just bought a polarizer lens to use tomorrow while whale watching. Just checking it out looking at my computer screen, I noticed that when I turn the lens the screen goes from pretty normal looking to a deep dark blue. Will I need to worry about turning the lens while I'm trying to photograph the whales? With whales you don't really have time to mess around with stuff like that. I just wanted to be able to put the polorizer lens on and let my camera do it's thing. I'm going to be very upset if my photos come out a deep blue instead of the actual color.

[sas8888]

That is the polarizer working. It limits lights from a certain direction from entering. This will help with glare. If you put two polarizers together at 90 degrees from each other you will get no light going through. When you are whale watching look through the camera and turn the polarizer so that it looks good and you should be set unless you turn your camera 90 degrees then you need to turn the polarizer again

[Zipline]

Thanks! I wanted to assume that I'd be all set, but there's still so much to learn about photography so I wanted to be sure. Turning the camera at 90° doesn't really happen while I'm out there so that won't be an issue. Hopefully my pics come out good tomorrow. I'm still nervous I'm going to mess it up somehow.

[sas8888]

You should be fine. When younturn the polarizer you will notice the glare from the water diminish and the sky change also.

[rick_reno]

Enjoy your whale trip, sounds like you're set.

[thenextguy]

I believe your lenses have rotating front elements. You can use a polarizer with such lenses, but keep in mind that when you focus your polarizer is rotating as well. This will change the degree of polarization. So lets say you have the polarization set where you want, it could change if you refocus the shot.

If this gets to be a problem while you're shooting the whales, you may consider not using the polarizer.

[Hoppy1]

You need to read up on what a polariser does and how to adjust it for best effect. Lenses that rotate the front when focusing make things more difficult, especially if you're rushed. And you will lose around two stops of light, which I imagine might not be a good idea if you need to keep shutter speeds up.

You may be better off without it until you're confident.

[Jon]

You have an LCD monitor, don't you? Because LCD monitors have polarizing elements in the screens, they can interact with polarizers, causing the effect you noticed. If you flip the filter back-to-front and rotate it you should see much less difference as you rotate the polarizer, since the quarter-wave plate used in a circular polarizer will work on the polarized light from your LCD screen as it would on the light coming through the polarizer. If flipping the filter doesn't change how it looks as you rotate things, then you probably got a linear, not a circular, polarizer and you should exchange it for a circular one (your camera's AF mechanism relies on a partially reflective mirror, which acts like a polarizer in front of the AF sensors).

When you go to use it in the field, remember how much it does is going to depend on what direction relative to the sun you're pointing the camera.

[tvphotog]

I would play with the polarizer on the lens, and pick a point where the image does not become too dark. You should use it to remove glare, not remove all color luminence from the image. You can then leave the filter at that best point, and wait til a whale appears.

[Zipline]

Well guys, thank you very much for your help. I tried out the polarizer last weekend, but was not impressed. It did fine with the seascape shots, but to try to get birds or whales, it just wasn't cutting it. It was probably my error and inexperience, but it seemed to be slowing my shutter speed down. I could tell just by zooming the photos in on my camera's LCD display that they were coming out blurry. So, I took the polarizer off and just used my UV Haze filter which solved my problems. Needless to say I returned the polarizer as I primarly shoot whales so this wouldn't be of any help to me.

[shedberg]

Well guys, thank you very much for your help. I tried out the polarizer last weekend, but was not impressed. It did fine with the seascape shots, but to try to get birds or whales, it just wasn't cutting it. It was probably my error and inexperience, but it seemed to be slowing my shutter speed down. I could tell just by zooming the photos in on my camera's LCD display that they were coming out blurry. So, I took the polarizer off and just used my UV Haze filter which solved my problems. Needless to say I returned the polarizer as I primarly shoot whales so this wouldn't be of any help to me.

Of course it would be slowing your shutter speed down, take a look through it off your lens. It's quite dark. You need to compensate by opening your aperture or increasing your ISO if you need a certain shutter speed.

[Zipline]

Of course it would be slowing your shutter speed down, take a look through it off your lens. It's quite dark. You need to compensate by opening your aperture or increasing your ISO if you need a certain shutter speed.
Trust me, I kept trying to find the right settings to use with it, but I was missing the shots in the process. It's just not worth the hassle for me, especially considering my shots w/out the filter aren't even that bad to begin with.

This was taken without the polarizer lens.
http://www.whalesightings.com/canon/mommn1.jpg

[shedberg]

Trust me, I kept trying to find the right settings to use with it, but I was missing the shots in the process. It's just not worth the hassle for me, especially considering my shots w/out the filter aren't even that bad to begin with.

This was taken without the polarizer lens.
http://www.whalesightings.com/canon/mommn1.jpg

Wow, that's a great shot. There's not really any reflection on the water, definitely no need for a polarizer in that shot.

[sas8888]

the polarizer will stop down about 1 1/2 stops so you need to compensate for that with a faster ISO or fstop
but looks like you solved your problem with out it so good job and nice shots