Polarizing Filter

[badgerdad]

Does a circular polarizing filter on a DSLR make any sense given imaging programs?

[RichardtheSane]

Yes.

Look at the link below for an example of something a cir-polariser doe that is *very* difficult in image editing software.

http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=article_022403

[badgerdad]

Richard (The Helpful) - Thanks very much. Makes sense, doesn't it?

[RichardtheSane]

Makes a lot of sense. :)
Also in my experience buying a cheap cir-pol doesn't make sense :( I tried it and the results were really not very good. The Hoya one is good value for money though if you are planning on getting one.

[PaulB]

It makes as much sense to use an effects filter at the time you shoot the photos as it does with film.
There are things you cannot replicate in a darkroom or in Photoshop, just as there are things you can do with post processing that cannot be done at the time you shoot the photos. You have to weigh up the stuation. A polariser does make for better saturation and suppresses reflections as Richard points out - and a polariser is the only indespensible addition to the filter list, after Protect or UV/Haze which you should use all the time (along with a good lenshood) anyway.
The only thing I would do, if you have the time, is to shoot both with and without the filter - pola or other - and then you have the choice (bit like bracketing your exposures really).

[badgerdad]

Guys - thanks again. When I shot film (and it wasn't that long ago) I rarely took the circ polarizer off the lens, especially since you can minimize or even negate its effects on the fly. Having gotten into imaging a little more (and I do mean little), I began to realize what can and cannot be done.