Man do I feel stupid.....stinking JPEG....

[MrKickalot]

I went out shooting with a friend of mine the other day. We were shooting waterfalls and scenery. I put my cp filter on and was spinning it seeing the picture changing like it's suppose to... took some shots with and without it... got home... no real difference between shots... so I start complaining about wasting time messing with the filters with no results... then I open up July's Shutterbug.. an artical about filters.. and there is the note that made me look so stupid!!

Page 53 reads:

"Note to digital shooters: The polarizing filter can be used on your lens without any problems on any settings. Auto white balancing will compensate for all filters placed on the lens, basically cancelling out the desired effect. When shooting in raw mode, all filters will act as if you were using film, and the desired effect will be apparent."

Hope you all got a good laugh out of this and maybe a few newbie's will not make this mistake now!!

C'Ya

[c0ntr0lz]

well i've had a cp on my sigma lens and 310d and that hasn't happened to me
there's not much change in the pix but you can see where it's different
so i'm not sure if i believe that

[Scottes]

Find a nice cloud and take a picture with the CP on. Rotate it 90-degrees and take another. Rotate 90 again, click, again, click.

I think you'll see quite the difference in the cloud. However, they should all be exposed the same (or very close) with the same white balance.

Any good CP is neutral (or very very close), so WB won't be affected. The camera will adjust the exposure for the light loss caused by the CP. But the clouds *will* look different.

[CyberDyneSystems]

The magazine article is only "sort of" right...

The camera AWB may compoensate for changes in color that the CP may introduce like richer blues for the sky,.. just as any cameras TTL metering will compensate for the light loss (this is good)

...But Film, RAW, or even jpeg.. the main use of a CP is to reduce glare... this is where fortunately nothing the camera may do will have any ability to negate the effect of the polarizer. Try Scottes experiment with the clouds.. or aim the camera at a roof with asphalt shingles on a really bright day... you'll see the glare being cut, and the jpeg will show it too.

[robertwgross]

Page 53 reads:

"Note to digital shooters: The polarizing filter can be used on your lens without any problems on any settings. Auto white balancing will compensate for all filters placed on the lens, basically cancelling out the desired effect. When shooting in raw mode, all filters will act as if you were using film, and the desired effect will be apparent."


This statement applies to color filters, but it does not apply to circular polarizing filters. With a film camera, a shooter might have all sorts of color filters to modify the light, warm it, cool it, etc. To a large extent, most of those color filters are obsolete in the digital world. The circular polarizer, however, is for enhancing contrast and eliminating some reflections, so they are still used extensively in the digital world.

---Bob Gross---

[c0ntr0lz]

if ya like to see a CP work
look at the side of a car and rotate the filter while looking at the windshield/windscreen

[Rob Larsen]

Also note, the CP affect will be most pronounced in sky and clouds at 90 degrees to the sun. As C0ntr0lz states, viewing a car in the sun is a great way to see the filters affect on reflections.

[catastrophe]

well i've had a cp on my...Does anyone have any recommendations on a good CP filter? I've used a Tiffen CP before and seemed to work fine.

[mikeg]

Does anyone have any recommendations on a good CP filter? I've used a Tiffen CP before and seemed to work fine.


I'm using a B+W CP. Works great.


MikeG

[Persian-Rice]

well i've had a cp on my...Does anyone have any recommendations on a good CP filter? I've used a Tiffen CP before and seemed to work fine.

There is a good shootout in June's Photographer Monthly on Pol filters.
If you guys want Ill take pictures of the article, wait, is that illegal?

[kfong]

then I open up July's Shutterbug.. an artical about filters.. and there is the note that made me look so stupid!!

Page 53 reads:

"Note to digital shooters: The polarizing filter can be used on your lens without any problems on any settings. Auto white balancing will compensate for all filters placed on the lens, basically cancelling out the desired effect. When shooting in raw mode, all filters will act as if you were using film, and the desired effect will be apparent."

C'Ya

There is a lesson to this:

DON'T believe everything a magazine tells you.

Ken