Circ Polarizers & G3

[saqib]

hi,

i just got the g3 polarizer thru lensmateonline.com and am not sure if i am using it right.

i have tried two shots (one with filter, one without) at the same bit of the sky, but they dont look that much different, despite turning the polarizer so it darkened the sky.

it seems the camera automatically corrects for what it thinks is a dark shot. so hmm what do i do? do i half-shutter-lock the camera at a point where there is no appreciable difference between the sky and what i see thru the lcd, and then turn the polarizer so i get the desired effect? is that right?

thanks in advance for your help/input.

[PacAce]

Saqib,

The polarizer works best when the sun is about 45 degrees of where you're pointing (or was that 90?). What it should do is darken the sky without affecting the scenery much. It's also good for getting rid of those annoying reflections in, say, the store window so that you can get a cleaner shot of what's inside on display when you're on the outside looking and shooting inside.

Another use is the get rid of the reflection on the surface of water so that you can get a better shot of what's in the water. But again, you have to get the angle just right of the best effect.

BTW, the polarizer only works with rays from the sun or other similar sources where the light rays are polarized. It won't work to get rid of reflections caused by incadescent lights, etc.

[ThomasL]

Saqib, you are right in that the camera auto exposure automatically adjusts when the sky gets darker due to the polarizer movement. But the point is to compare a light blue sky and underexposed rest of the picture (without polarizer) to a darker sky and correctly exposed remaining objects (with polarizer).
You will see big differences when you have some clouds in the blue sky. The polarizer will make them jump out.

[dtrayers]

You may have seen this site:

http://www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/polarizer.htm

I learned a lot about polarizers!

-Dave

[Kozmossis]

Hi, I hope that my experience will help you:

I recently got a G3 with a 58mm Tiffen circular polarizer.
When I started using it, I felt it was either useless or poor quality. But after reading throught the threads I found out it was me who wasn't using it well! As mentioned afore, you have to be at a 90o from sun, i.e. the sun should be at your left or right or better yet, at noon when the sun is directly above you. Here are two pictures I took with the polarizer, please I need your critisism. And is the Tiffen polarizer a good one?

Image 1 (http://24.102.216.222/Image1.jpg)
Image 2 (http://24.102.216.222/Image2.jpg)

N.B. Images were processed with PS6 with auto-contrast and auto-levels, but the deep blue skies were originally there. Camera was on P and I used the "*" button (aperture was 4.0 for 1 and 4.5 for 2; shutter speed 1/60 for 1 and 1/1244 for 2 and in both cases compensation was -1/3)


Thanks!

[saqib]

hi,

thanks for the replies - and today had to be a cloudy day with NO sky! uff!

which light metering mode should i be using? center af/spot, or evaluative or um hehe i forgot the last option.

i think i used the evaluative and i still cannot see much of a difference in the shots i did before - i will have another go at them.

btw do polarizers work just as well with the black and white option?

thanks again.

[kowen]

Saquib-

Yes you do press the shutter halfway down and look at your lcd while turning the filter. I have Hoya's Polariser/UVcombination filter, thats what I do, and it works fine. (Tested that yesterday).
It works best at 90 degrees from the sun, but under the right conditions (sunny) it doesn't HAVE to be exactly 90 degrees from the sun. I pointed my camera at what looked like an aluminum tower, with the blue sky background, and it worked fine. The sun was behind me. Experiment.

Regards,
Kerry