Can polariser ruin shots?

Firstly I wasn't sure if this was the right section to post my question, but as I put the polariser on my lens I will chance here.

Over the weekend I photographed a boat race, it was a sunny day, unusual enough here in Ireland. I used a polarising filter for the first time ever, on an EF-S 55-250 on a 50D.I had camera on Tv set at 1/500 sec and ISO at 200. I also had 1/2 stop negative exp dialled so the aperture stayed for the most part between 5.6 and 8.

Over half my shots were awful, and the "good" ones are bad. They were terribly blurred. Could it be the filter ruining the shots. It never happened on such a large scale before.

Thanks for any input in advance

was it a cheap filter?

any examples? were you panning?

yes to both

Blurred how? Out of focus blurred? Motion blur? Post a couple of examples. Was it a circular polarizer or linear polarizer?

Give us something to look at.
Post some examples with exif data intact so we have as much info to work with as possible.
Show us some of your better pics from the same day as well as the ones that are problematic.
The worse the pics are, the better.

Without seeing anything yet, I'm going to suggest user error.

I will post some photos as soon as I can, I'll try figure out how now, sorry but I'm newish to the forum, thanks

When you say cheap filter, are we talking about ebay unknown-brand cheap, or baseline Hoya etc?

Anything from one of the bigger brands and I doubt it's what ruined your shot. But if it was a $10 filter off ebay then I wouldn't be surprised.

My first guess is the shutter speed. If you were shooting motor boats, those things are very fast, too fast for 1/500 in my opinion. When I shoot my son's football games I never shoot slower than 1/1000 and I prefer to be even faster then that. I have had a runner locked in with my 1D2 and got motion blur at 1/500. I know those boats are moving a lot faster than some 8 year old kid runs.

Second thing to worry about is your angle. If you were using a CPL, circular polarizer, they work best when they are 90 degrees from the sun. If you are too close to the sun, or too far, then the affect of the CPL is not ideal and that can cause adverse results in your photos. Not sure what it would do to cause blur other than maybe causing the AF system to focus on the wrong thing....maybe. If the CPL is not in the ideal position and the AF system focuses on the wrong thing, you will get motion blur on the subject.

Another thing could be your AF setting. Were you shooting in One Shot or AI Servo? If you were shooting One Shot and the boats were moving fast, by the time you push that button the subject could be out of focus.

Finally, a cheap filter of any kind can have adverse affects on image quality.

Post some photos when you get a chance.

If you are using a cheap CPL then yes it can ruin your shots. If you must use a CPL buy a good one like the B+W 58mm Kaeseman MRC. It cost $103.00 from B&H with free shipping. http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_Circular_Polar​izing.html

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

Are you sure it was a circular PL and not a linear PL. If it was linear it will mess up your autofocus.

GregoryF wrote in post #12547738
Are you sure it was a circular PL and not a linear PL. If it was linear it will mess up your autofocus.

Good point, I just assumed it was a CPL.

I think, hope they are atatched now

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Hi all, its a circular polariser by "camlink". The boats were hand powered and I find it hard to distinguish whether its motion blur or out of focus. For the most part I used single shot Autofocus but thought it was all working ok. I used sero focus for a few also but there seemed to be no difference in the amount that came out bad. Thanks all for the input

They're too small to tell from that size to really see whats happening.
Can you post them a bigger than postage stamp size.

jaomul wrote in post #12547805
Hi all, its a circular polariser by "camlink". The boats were hand powered and I find it hard to distinguish whether its motion blur or out of focus. For the most part I used single shot Autofocus but thought it was all working ok. I used sero focus for a few also but there seemed to be no difference in the amount that came out bad. Thanks all for the input

The shutter speed of 1/500 should be fast enough for the rowing, BUT using one shot AF won't cut it for moving objects: as soon as you achieved focus and pressed the shutter the boat would have moved away already. The only way to AF is using AI Servo. Do you use the backbutton to AF?