Polarizing Filter on 100-400 for Airshow bad idea?

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

09/04/2009 11:36:26 AM · #1

I got a polarizing filter for my wide angle lens for landscape shooting a little while ago. The filter also happens to fit on my 100-400L zoom.

Is it a good or bad idea to put it on my zoom to shoot an air show on a sunny day? Should I just leave my usual UV filter on?

My reasoning is that I'll want as fast a shutter speed as possible, and the polarizer will force it lower.

Also, it may add confusion to the exposure as I'll be shooting while panning on the planes and the polarizer will have different effectiveness depending on my angle to the sun, which will vary greatly.

But I would probably benefit to some amount with a richer sky...

What are your thoughts?

glad2badad

DJI Mavic Air 2

Sears 55mm f/1.4 M42

09/04/2009 11:39:23 AM · #2

I think your results are going to be inconsistent and possibly frustrating because of this. I say this based on the panning movement.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

09/04/2009 12:34:40 PM · #3

If you're not going to be using the polarizing filter, I'd leave off the UV filter as well. Between the two filters though, the polarizing one would be my choice to use.

Depends on what you're shooting.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

09/04/2009 12:37:36 PM · #4

Originally posted by cpanaioti:

....Depends on what you're shooting.

Airplanes zoooooming through the air! :-)

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

09/04/2009 12:38:55 PM · #5

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

Originally posted by cpanaioti:
....Depends on what you're shooting.

Airplanes zoooooming through the air! :-)

Just? There's a lot of interesting stuff on the ground to shoot where a polarizer would be beneficial - reflective surfaces, etc. etc. etc.

scottieham

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

09/04/2009 12:40:17 PM · #6

I would go without it. I don't think you'll be able to get fast enough shutter speeds. Sunny f/16 @ f/5.6 is 1/3200. If you subtract 2 stops that brings you down to 1/800 which might be ok but I would want at least 1/1600.

I would leave the UV filter off as well. You're shots will be sharper.

Message edited by author 2009-09-04 12:41:04.

ambaker

Google Glass Google Glass

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

09/04/2009 12:41:47 PM · #7

Well.... You could try taking some test shots, just pan around and see how things change, clouds trees, whatever. Check the exif data to see how the camera responded.

That way you don't miss an opportunity because the filter is an issue, and you don't miss an opportunity because the filter would have improved things.

Just a thought... ;-)

Citadel

Nikon D7500

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

09/04/2009 12:50:31 PM · #8

my thoughts are that you wouldn't be able to adjust it to get it to actually polarize. Unless you're predicting where the planes are going to fly and shoot just in that part of the sky but that would be kinda limiting. Then again, it would be nice to actually try it out. If it happened to work then the shots would looks fantastic.

eta: also keep in mind that's not permanently welded to your camera. You can take it off. You just might miss a couple of shots.

Message edited by author 2009-09-04 12:51:15.

Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

09/04/2009 12:57:55 PM · #9

I've just finished shooting an airshow on a 100-400 and by pure co-incidence did one day with the polarising filter and one day without.

The weather also altered slightly between the two days.

My thoughts ? Well you are absolutely right that the filter will a) give you richer darker colours and b) knock off some shutter speed.

However shooting into the sky you frequently have more shutter speed than you know what to do with and also if there are any older planes up with props you need your speed chopped right down so it is richer and gives you prop blur . .

Maybe you should take it along - leave it off for the fast jets and put it on for the rest ?

scottieham

Canon EOS-50D

09/04/2009 01:08:23 PM · #10

Originally posted by Jedusi:

Those are some nice shots. What lens and shutter speed were you using?

jbsmithana

Nikon D300

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 12-24mm f/4.0G IF-ED

09/04/2009 01:14:02 PM · #11

I shoot quite a bit with a circular polarizer and have settled into only using it for landscapes. I stopped using it for bird and wildlife photogrpahy for many of the reasons listed here. I just let my 80-400 go naked now-s-days. Nik Color Efex Pro has a pretty good filter that mimics polarizers that I can add later if needed.

Message edited by author 2009-09-04 13:14:32.

Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

09/04/2009 01:17:48 PM · #12

Originally posted by scottieham:

Originally posted by Jedusi:
I've just finished shooting an airshow on a 100-400 and by pure co-incidence did one day with the polarising filter and one day without.

The weather also altered slightly between the two days.

My thoughts ? Well you are absolutely right that the filter will a) give you richer darker colours and b) knock off some shutter speed.

However shooting into the sky you frequently have more shutter speed than you know what to do with and also if there are any older planes up with props you need your speed chopped right down so it is richer and gives you prop blur . .

Maybe you should take it along - leave it off for the fast jets and put it on for the rest ?

Those are some nice shots. What lens and shutter speed were you using?

The lens (as mentioned ) was the Canon 100-400 (same as Slippy's), as for the shutter speeds The first and last were on 1/400 and the middle one 1/2500 - I think

:- )

scottieham

Canon EOS-50D

09/04/2009 01:31:28 PM · #13

[/quote]The lens (as mentioned ) was the Canon 100-400 (same as Slippy's), as for the shutter speeds The first and last were on 1/400 and the middle one 1/2500 - I think

:- ) [/quote]

Whoops. Totally forgot about that by the end of the post lol. I was most interested in the shutter speeds. Thanks!

Five_Seat

Canon EOS-6D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

09/04/2009 01:31:47 PM · #14

That last one is very interesting, it looks like you strapped a Grad filter to the lens.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

09/04/2009 01:39:22 PM · #15

Originally posted by Five_Seat:

That last one is very interesting, it looks like you strapped a Grad filter to the lens.

Close but the grad work was done in pp to bring out the cloudbank

Five_Seat

Canon EOS-6D

09/04/2009 01:43:04 PM · #16

Originally posted by Jedusi:

Originally posted by Five_Seat:
That last one is very interesting, it looks like you strapped a Grad filter to the lens.

Close but the grad work was done in pp to bring out the cloudbank

Ah, I see. We'll I think here it works well...

FireBird

09/04/2009 02:35:47 PM · #17

Hey Slippy, it depends on your and the aircraft relationship to the Sun. If you're close to 90 degrees to the Sun when clicking the shots it should work well. If it's a clear sky, I'd just lose the filter. But.... if there are nice puffy white clouds mixed into the blue I'd really want a few shots with the filter. Like someone said, it's not married to the lens. But man if you have those beautiful puffy clouds, blue sky, and red airplanes... Wow. Good Luck.

srdanz

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

09/04/2009 05:06:13 PM · #18

Slippy,
one thing you could do to eliminate one (one of) possible undesirable effect of polarizer which is zoom hunting is to manually lock the zoom to infinity. Chances are you'll be far away from the planes that infinity should cover it. Once you locked the zoom, you should see only benefits of having the polarizer.

-S.

Mick

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

09/04/2009 05:49:41 PM · #19

Another thing to consider is the need to bump the exposure up a stop or so when shooting dark planes against a bright sky, otherwise the planes will tend to be under exposed.

09/04/2009 06:23:53 PM · #20

Coolio, thanks very much everyone! I'll be bringing the filter along for kicks and try it out on & off.

Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital

09/13/2009 06:33:41 AM · #21

So has this air show happened yet ?

Bugzeye

09/13/2009 09:27:38 AM · #22

Come on Slippy, We are waiting for the pics.

Originally posted by Jedusi:

So has this air show happened yet ?