Filters - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

06/21/2003 04:53:39 PM · #1

I'm going to Colorado and Utah next week and planing to take several dozens of landscape shots.
Which filters should I buy for my Olympus to get blue sky and rich colors!

Wolf Camera filters

Message edited by author 2003-06-21 16:55:36.

06/21/2003 05:04:56 PM · #2

Originally posted by pitsaman:

I'm going to Colorado and Utah next week and planing to take several dozens of landscape shots.
Which filters should I buy for my Olympus to get blue sky and rich colors!

Get a circular polarizer. Especially for Utah - wow. I was there last month, and loved it. The polarizer did serious miracles to my work. This is what a C-PL filter does to your shots.

ENJOY UTAH AND COLORADO!

Haje

pitsaman

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

06/21/2003 05:09:18 PM · #3

You telling CP this one, thank you very much Sharq!

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

06/21/2003 05:29:25 PM · #4

Exactly, if your camera takes 52mm filters, obviously ;)

HJ

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

06/21/2003 06:01:47 PM · #5

A graduated ND filter may also be useful but definitely a polarizing filter.

Antithesis

Canon EOS-10D

06/21/2003 07:09:09 PM · #6

Thought this link might be helpful----

OUTDOOR FILTERS

jimmythefish

Canon EOS-10D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

06/22/2003 12:57:40 AM · #7

Don't waste your money on a circular polarizer. Your camera has a contrast-based autofocus, which means that a linear polarizer will do the trick. They're much cheaper.

06/22/2003 01:24:29 AM · #8

That's true, but the BEST filters are still circular (the ones with multi-coating, etc.), as they don't make much linear filters.

Originally posted by jimmythefish:

Don't waste your money on a circular polarizer. Your camera has a contrast-based autofocus, which means that a linear polarizer will do the trick. They're much cheaper.

06/22/2003 01:27:46 AM · #9

My recommendations:

1. Polarizer (circular) with multi-coating. The best filter you can afford, the better. All filters will degrade image quality somewhat, but you get the effects it produces. But be careful when using it -- as with a wide angle lens, you can actually darken ONE end of the photograph but the other end is a lot less blue, leaving an uneven effect. Also, some of the natural scenes (such as glitter you can capture in forests) can DISSAPPEAR because the filter will remove the light.

2. Neutral Density filters (3-stop ND's) for waterfall shots.

3. UV/Haze - you probably don't need this. In fact, the less filter you use the better, only use filters when you NEED it. FOr example if you were taking shots at early or late light, you probably don't need any.

06/22/2003 04:47:05 AM · #10

Originally posted by jimmythefish:

Don't waste your money on a circular polarizer. Your camera has a contrast-based autofocus, which means that a linear polarizer will do the trick. They're much cheaper.

1) C-PL filters have better coating
2) C-PL filters are often of better quality
3) C-PL filters are only 10 % more expensive or so
4) C-PL filters work on ALL cameras - in case of a later upgrace, s/he can just get a few stepping rings and keep using h(i/e)r old filters.

HJ

pitsaman

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

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

06/22/2003 11:35:25 AM · #11

I bought couple of filters and results are disappointing.
This Olympus 5050 with circular PL:

without CPL:

Fuji 3800 with cpl:

Fuji 3800 without cpl:

Looks like doesn't work with multiple coated camera lens!
Conclusion: use Fuji 3800 for color outdoor shots!
And I guess wasted 27$ for CPL!

Also , why is Olympus sky become white????

Message edited by author 2003-06-22 11:39:00.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

06/22/2003 02:36:42 PM · #12

How much did you turn the polarizer once it was screwed onto the lense?

With the reflection shot you can test whether it works or not by looking at the effect on the water. You should be able to see a change in the amount of reflection as you turn the outer ring of the polarizer. At one extreme (in shallow water) you will be able to see everything on the bottom very clearly with little or no visible reflection. At the other extreme you won't be able to see anything but reflection.

Nikon MF 180mm f/2.8 ED AIS

06/22/2003 03:18:20 PM · #13

Doh, you're using it on scenes that probably don't need a PL.

I'll post a few shots after the current challenge is over (with examples of how it is used outdoors).

Originally posted by pitsaman:

I bought couple of filters and results are disappointing.
This Olympus 5050 with circular PL:

without CPL:

Fuji 3800 with cpl:

Fuji 3800 without cpl:

Looks like doesn't work with multiple coated camera lens!
Conclusion: use Fuji 3800 for color outdoor shots!
And I guess wasted 27$ for CPL!

Also , why is Olympus sky become white????

mcmurma

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

06/22/2003 03:51:43 PM · #14

For best results with a circular polarizer you need to dial-in the effect. With film cameras I had little problems doing this through the lens--you see the changes as you rotated the filter. However, with my digital the effect is too subtle to be readily noticed on either the LCD (especially in bright sunlight!) or through the viewfinder.

The only solution is setup and execute a series of shots with the polarizer in place, making notations about what your doing with it for each shot. I used the small white marker that came on my polarizer as the reference point, and took a pic at each setting... one with the mark in the 12 oclock position, another at the 2 oclock position, and on around the dial in 2 hour increments. (I left the exposure up the camera, using Aperture Priority mode.) Then I uploaded the pics to see where the effect was greatest. Now I know how to use my polarizer properly on my digital.

Note that the effect covers only one half the circle before it repeats. For instance, once you turn the filter 180 degrees from where the effect is greatest, it should be the same. Also, I found that the most intense polarization on my filter was NOT with the white marker straight up or down, as you might think, though it was close. The best effect (with my filter anyways) was with the white marker set to the 11 oclock or the 5 oclock positions, and the least intense (virtually nonexistent... as if no filter was being used) at the 2 oclock and 8 oclock positions.

Be sure and shoot a scene that will allow you to gauge the effect clearly. Polarization is strongest at a 90 degree angle to the sun, which is easy enough to estimate, but be sure and include some reflections, if you can, as they can be a better indicator than the blueness of the sky.

Message edited by author 2003-06-22 15:58:26.

06/22/2003 04:05:16 PM · #15

I just moved the polarizer discussion to a thread with a more logical title... With a lengthy explanation on what and how polarizer filters work.

Haje