I've finally treated myself to one as I've seen for years what a difference it can make.
I know a few on here use one to great effect, Hyperloop, springs to mind.
How are you guys setting the shot up?
Normally I'd try to get the sun fairly behind the camera, but from googling around, the accepted wisdom with a polariser seems to be 90 degrees off sun angle so that the filter has maximum effect, when rotated correctly.
Are you playing with the rotation every scene, or do you have a standard one-size-fits-all sort of setting?
I know a few on here use one to great effect, Hyperloop, springs to mind.
How are you guys setting the shot up?
Normally I'd try to get the sun fairly behind the camera, but from googling around, the accepted wisdom with a polariser seems to be 90 degrees off sun angle so that the filter has maximum effect, when rotated correctly.
Are you playing with the rotation every scene, or do you have a standard one-size-fits-all sort of setting?
In reply to Post #1
I suppose it depends what you're trying to achieve.
I typically have one on just to boost the colours so I wouldn't usually bother rotating it. In bright sunlight I like the effect you get when you get the sun at about 45° behind you, where it gives a nice highlight along the edge of the fishes head, and I will rotate to take the edge off. I'll often have to use flash in this situation too so I'd be setting the flash in a spot that the pl is cutting reflections from both.
Just play about with it really and see what you like.
I have a few dots on mine to speed up the positioning for common scenarios, 5 minutes with a wet water bottle and pack of sharpies saves experimenting while under pressure
I started using cross polarised light for some macro images, you get zero reflections! I thought that would be great for catch shots and I can use the flash on camera and not worry. Unfortunately when I posted one image of a carp using this technique to social media I got ripped to pieces for the fish being dry
No point trying to explain it to the angry mob. I gave up on two things that day
I suppose it depends what you're trying to achieve.
I typically have one on just to boost the colours so I wouldn't usually bother rotating it. In bright sunlight I like the effect you get when you get the sun at about 45° behind you, where it gives a nice highlight along the edge of the fishes head, and I will rotate to take the edge off. I'll often have to use flash in this situation too so I'd be setting the flash in a spot that the pl is cutting reflections from both.
Just play about with it really and see what you like.
I have a few dots on mine to speed up the positioning for common scenarios, 5 minutes with a wet water bottle and pack of sharpies saves experimenting while under pressure
I started using cross polarised light for some macro images, you get zero reflections! I thought that would be great for catch shots and I can use the flash on camera and not worry. Unfortunately when I posted one image of a carp using this technique to social media I got ripped to pieces for the fish being dry
No point trying to explain it to the angry mob. I gave up on two things that day
In reply to Post #2
Cheers for that
The cutting of reflections/specular highlights is the main purpose, but a bit of extra colour richness wouldn't go amiss.
Looking to experiment with the flash at night too to see if it can do the same there.
Cheers for that
The cutting of reflections/specular highlights is the main purpose, but a bit of extra colour richness wouldn't go amiss.
Looking to experiment with the flash at night too to see if it can do the same there.
In reply to Post #3
They do help with flash, but they do cut around a stop of light which will mean higher iso with a pop up flash, and a flash that close to the lens will always leave a specular highlight if the fish is square on (without cross-polarisation, don't go there
) moving the flash away is a better fix but obviously a bit more expensive and a lot heavier
I'm surprised you haven't bought one before now, it was probably the 1st camera accessory I bought and I have one for every lens.
In the smaller sizes the hoya HD filters are reasonably priced and decent, for bigger sizes, or just a cheaper option the srb photo ones are great value (their nd filters are bloody good too, especially the square system they do)
They do help with flash, but they do cut around a stop of light which will mean higher iso with a pop up flash, and a flash that close to the lens will always leave a specular highlight if the fish is square on (without cross-polarisation, don't go there
) moving the flash away is a better fix but obviously a bit more expensive and a lot heavierI'm surprised you haven't bought one before now, it was probably the 1st camera accessory I bought and I have one for every lens.
In the smaller sizes the hoya HD filters are reasonably priced and decent, for bigger sizes, or just a cheaper option the srb photo ones are great value (their nd filters are bloody good too, especially the square system they do)
In reply to Post #4
Been eyeing them up for a while but always seemed something more important to get first.
Only want it for fishing anyway.
No use at all on my big lenses, can't afford the light loss and shot angle changes too often to try to keep up with.
Went for a B&W in the end, 52mm to go on my 40mm lens - just arrived so will play around tonight in the garden.
I did think that the pop-up flash wouldn't be the one with the PL
I have an external flash, which I've never used for fishing, so will try that out.
Maybe the higher output will negate the light loss of the filter?
Been eyeing them up for a while but always seemed something more important to get first.
Only want it for fishing anyway.
No use at all on my big lenses, can't afford the light loss and shot angle changes too often to try to keep up with.
Went for a B&W in the end, 52mm to go on my 40mm lens - just arrived so will play around tonight in the garden.
I did think that the pop-up flash wouldn't be the one with the PL
I have an external flash, which I've never used for fishing, so will try that out.
Maybe the higher output will negate the light loss of the filter?
In reply to Post #5
No use at all on my big lenses, can't afford the light loss and shot angle changes too often to try to keep up with
You say that now
I don't shoot birds often so maybe a different use case, but I use one on my 75-300 often, the difference in contrast and colour is marked, and that lens is f6.7 at the long end and really needs stopping down for sharpness. The rotation doesn't make much difference in this regard, trying to cut reflections while tracking birds over water is beyond my skill level Obviously when I start struggling to balance settings in lower light it has to go.
I used one with popup flash for ages before I started taking control of settings, I never really noticed the camera bumped up the iso until my images looked cleaner after buying a flash, funnily enough I started bumping the iso myself soon after to get some ambiant light
No use at all on my big lenses, can't afford the light loss and shot angle changes too often to try to keep up with
You say that now
I don't shoot birds often so maybe a different use case, but I use one on my 75-300 often, the difference in contrast and colour is marked, and that lens is f6.7 at the long end and really needs stopping down for sharpness. The rotation doesn't make much difference in this regard, trying to cut reflections while tracking birds over water is beyond my skill level Obviously when I start struggling to balance settings in lower light it has to go.I used one with popup flash for ages before I started taking control of settings, I never really noticed the camera bumped up the iso until my images looked cleaner after buying a flash, funnily enough I started bumping the iso myself soon after to get some ambiant light