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Advice on buying a Circular Polariser?

PostPosted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 8:50 am
by geoffw
Can anyone recommend a medium priced but reasonable quality circular polariser. I'm look for a 67mm to fit on a Fuji S100fs.

Re: Advice on buying a Circular Polariser?

PostPosted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 1:00 pm
by djwixx
You'll regret a cheap one. I had a decent one and dropped it then used a cheap one I had lying around and the results were terrible. I bought a B&W (F-pro) and it was worth every penny but I can't say it's cheap. I have a 52mm, but will also be getting a 55mm, 62mm and 67mm and would rather do without until I'm happy to spend the money. Why put a cheap glass on a good lens.

Re: Advice on buying a Circular Polariser?

PostPosted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 2:30 pm
by prinothcat
djwixx wrote:You'll regret a cheap one. I had a decent one and dropped it then used a cheap one I had lying around and the results were terrible. I bought a B&W (F-pro) and it was worth every penny but I can't say it's cheap. I have a 52mm, but will also be getting a 55mm, 62mm and 67mm and would rather do without until I'm happy to spend the money. Why put a cheap glass on a good lens.

So dave,
Do you have a reason for not buying the largest CP filter you need and then using step up rings to mate it with the smaller diameters? Granted if I could I would own one for all my lenses, but is there a technical reason not to do as I've outlined? I fully agree regarding the logic of not putting bad before good.

Re: Advice on buying a Circular Polariser?

PostPosted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 5:59 pm
by djwixx
prinothcat wrote:
djwixx wrote:You'll regret a cheap one. I had a decent one and dropped it then used a cheap one I had lying around and the results were terrible. I bought a B&W (F-pro) and it was worth every penny but I can't say it's cheap. I have a 52mm, but will also be getting a 55mm, 62mm and 67mm and would rather do without until I'm happy to spend the money. Why put a cheap glass on a good lens.

So dave,
Do you have a reason for not buying the largest CP filter you need and then using step up rings to mate it with the smaller diameters? Granted if I could I would own one for all my lenses, but is there a technical reason not to do as I've outlined? I fully agree regarding the logic of not putting bad before good.


I didn't think of doing it that way and I'm invariably going to want one on each lens, so it seemed easier to have it in place already. You've sown the seed now so I'll look into it.

Re: Advice on buying a Circular Polariser?

PostPosted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 8:53 pm
by prinothcat
djwixx wrote:I didn't think of doing it that way and I'm invariably going to want one on each lens, so it seemed easier to have it in place already. You've sown the seed now so I'll look into it.

uh oh I didn't mean to upset the plan. :twisted: I don't usually carry a CP permanently mounted, rather a UV or a clear. I also know how bloody expensive good filters are, so I've used that approach for anything that can be interchanged. The one place it could cause issues would be ultra wide angle lenses where you may get vignetting do to the stack thickness of the filter frames.

Re: Advice on buying a Circular Polariser?

PostPosted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:49 pm
by djwixx
prinothcat wrote:
djwixx wrote:The one place it could cause issues would be ultra wide angle lenses where you may get vignetting do to the stack thickness of the filter frames.


That was what I read and it put me off. Several of my lenses are F1.8 and several are F2.8 so having a CP on each allows me practically the full range of apertures even on a bright day, helps cut down glare, and for landscapes does the obvious.

On an additional note, the one thing I found with B&W over other brands is that you can actually clean them easily even if they get wet. With cheaper brands you won't have a chance - in my experience.

Re: Advice on buying a Circular Polariser?

PostPosted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 3:04 pm
by mikelong
B+W. I have them for each lens and rarely take them off

Re: Advice on buying a Circular Polariser?

PostPosted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 9:24 pm
by geoffw
Thanks for all of the advise and the discussion my query stimulated.

Just to let you know I've picked up a second hand 67mm Hoya PRO1 Digital Circular Filter via Ebay. It came today and is in excellent condition and was a reasonable price so I'm very pleased with it.

Re: Advice on buying a Circular Polariser?

PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 12:05 am
by djwixx
geoffw wrote:Thanks for all of the advise and the discussion my query stimulated.

Just to let you know I've picked up a second hand 67mm Hoya PRO1 Digital Circular Filter via Ebay. It came today and is in excellent condition and was a reasonable price so I'm very pleased with it.

When you take some shots with a large expanse of blue sky check the detail and artifacting in the sky to make it does show any issues with your choice.