Polarizing filter

The essence of a polarizing filter is very simple - such a filter is capable of delay reflected polarized light... For example, reflected light from water, glass, etc. can be blocked, thereby making water and glass transparent. But the filter's capabilities are not limited to this.

Polarizing filter

Polarizing filter

The polarizing filter itself consists of two parts - movable and fixed. The fixed part of the filter is screwed into the thread of the lens filter. The movable part can rotate 360 ​​degrees freely. Through front rotation polarization filter is the adjustment of the filter for a certain type of polarized light, and at the same time with its delay by such a filter. Due to the fact that the filter is connected with the rotation of the front part, such a filter is best used on lenses with an internal focusing system. If the front lens of the lens rotates with the lens at the lens, this introduces inconvenience when working with a polarizing filter.

The polarizing filter can be wound onto protective filter. You can wear a lens cap on the polarizing filter, or you can add some other filter. The only thing, the more filters are screwed into each other, the greater the probability of getting vignetting at the corners of the image. Some polarizing filters may not have threads on their front.

That pick up a polarizing filter for the lens, you must know the diameter of the thread of the lens under the filter. For example, a standard lens for the Nikon CZK Nikon 18-55mm f / 3.5-5.6G VR has a diameter of 52mm, and it needs a polarizing filter with a diameter of 52mm. This may seem ridiculous, but many people can’t choose a filter because they don’t know if it fits their lens. The effect of the polarizing filter can be seen on any lens.

Some features:

  1. The polarizing filter does not transmit reflected polarized light. This is the main property of the filter; it can be used in a large number of situations. For example, using a polarizing filter, you can remove glare from the water (light reflected from the water) and photograph the bottom.

    Sea bottom with different position of PL-CIR filter

    Sea bottom with different position of PL-CIR filter

  2. The filter also removes reflections of the blue sky from the earth, grass, leaves. The sky adds extra cool tones (blue, cyan) to the photo. When using a polarizing filter, everything acquires a warmer and more natural color. Lung color changes can be traced to other examples.

    Different colors at different positions of the polarizing filter

    Different colors at different positions of the polarizing filter

  3. When using a polarizing filter for subject shooting, it is possible to reduce glare on the subject.
  4. Such a filter allows you to achieve a pleasant blue sky with white clouds. Due to the small particles in the air, the light of the sky is partly polarized. In general, the effect appears more saturated colors.

    The sky when using a polarizing filter

    Sky when using a polarizing filter. The filter allows you to align the luminosity of the sky and provides a slightly different color rendering of greenery.

  5. In general, a polarizing filter works like a neutral filter, passing less light. For example, with a polarizing filter you can easily shoot on a bright dayusing aperture F / 1.4 with a shutter speed of 1/4000 s and ISO 100 will be enough for correct exposure without overexposure. Many people overlook the fact that, in any case, a polarizing filter reduces the luminous flux. In low light conditions, I recommend shooting the polarizer so that the lens can receive more light. A combination of ND and PL filters is very interesting to use.

    Slow shutter speed

    Long excerpt. When using a polarizing filter, you can significantly increase the shutter speed, which can serve, for example, for the effect of smoothness of water in photographs.

  6. If you turn the circular polarizing filter back to front, you can get a neutral filter, when you rotate around its axis, you can shift such a filter white balance in warm and cold tones, while the polarizing filter stops blocking polarized light.

    The color of grass and leaves when using a polarizing filter on a bright sunny day

    The color of grass and leaves when using a polarizing filter on a bright sunny day

  7. When using polarization filters with a linear type of polarization on modern digital SLR cameras, serious measurement errors can occur exposure and focus accuracy. It is treated by manually adjusting the focus and exposure. But when using filters with circular polarization some special problems with measurement exposure and focus accuracy I don’t observe.
Water transparency

Water clarity by filtering glare from the filter

The operation of the polarizing filter is easy to see using a conventional computer monitor. The display light is always polarized in a certain plane, and with the help of a polarizing filter it is easy to remove it as shown in the example below:

An example of a polarizing filter

An example of a polarizing filter

The polarizing filters themselves are of two types - with linear and circular polarization. In general, circularly polarized filters are better. I don't want to repeat myself, this has already been written many times, for example here.

An abbreviated polarizing filter is called a 'PL filter' or simply 'polarizing'. A good polarizer is not cheap. As usual, the more expensive the filter, the better it is. However, inexpensive polarizers are also suitable for amateur photography. For example, I am using Hoya 58mm PL-CIR Made in Japan. My colleagues say that very high quality polarics are B + W and Rodenstock, but very often the difference between the cheaper Hoya, Marumi, Kenko is very difficult to feel.

Conclusions:

A polarizing filter is an interesting and useful device for achieving unique effects in photographs. Such a filter is an indispensable thing for shooting landscapes, outdoor work in sunlight, etc.

Comments on this post do not require registration. Anyone can leave a comment. Many different photographic equipment can be found on AliExpress.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram

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Comments: 154, on the topic: Polarizing filter

  • Julia

    Please say Arkady. Which is the best polarizer suitable for AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f / 3.5-5.6 G ED VR II. I am an absolute beginner in this.

  • Artem

    Beautiful pictures. On the http://1x.com a lot of beautiful. Can you find something for example in the article?

  • Elvira

    But is such a hybrid (HOYA HRT UV (0) Circular-PL 67mm) worth paying attention to?
    ”Is a hybrid filter consisting of UV and polarizing filters. Thanks to this, you can remove excessive exposure to bright sunlight and get rid of unwanted reflections. An ultraviolet light filter is used to reduce the passage of ultraviolet rays invisible to the eye through the lens ”

    Or is it still better to take just polarizing?

    • Andrei

      uv is important if you are shooting on tape, I didn’t notice the difference on the number. They write about the fact that he removes the haze, but I only like the haze more, because I take portraits more than landscapes.

  • Apti Baraev

    Please review the dimming ND filters.

  • Musa

    The photo under paragraph 6 was not taken near Bakhchisarai, by chance?

  • Paul

    Hi all!
    Arkady, respect to your blog)
    My question is about filters! Tell me what is better "must have". Can you provide a small list of necessary filters? you are welcome!
    A few words about the Cokin system!
    I'm waiting for the answer!
    h. s. I am faced with the choice of what to purchase! I realized that this is already necessary.

  • Sergei

    Tell me if I put a 52 mm polaric. onto your whale lens canon 18-55 (where the thread for the filter is 58 mm.) through a special adapter ring 52-58, …… ..how will the angle of view change and how can this affect anything.? And in general, can you do this and what can change, or is it better to buy another filter specifically for 58 mm? What negative effects does such an adapter give?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Vignetting will increase.

      • Sergei

        How strong? Maybe you should refuse such a transition?

        • Arkady Shapoval

          Try it, find out.

  • Jury

    Hello, Arkady. Thanks for the interesting articles, reading them, I learned a lot of new and useful. I went in today to read how to twist the poles, which they refuse to remove from the lens :), I did not find the information. Empirically found that the wire from the cable ШВВП 3 * 2,5 is perfect for this :)

  • Tarin

    Friends, I ask the advice of experienced photographers.
    I want to buy a polarizing filter, I settled on 2 models. Which one to choose?
    Marumi 58 mm Circular PL MC
    http://hotline.ua/foto-svetofiltry/marumi-58-mm-circular-pl-mc/

    or

    Marumi 58 mm Circular PL WPC
    http://hotline.ua/foto-svetofiltry/marumi_58_mm_circular_pl_wpc/

    • Jury

      Tarin, recommended for familiarization: http://www.lenstip.com/115.1-article-Polarizing_filters_test.html
      (Pay special attention to the glare from the lamp: if there is light on the filter, and the better it is, the less glare from the reflections will be in the photo, as well as the Scattering parameter).
      Maybe you should reconsider the planned purchase? Alternatively, you can take, for example, used, but it will be better in terms of characteristics, and in many cases - cheaper :)

      PS. I have a Kenko PRO1D Wide Band C-PL (W) 72 mm filter, it’s rather difficult to clean from stains, random traces, etc. Multilayer filters should be better cleaned.

      Happy shopping and beautiful photos!

      • Tarin

        Thanks for the advice.
        On a used account, I don't want to risk it, because there is information that the filter coating will fade over time ...

  • Anatoly

    Advise which polarik is suitable for the most effective disappearance of glare on automobile, windshield and other glasses?

  • Sergei

    Help, I just can't understand if this “polar” MARUMI DHG LENS CIRCULAR PLD, 55mm for this SONY DT 18-55mm f / 3.5-5.6 lens, what difficulties can be, otherwise I heard a lot about an external lens, autofocus problems. Thanks.

  • Ron

    Wonderful article, it helped me a lot to understand (PL)

  • Mad ^ cat

    Arkady, thank you very much for your resource. It is always clear, intelligible, with a lot of examples. I recently became interested in photography, but it has already become a good tradition to look for information about photo devices of interest in your reviews. Thanks again, Good luck!

  • Eugene

    Good evening, Arkady! Please tell me whether it is possible to use ND filters and filters with variable density on lenses, where the front lens rotates when focusing (with respect to whale lenses 18-55,55-250, etc.). Thank you for your reviews and articles, very intelligible and understandable! Thanks!

    • Arkady Shapoval

      You can, just not very convenient.

  • Ilnar

    Thank you for your work, Arkady! If I have a question, I immediately remember the joyful.

  • Igor

    Good afternoon, Arkady, I can’t understand how to distinguish linear from circular, it seems everything is logical, but I was confused by one nuance. The fact is that recently I bought myself a Marumi DHG Circular PL (D) 58 mm, based on the name, it should be circular, but there is a mark on it to set the angle (everything should look exactly like it was wound on the ring), also with scrolling it through 90 degrees, the brightness in the viewfinder changes, if you check this method on the LCD monitor, then the image on the screen also drops to almost zero. But it does not behave like a linear filter, because everything is fine with autofocus and exposure (which is strange). The filter is wound on a lens Kenon 50mm 1.4, carcass Kenon 70D. Thank you for your attention, I hope that they will explain to me what's what.

  • Serge P.

    Hello!

    A few days earlier I wrote my comment, giving a direct answer to your question, but, for some reason, a month has already passed, and my comment is still not visible. Maybe they missed it, maybe they found it uninteresting during the check. I will try to repeat.

    Polarization is most pronounced at an angle of 90 ° to the sun. That is, if you are at the equator and the sun is at its zenith, you can shoot in any direction. In the morning or in the evening, the most successful pictures will be in the direction of north or south, but if you have 45 or 30 degrees to the side of the sun, then on the part of the picture the polarization will be clearly more pronounced in relation to the other part of the picture and the frame can be considered unsuccessful.

    And this is exactly what the circular filter is in question, since I have never used a linear filter and will not tell anything about it.

  • anonym

    Hello. Thank you for the article. I take off various packages with a glossy surface (chips. Mayonnaise, chocolates, etc.). Halls, bends. Very glare. I have to dodge, to put it mildly). I think to get a polarik. Advise, does it make sense for him to spend just for such a shoot? Will a cheaper UV filter -Noya (O) be enough to remove glare? I would be grateful for the answer.

    • Sergei

      A UV filter (UV filter-Noya (O)) will definitely not save you. The UV filter does not protect against glare, so as not to write and speak. The polarik will or will not help - I cannot say for sure. I don't know such a filter yet.
      A UV filter for a digital camera makes sense only as a protective one - it covers the front lens from damage. The UV filter is only suitable for film. it is sensitive to ultraviolet light.

    • Alexander Malyaev

      Make or buy a softbox cube. A very useful thing for shooting a subject, it should just help you. My brother removes daggers-knives-daggers in it, you know, without a softbox they glare strongly.

  • Alexander

    Acquired a 52mm Circular Polarizer from Tifen. I checked the polarization effect on the monitor. By rotating the movable ring, it is easy to determine the position when the light from the monitor disappears completely (the filter does not transmit). I can tell right away that you need to experiment. Shoot only in sunny weather. The maximum effect is obtained when the sun is on the right or left hand (i.e., 90 degrees angle between the sun ray and the lens axis). When everything is right, the pictures are impressive!

  • Yarkiya

    The polar on the water looks good, by the way, the Chinese cheap Green. This is just the sun on the left hand of about 90 degrees, i.e. right angle.

  • Yarkiya

    And this angle is not right, almost against the sun.

  • Oleg

    Polar is a rather capricious thing you need to catch these 90 degrees

  • Oleg

    ...

  • Oleg

    It's all filmed on marumi mc c-pl

  • Oleg

    Here's another good shot with the right angle, but as soon as you lose the right angle of about 90 degrees. not the same coat

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