Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Hey there,

Going away on a tropical vacation in a couple of weeks, and want to pick up a polarizing filter to make the most of those mid-day beach shots. Filters are uncharted waters for me - i've got UV's on my lenses for protection, but haven't experimented with polarizing, neutral density, etc...

Results from a quick search comes up with a huge range in price - from as low as $20 to $300+. Then you get into Circular vs. Linear.

I'm a believer of 'you get what you pay for', so I don't want to go cheap, but I wouldn't use it enough to justify shelling out say $200+.

Haven't dropped into the camera stores to investigate yet, and I'm hoping someone can save me a bit of time with a recommendation or suggestion on a) retailer and b) type/brand

I use a Rebel XT, and the filter size for two of my lenses would be 58mm

thanks in advance.

I use a lot of filters ( for waterfalls mostly) B+W is a really good(really expensive brand) where as most of my filters are from Hoya which is good also. They have the multicoated surface which doesnt effect your images or so they claim .. I would go with the hoya circular polarizer I use it and it works really well for me. Mind you it only works in its prime 90 degrees from the sun.. You also lose about a stop of light when you use them. if you going out there and want some killer sunset stuff (if money allows) pick up an nd grad and an nd filter get amazing results

I use the B+W 77mm low profile polarizer filter which is half the thickness of a traditional polarizer. I have two of them, but only mount them when I need them.

Agree with others, you cant go wrong with B+W. Couple of suggestions:

- Tough you have 58mm lens now, it might be worth while to go for 77mm filter with an 58 -> 77 adapter ring (step down/step up ring, always gets confused on which is which). Most of Canon pro-lens are 77mm, so you are future proofed for later purchases.

- If you have wide angle lens, say less than 20mm, then go for the slim/low profile. Only draw back there is, you cannot stack other filters on top.

i've used my (non-low-profile) polarizer on my wide-angle, and i have noticed that at open widest, at focal length and focus, you see some vignetting, as everybody warns you about, but it's not at bad as it seems to come off as. the vignetting is just a little on the corners, but i think that this is easily fixed with lightroom afterwards, and you won't notice the difference after the fix.

and x2 with the step up ring. they cost ~$5, which is much less than buying a 67mm polarizer (or whatever size) and then buying a 77mm lens and buying another polarizer for that.

thanks for your help. going to do some running around this evening...

Buying them from Hong Kong they are 60% less but you need a bit more time then you have. My advice considering you are buying them locally is to buy one cheap circular hoya filter and share it between lenses. Linear filters will give you incorrect exposure in digital.

When you get back then figure out what you want and buy from Hong Kong.

Make sure you know how to use one before you go on your trip. Not trying to insult anyone but I've met a few photographers that just stuck a polarizer on their lens and had no idea that it only works at some angles and you have to adjust it.

BTW the large size hoyas like the 77mm are terrible to use in changing temperatures as they have a tendency to be difficult to remove so if you are going to be putting good money into a polarizer I prefer the german B+W with a brass body.

If you want to borrow my cheap hoya your quite welcome as I doubt I will be using it in the coming month.

I got hook ups on B+W and Hoya filters, pm me if you are interested