CPL & UV Filters

PGD

PGD

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Dont they range massively in price! :eek:

Has anyone seen a small or vast improvement by using a more expensive CPL filter compared to a £10 item? Same question with a UV filter :)

My current UV filter (which I use more for protection than anything else tbh) has some marks on so I'd like to replace it. I guess being a cheaper item is partly to blame for it marking quite so easliy in the first place.. Then I find my CPL filter blocks out whats seems to be a lot of light, so I'm wondering if a better CPL is in order too. Both of my filters came as a bundle pack when I bought the lens so chances are they are not the best.

I'm open to recomendations too, ideally up to the £50 each mark. Will I be able to see a difference between a £10 and a £50 filter :shrug:


For info, lens is a Tamron 17-55 f2.8 VC which I think it 72mm. Canon 400D body
 
PGD said:
Dont they range massively in price! :eek:

Has anyone seen a small or vast improvement by using a more expensive CPL filter compared to a £10 item? Same question with a UV filter :)

My current UV filter (which I use more for protection than anything else tbh) has some marks on so I'd like to replace it. I guess being a cheaper item is partly to blame for it marking quite so easliy in the first place.. Then I find my CPL filter blocks out whats seems to be a lot of light, so I'm wondering if a better CPL is in order too. Both of my filters came as a bundle pack when I bought the lens so chances are they are not the best.

I'm open to recomendations too, ideally up to the £50 each mark. Will I be able to see a difference between a £10 and a £50 filter :shrug:


For info, lens is a Tamron 17-55 f2.8 VC which I think it 72mm. Canon 400D body
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I don't think you've quite understood how a CPL works - you lose 2/3 stop of light with any CPL...

And yes you generally get what you pay for, but I like many others have given up using UV filters as you lose image quality with the best of them, let alone cheap ones.

Better filters are coated to prevent flare and will also have less loss of contrast.
 
I was told some CPL filters allow more light to pass through thats all, never heard anything else about it tbh.

So if you dont use a UV filter as lens protection, do you use anything at all?
 
PGD said:
I was told some CPL filters allow more light to pass through thats all, never heard anything else about it tbh.

So if you dont use a UV filter as lens protection, do you use anything at all?
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A lens hood is all I've ever needed.

And it improves the picture quality rather than degrades it.
 
PGD said:
I was told some CPL filters allow more light to pass through thats all, never heard anything else about it tbh.

So if you dont use a UV filter as lens protection, do you use anything at all?
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If its very sandy and windy or theres a chance you'll get mud or stones flicked at the element then I would put one on - otherwise no, as the lens hood does away the need on a day to day basis.
 
Interesting stuff :thumbs:

Then is a lens hood like this up to the job? Or would a full hood protect and work better?

My hood
tamron17-50vc.jpg


Or get a full hood like this?
canon-et67-b-lens-hood-lrg.jpg
 
Hoods are generally specific to each type of lens due to element size, curvature and focal length.

Use whatever the manufacturer recommends.
 
I've spent loads on UV filters, used to put a good quality one on every lens I got. However, once I took them off I noticed the IQ had increased dramatically. Now I wont touch them unless I'm shooting somewhere extremely dusty or sandy.
As for CPL I've got a couple but only ever used one once twice and didn't really notice any massive difference or improvement. I got a 67mm Hoya Pro 1 CPL with a 70-200 f4 L lens I brought off the forum and so far I've not used it.
Just make sure you keep the lens hood on all the time and you wont go far wrong.
 
modchild said:
I've spent loads on UV filters, used to put a good quality one on every lens I got. However, once I took them off I noticed the IQ had increased dramatically. Now I wont touch them unless I'm shooting somewhere extremely dusty or sandy.
As for CPL I've got a couple but only ever used one once twice and didn't really notice any massive difference or improvement. I got a 67mm Hoya Pro 1 CPL with a 70-200 f4 L lens I brought off the forum and so far I've not used it.
Just make sure you keep the lens hood on all the time and you wont go far wrong.
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I think both of you have misunderstood the use of a CPL - what do you mean haven't noticed any improvement or difference? the use of a CPL is to bring out colours, reduce reflections amongst other uses... What did you expect it to do? Improve image quality???
 
I do like to shoot automotive stuff though so I find myself tweeking the CPL ALL the time tbh. The hood gets in the way of that a little too but I'll cope.

When its been getting darker I've wished the cpl would let more light through, I guess you cant have everything :(
 
the use of a CPL is to bring out colours, reduce reflections amongst other uses
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The only time I've really used them is to try and cut the reflections on glass at a zoo and an aquarium. I'd spent time on here searching the best way for the aquarium and got a CPL for that. It did improve the colours slightly but still wasn't as helpfull as I'd hoped.
 
Nothing is better than a cheap CPL.

To clarify, I'd rather have nothing than a cheap CPL. Cheap filters are generally rubbish.
 
PGD said:
I do like to shoot automotive stuff though so I find myself tweeking the CPL ALL the time tbh. The hood gets in the way of that a little too but I'll cope.

When its been getting darker I've wished the cpl would let more light through, I guess you cant have everything :(
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Most polarisers reduce the overall exposure by 1.7 to 1.9 stops. A few are lighter toned and only reduce it by 1.2 stops, notably the Hoya HD which is probably the best CPL you can get.

Polarisers are good for landscapes, as they darken blue skies and reduce reflections on grass, foliage etc. They are also handy for tin-top motorsport as they can be rotated to cut the reflection off windscreens.

UV filters are a waste of time and money IMHO, except in extremis.

Most lens hoods for wider zooms are pretty useless at shielding the lens from light, as they are only optimum at the widest setting, but you can't fit a bigger one or it will intrude into the picture (vignetting). Hoods are excellent for general physical protection though.
 
HoppyUK said:
the Hoya HD which is probably the best CPL you can get.
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As much as I'd love that the £120 price tag is a little too steep for me :( Like many thinks this is going to be ruled by budget :(

I may go for the standard Hoya filter seen here for £43 though, and keep my fingers crossed I can see a difference between the cheap one

Thanks for the advice folks, the hood will now be used more than the cheapo UV filter :thumbs:
 
Buy a used filter - for £43 you should be able to get at least a Hoya Super HMC or even a Pro-1.
 
I've bought mine on here. I'm not a fan of eBay...
 
PGD said:
As much as I'd love that the £120 price tag is a little too steep for me :( Like many thinks this is going to be ruled by budget :(

I may go for the standard Hoya filter seen here for £43 though, and keep my fingers crossed I can see a difference between the cheap one

Thanks for the advice folks, the hood will now be used more than the cheapo UV filter :thumbs:
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Depends what you're looking for. They all polarise exactly the same.

Biggest difference is in the quality of the coatings, that help to reduce flare and ghosting. Some are also permanently marked by water, if you let the drops dry. The best/cheapest CPL I've tried is the Marumi Super DHG. On longer lenses, which magnify imperfections in the glass, you can get a reduction in sharpness with a cheapy.
 
Don't rush out and buy just yet - I think I MAY have a spare 72mm Hoya SHMC CPL at home (can't remember if I still own it) - I could lend it to you so you can see if it's worth buying one?

If you're interested, post here tomorrow to remind me to check (out drinking tonight...)
 
I already have a cheap one, so I know its useful.. I'm not really sure why I want a better one at the mo having never tried a 'good' one :thinking:

The 'Pro-1' was mentioned earlier so I guess thats a good one, a search revealed This Pro-1 on Amazon for £48 - seems like a good buy compared to Wex prices :)
 
A CPL lives on my lens all the time (mainly because im in the desert with 365 days a year blue sky and sea reflections).
A few things i have found - a clear difference between cheaper and more expensive ones.

I use a Jessops filter on my 18-55 and 10-22 and there is an issue with both of them - i get a lot of grain type noise on the image as a result of it. This isnt sensor or ISO noise, not due to low light or anything of the sort its just the filter appears to be slightly "coarse". The result of that is i have to run noiseware on pretty much 100% of my CPL photos to get rid of the grain effect it creates.
Ive also got 2 x Hoya ones. Or rather 1 x genuine Hoya and 1 x what appears to be a fake off ebay.
The genuine one does NOT create this grain type noise on the image, the cheap probably fake one does.

So for me, yes - i can see a clear difference between cheap and better build CPLs.

The Jessops one also to me seems to block slightly more light.
 
That really is interesting! It was only the other day I was posting regarding noise levels on another forum, the cheap CPL could well be adding to that!

The filter seen on Amazon, linked to above has gone on the letter to Santa, fingers crossed it'll turn up :)
 
gnirtS said:
Histograms all balance fine, shutterspeeds in order of 1/200th or above, ISO at 100 on average. Its not underexposing noise. Its also not just on shadow areas (ie the sky, white surfaces). I get a grain type noise over *everything* in the image on my cheap CPLs.
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Be interesting to see an image Richard, or preferably a with/without filter comparison. The effect as described cannot be attributed to the filter, apart from a noise/exposure issue and there would be no difference between different filters in that respect.

Edit: There are some differences between polariser types (as opposed to brands) but only noticeable as a change in colour at extinction. For example, if you have a bright reflection and the angles fall just right for the polariser to virtually eliminate it completely, some will leave a faint blue/purple residual image of the reflection, and with others it will be a very dark brown (usually the lighter-toned type, eg Hoya HD) but there's no difference in the polarising effect.
 
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Ive just come back indoors from trying to do one. Not ideal as got patchy white cloud and sun is low in the sky as its later afternoon (first cloudy day for about 6 weeks).
If it doesnt work out i'll do one tomorrow earlier and with blue sky.
Im fairly sure its glass/grain on the actual filter. On the one Jessops filter i also have some banding/streaks in the sky as if the actual CPL coating layer itself isnt uniform.

Anyway i'll try pictures now, if not will do it tomorrow - 2 days of light cloud in a row wont happen.

Edit:- Will do it tomorrow. So much patchy cloud and dust around today with the wind it wont be a fair trial.
 
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As stated elsewhere, cheap polarisers are the Devil's work. Avoid.
 
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