I have always used a circular polariser so it’s good to know why! I remember one of my first ever photos I took back in 1981 of a dead tree and happened to use a polariser; the deep blue sky contrasting the almost white dead tree made it a very memorable image.
2:04 this is backwards. A polarizing filter blocks polarized light (more specifically, it cuts out any polarized light except for the portion which matches the filter's orientation, i.e. it only allows one orientation of polarized light to pass, blocking all others). Light reflected off of water, glass, foliage etc. becomes polarized in one direction. A polarizing filter is mounted so that it blocks that orientation of polarized light, so the only light hitting your sensor is the more random unpolarized portion (or the polarized light in the same orientation, which is a minority).
If anyone else would have done this video it would have been long-winded but you have a gift man. Not long- winded and totally easy to absorb. Thx again!
Great info. Hadn't thought of how mirrorless cameras may respond differently, and it's good to know that linear polarizers work fine in this situation.
There's a big difference in price between a high-end circular polariser and a linear polariser, which can be bought second-hand for next to nothing. I have a B+W 82mm circular polariser that currently costs US$139. I paid $20 for the Lee Filters linear polariser that I use with a Blackmagic Pocket 4K and a 4x5. I want to thank all those people who have decided that linear polarisers are worthless and who are happy to practically give them away to people like me :)
I've been looking for information about circular polarizers and couldn't understand how circular polarization would filter light reflected fom flat surfaces. The fact that a circular polarizer consists first of a linear one and then the 1/4 lambda is the info I was missing!! Thank you very much!!
I never owned a linear polariser but the circular one, and like a week ago I got myself Kase Magnetic filter set that makes it easier to use such filters when you need them. I mostly use CPL when photographing woodland, when having in the scene like wet rocks, product photography, and other stuff. I think CPL is one of the most important filters there is because you cant achieve the same result in any retouching software.
I shoot mostly landscape, so my CPLs are in near constant use. However, one thing to note is that some filter brands are more compatible with specific brand cameras and lenses than others. (For example, Kodak filters on my Sony/Sigma lenses never give me chromatic aberration or weird color casts in general.)
Thanks, David, you just solved my eBay pix problem I've been happening with reflections! You live near Central Park! Lucky you! We LOVED CP! I usually use a CPL outside for Landscape, but your video came me the idea to use with my eBay photography.
If you want to experiment with cross-polarization effects, and if you expect crossed polarizers to achieve extinction (where the light is completely absorbed and the field goes black), then you'll need to stick to linear polarizing filters. Circular polarizers will yield interference colors when examining birefringent substances (anisotropic materials with two or more indices of refraction), but the field surrounding the material, if any, will not go to extinction.
Perfectly explained! I've had quite a few polarizing filters over the years. I buy filters to match the quality of my lenses and the last two CPL's have been B+W. While the optics and polarization adjustments were fine, both of them became frozen and could not be turned. Now using an X2 by Breakthrough Photography. Works as advertised...
Since the CPL has the additional plate, will a cpl filter cause more light loss than an equivalent linear filter? I sometimes think the reduction in exposure isnt worth the filtering. Also surprised at your mention of $15-25 cost. Last time I looked, the cheaper ones had color cast and other issues and didnt have the coatings that are helpful and come with the more expensive versions. However, my main question is whether there is a difference in light loss between the two filter types.
In my experience, the light loss is insignificant. Also yes - more expensive filter are generally better quality. Those were just the ones I used in the video to show that you can at least get started without spending too much.
Would increasing the size of the circular polarizer in front of the lens (like using a standard 138mm in a matte box in front of 95mm lens) reduce sky banding for a wide lens? Or is sky banding unavoidable with a wide lens regardless of how large the CP in front of it is?
Great topic! I also have a question. Is there a CPL that can be stronger, for cases like live concerts, where the lights just kill us and the camera sensor?
In an upcoming, please discuss that "dark spot" a polarizing filter puts in the sky when using a wide angle. You get nice blie skies and then this dark blue "blob" at the angle of most polarized light. Is there a way to avoid it and not have spend time editing it out?
Having used both types with my canon 30D and 7D previously, I did find that the linear one had a more dramatic effect on the resulting images. If is was causing a focus problem, I was just not aware (and it may have been). Now with the high resolution %D IV, I do hesitate to use anything but the circular one.
CPL for liiiife.. Cheers for the video buddy. Edit - 77mm on a sigma 10-20mm for landscapes or I get cheap and use a step down ring and use it on a longer lens to knock back reflections for shooting from inside High buildings.
With a linear polarizer, there's no quarter-wave plate, one less thing in front of your lens. The quarter-wave plate is tuned to a certain color of light, so you are relying on its broadband characteristics.
Didn't know about the liner polarized filter I have always used the circular version because of airshow being by the sea or high flying flight across the sun and to darked the sky. Other good lesson on filters David
I want to buy a circular polarizer for my camera. I went on Amazon and noticed that some of them are dirt cheap and none of them are very expensive. But when I go to a Camera store the same filter that selling for $20-$30 in Amazon is selling for $139 in a camera store. Why? Is it because the Amazon ones are cheap junk and the ones in the camera store good quality?
The second half of this video saved it for me (I'm probably not the target audience to be fair). The explanation about the quarter wave plate on a circular polarizer filter was actually the highlight from my perspective (or not, maybe, if I'd used a polarizing filter... OK, pun intended).
The ONLY time I take my CPL off is if I’m shooting something with an anti-glare coating and it creates ugly side effects. My business is shooting vehicles for car dealers websites and it’s all outdoors. I find it’s still helpful when shooting vehicle interiors-the ability to “move” glare from side to side is priceless. It’s also helpful for preventing damage to the front lens element. Thanks for the video! I bought my most recent lens and B+W CPL from Adorama. Very happy with the experience!
Very helpful, David! Thank you! I didn't know much about the linear polarizers to be honest. I have a circular polarizer but I might want to buy a new one. Would you recommend buying a cheaper one or would you suggest investing in the more expensive ones? I mainly use them for landscape photography and most of the time, even go without a filter. It's just for those rare occasions when I need one.
More expensive filters are definitely better quality - especially when it comes to color casts. It just depend how important / valuable your images are. You can certainly start with a lesser expensive one and then upgrade if / when you feel the need.
One of the best detailed video about polarisation! Thank you 🙌🏻 i would like to know from your recommendation what is the best polarisation filter if price is no issue and a comparison video polar pro tiffins and the other brands in term of quality and the images it produces.
Adorama this looks 🔥🔥🔥 We Love You Adorama!💙💙💙 This looks to be straight up Ice!🥶🥶🥶 Smash The 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽 If Your excited to see this!👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽 This looks to be straight up 🧨🧨🧨 - Swole Beast🤙🏽🙏🏽✌🏽 P E A C E !
Great explanation of LPL vs CPL with mirrorless. As I am switching to all mirrorless, all my old LPLs from my film cameras will have a place on my lenses again.
Phenomenal teacher and so well-spoken.
I have always used a circular polariser so it’s good to know why! I remember one of my first ever photos I took back in 1981 of a dead tree and happened to use a polariser; the deep blue sky contrasting the almost white dead tree made it a very memorable image.
Indeed!
2:04 this is backwards. A polarizing filter blocks polarized light (more specifically, it cuts out any polarized light except for the portion which matches the filter's orientation, i.e. it only allows one orientation of polarized light to pass, blocking all others). Light reflected off of water, glass, foliage etc. becomes polarized in one direction. A polarizing filter is mounted so that it blocks that orientation of polarized light, so the only light hitting your sensor is the more random unpolarized portion (or the polarized light in the same orientation, which is a minority).
If anyone else would have done this video it would have been long-winded but you have a gift man. Not long- winded and totally easy to absorb. Thx again!
When one has David Bergman hair, one invests in perfect hair lighting.
Gotta have the hair light! :)
Great info. Hadn't thought of how mirrorless cameras may respond differently, and it's good to know that linear polarizers work fine in this situation.
There's a big difference in price between a high-end circular polariser and a linear polariser, which can be bought second-hand for next to nothing. I have a B+W 82mm circular polariser that currently costs US$139. I paid $20 for the Lee Filters linear polariser that I use with a Blackmagic Pocket 4K and a 4x5. I want to thank all those people who have decided that linear polarisers are worthless and who are happy to practically give them away to people like me :)
I've been looking for information about circular polarizers and couldn't understand how circular polarization would filter light reflected fom flat surfaces.
The fact that a circular polarizer consists first of a linear one and then the 1/4 lambda is the info I was missing!! Thank you very much!!
I never owned a linear polariser but the circular one, and like a week ago I got myself Kase Magnetic filter set that makes it easier to use such filters when you need them. I mostly use CPL when photographing woodland, when having in the scene like wet rocks, product photography, and other stuff. I think CPL is one of the most important filters there is because you cant achieve the same result in any retouching software.
I shoot mostly landscape, so my CPLs are in near constant use. However, one thing to note is that some filter brands are more compatible with specific brand cameras and lenses than others. (For example, Kodak filters on my Sony/Sigma lenses never give me chromatic aberration or weird color casts in general.)
Thanks, David, you just solved my eBay pix problem I've been happening with reflections! You live near Central Park! Lucky you! We LOVED CP! I usually use a CPL outside for Landscape, but your video came me the idea to use with my eBay photography.
Very nicely done!! Thank you
often i use my CPL to enhance the reflection in fact instead of removing it
Excellent explanation 👍👍👍
If you want to experiment with cross-polarization effects, and if you expect crossed polarizers to achieve extinction (where the light is completely absorbed and the field goes black), then you'll need to stick to linear polarizing filters. Circular polarizers will yield interference colors when examining birefringent substances (anisotropic materials with two or more indices of refraction), but the field surrounding the material, if any, will not go to extinction.
Perfectly explained! I've had quite a few polarizing filters over the years. I buy filters to match the quality of my lenses and the last two CPL's have been B+W. While the optics and polarization adjustments were fine, both of them became frozen and could not be turned. Now using an X2 by Breakthrough Photography. Works as advertised...
Thank you for sharing David!, you always got the right answer, you're the Charlie Sheen of Photography.
Winning! :)
Since the CPL has the additional plate, will a cpl filter cause more light loss than an equivalent linear filter? I sometimes think the reduction in exposure isnt worth the filtering. Also surprised at your mention of $15-25 cost. Last time I looked, the cheaper ones had color cast and other issues and didnt have the coatings that are helpful and come with the more expensive versions. However, my main question is whether there is a difference in light loss between the two filter types.
In my experience, the light loss is insignificant. Also yes - more expensive filter are generally better quality. Those were just the ones I used in the video to show that you can at least get started without spending too much.
Would increasing the size of the circular polarizer in front of the lens (like using a standard 138mm in a matte box in front of 95mm lens) reduce sky banding for a wide lens? Or is sky banding unavoidable with a wide lens regardless of how large the CP in front of it is?
Wow, very useful knowledge
Hi I bought a CPL for my Nikon 70-200mm however it causes the image to look blurred. The same filter on my sigma 17-50 works perfect, why?????
Great topic! I also have a question. Is there a CPL that can be stronger, for cases like live concerts, where the lights just kill us and the camera sensor?
In an upcoming, please discuss that "dark spot" a polarizing filter puts in the sky when using a wide angle. You get nice blie skies and then this dark blue "blob" at the angle of most polarized light. Is there a way to avoid it and not have spend time editing it out?
Physics. You're polarising light from extreme angles. No way to get around it other than to use a longer focal length or skip the PL.
@@alun7006 extreemly different angles, Yes a different result from each.
Thanks for the video. What type of cam are you using for this video? It looks great.
Thanks for Great informarion David.
would a polarizing filter reduce the reflections on eyeglasses when using flash?
It could, but practically speaking, it might be incredibly difficult to keep your subject totally still so that angle doesn't change even an inch.
To use a polarized filter you have to have polarized light. The light from the sun is polarized. The light from speedlights and studio lights are not.
Love this video💎
Very nice to get 1 specific thing explained without sitting through a 30 minute video with b-roll and stock music. BWATZUP!?
im so sorry for asking. Can we use a linear polarizer filter on the eos rebel cameras?
Muito bom, muito bem explicado
Still adorama learning center is there or not??
Circular polarizer + graduated tobacco filter + strobe = win
Multicoating is important
SCIENCE! :)
This is a Polarizing topic
It certainly is! :)
Great fucking video! I spend hours on less helpful video pulling my hair to get the right and detailed info.
That's quite a wig
Someone loves it, someone hates it. It's a polarizing filter.
Well played.... :)
Beat me to it
I didn't know there was a linear polarizer. When I was searching for polarizers I only saw ads for circular. I learned something new. Thanks!
Having used both types with my canon 30D and 7D previously, I did find that the linear one had a more dramatic effect on the resulting images. If is was causing a focus problem, I was just not aware (and it may have been). Now with the high resolution %D IV, I do hesitate to use anything but the circular one.
CPL for liiiife.. Cheers for the video buddy.
Edit - 77mm on a sigma 10-20mm for landscapes or I get cheap and use a step down ring and use it on a longer lens to knock back reflections for shooting from inside High buildings.
With a linear polarizer, there's no quarter-wave plate, one less thing in front of your lens. The quarter-wave plate is tuned to a certain color of light, so you are relying on its broadband characteristics.
Mirrorless cameras tho?
4:30. Answers question
You made this in 2021 and you're talking about video taps with film cameras?
Didn't know about the liner polarized filter I have always used the circular version because of airshow being by the sea or high flying flight across the sun and to darked the sky. Other good lesson on filters David
I want to buy a circular polarizer for my camera. I went on Amazon and noticed that some of them are dirt cheap and none of them are very expensive. But when I go to a Camera store the same filter that selling for $20-$30 in Amazon is selling for $139 in a camera store. Why? Is it because the Amazon ones are cheap junk and the ones in the camera store good quality?
Great video!!
The second half of this video saved it for me (I'm probably not the target audience to be fair). The explanation about the quarter wave plate on a circular polarizer filter was actually the highlight from my perspective (or not, maybe, if I'd used a polarizing filter... OK, pun intended).
I remember when my buddy sent this in. It's kinda cool to see a friend get their question answered in this amount of detail
The ONLY time I take my CPL off is if I’m shooting something with an anti-glare coating and it creates ugly side effects. My business is shooting vehicles for car dealers websites and it’s all outdoors. I find it’s still helpful when shooting vehicle interiors-the ability to “move” glare from side to side is priceless.
It’s also helpful for preventing damage to the front lens element.
Thanks for the video! I bought my most recent lens and B+W CPL from Adorama. Very happy with the experience!
King.💯
I've always wondered about this. Logical, easy to follow explanation.
Very helpful, David! Thank you! I didn't know much about the linear polarizers to be honest. I have a circular polarizer but I might want to buy a new one. Would you recommend buying a cheaper one or would you suggest investing in the more expensive ones? I mainly use them for landscape photography and most of the time, even go without a filter. It's just for those rare occasions when I need one.
More expensive filters are definitely better quality - especially when it comes to color casts. It just depend how important / valuable your images are. You can certainly start with a lesser expensive one and then upgrade if / when you feel the need.
I never knew that. Great info.
One of the best detailed video about polarisation! Thank you 🙌🏻 i would like to know from your recommendation what is the best polarisation filter if price is no issue and a comparison video polar pro tiffins and the other brands in term of quality and the images it produces.
To be honest, I haven't tested them all so can't make an educated recommendation.
Adorama this looks 🔥🔥🔥
We Love You Adorama!💙💙💙
This looks to be straight up Ice!🥶🥶🥶
Smash The 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽 If Your excited to see this!👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
This looks to be straight up 🧨🧨🧨
- Swole Beast🤙🏽🙏🏽✌🏽
P E A C E !
Precisely correct. 🙌 So many other vids get it wrong.
I know this is 2 years old, but I just want to say: David, you are really quite good at reading off a prompter!
I use an CPL for some landscape work as well a shooting things like car shows to help cut glare on very very reflective car parts
Great explanation of LPL vs CPL with mirrorless. As I am switching to all mirrorless, all my old LPLs from my film cameras will have a place on my lenses again.
Great info David, thank you!
I use the Polarpro CPL on my Nikon Z series.
I've had my eye on PP for a while - worth the extra cost? (my guess is yes they are)