G1X + Cross Filter (PICS) + Milky Way test
Mar 21, 2012
Since my wife sold her old Canon SLR camera and its lens, I've been sitting on some 58mm filters which are useless on the larger diameter L-Lenses she now uses. One of these lenses is the
HOYA 58mm Cross Screen (Star) Filter.
This is normally used for photographing city-scapes but can be applied to portraits (it often softens the lens, making it appealing to models with coarse skin) where it can produce attractive highlights on the eyes of on background light points.
I got around to using it today with the Canon G1X and applied it simply as a creative filter.


1/50s f/5.8 at 60.4mm iso250
+ HOYA 58mm Cross Screen (Star) Filter.

1/20s f/5.0 at 30.9mm iso1600
+ HOYA 58mm Cross Screen (Star) Filter.
The next two photographs show a portion of the Milky Way overhead as I rested the G1X on the roof of my car with the flip screen out so I could change the settings. Even before I purchased this camera, I suspected that it would have the ability to capture very nice night shots of the Milky Way so I quickly ran a couple of test shots to confirm that it most certainly can.
I can assure you that my G11 cannot. And my s95 cannot. My 60D can, but was unable to capture a starlit sky although it was a little noisy. These shots are taken in a city of nearly 5 million people so you can be assured that the sky is full of pollution and I was shooting near strong lighting. Imagine what the G1X can do in a clear, country sky?! This is great news for those who like to shoot timelapse.

30s f/2.8 at 15.1mm iso800
+ HOYA 58mm Cross Screen (Star) Filter.

60s f/4.5 at 15.1mm iso640
(No filter)

1/60s f/3.5 at 19.9mm iso1600
+ 500D Closeup Filter used.
