Choosing a cicrular polariser...

Hi all.

Wanting to purchase a circular polariser (C-PL) for my G3, but I'm concerned about vignetting at wide-angle, and need advice on the following options I'm considering:

1. I can get a friend in Japan to get me either 58mm Marumi or Kenko wide-angle C-PLs for me for around A$50 ( US$25 or 3200 yen). Anyone know how the quality of Marumi and Kenko filters compares to Hoya?

2. Wide-angle C-PL are very difficult to find here in Australia, so I'm also considering purchasing a step-up ring and buying a larger-size Hoya C-PL (say 62mm or 67mm) instead. Will vignetting be a problem if I choose this option?

3. The Hoya HMC C-PL costs twice as much as the normal Hoyal C-PL here in Australia (and needs to be ordered in where I live). Is the HMC really worth the extra money?

Regards,

Julius Pang said:

Hi all.

Wanting to purchase a circular polariser (C-PL) for my G3, but I'm
concerned about vignetting at wide-angle, and need advice on the
following options I'm considering:

1. I can get a friend in Japan to get me either 58mm Marumi or
Kenko wide-angle C-PLs for me for around A$50 ( US$25 or 3200 yen).
Anyone know how the quality of Marumi and Kenko filters compares to
Hoya?

Click to expand...

I don't know about Marumi, but I've used and have not been impressed with anything from Kenko. It's cheap stuff.

Julius Pang said:

2. Wide-angle C-PL are very difficult to find here in Australia, so
I'm also considering purchasing a step-up ring and buying a
larger-size Hoya C-PL (say 62mm or 67mm) instead. Will vignetting
be a problem if I choose this option?

3. The Hoya HMC C-PL costs twice as much as the normal Hoyal C-PL
here in Australia (and needs to be ordered in where I live). Is the
HMC really worth the extra money?

Click to expand...

The question is, why do you want a C-PL? Get the HMC L-PL from Hoya for less than the normal C-PL. The C-PL will give you no advantages over the L-PL. Unless you are using a camera with phase detection auto focus. I believe the G3 uses contrast detection auto focus, so a linear polarizer will work just as well as a circular. At a much lower price.

Steve

--
http://www.pbase.com/slo2k

'If one really wishes to be master of an art, technical knowledge of it is not enough. One has to transcend technique so that the art becomes an 'artless art' growing out of the Unconscious.'

Thanks for pointing that out. I forgot to mention I also have an Canon EOS 300 which I still use, so I'd rather get the one C-PL which I can use with both my SLR and digicam.

Cheers.
Julius

Steve Cavigliano said:

Julius Pang said:

Hi all.

Wanting to purchase a circular polariser (C-PL) for my G3, but I'm
concerned about vignetting at wide-angle, and need advice on the
following options I'm considering:

1. I can get a friend in Japan to get me either 58mm Marumi or
Kenko wide-angle C-PLs for me for around A$50 ( US$25 or 3200 yen).
Anyone know how the quality of Marumi and Kenko filters compares to
Hoya?

Click to expand...

I don't know about Marumi, but I've used and have not been
impressed with anything from Kenko. It's cheap stuff.

Steve Cavigliano said:

2. Wide-angle C-PL are very difficult to find here in Australia, so
I'm also considering purchasing a step-up ring and buying a
larger-size Hoya C-PL (say 62mm or 67mm) instead. Will vignetting
be a problem if I choose this option?

3. The Hoya HMC C-PL costs twice as much as the normal Hoyal C-PL
here in Australia (and needs to be ordered in where I live). Is the
HMC really worth the extra money?

Click to expand...

The question is, why do you want a C-PL? Get the HMC L-PL from
Hoya for less than the normal C-PL. The C-PL will give you no
advantages over the L-PL. Unless you are using a camera with phase
detection auto focus. I believe the G3 uses contrast detection
auto focus, so a linear polarizer will work just as well as a
circular. At a much lower price.

Steve

--
http://www.pbase.com/slo2k
'If one really wishes to be master of an art, technical knowledge
of it is not enough. One has to transcend technique so that the
art becomes an 'artless art' growing out of the Unconscious.'

Click to expand...

Julius Pang said:

1. I can get a friend in Japan to get me either 58mm Marumi or
Kenko wide-angle C-PLs for me for around A$50 ( US$25 or 3200 yen).
Anyone know how the quality of Marumi and Kenko filters compares to
Hoya?

Click to expand...

If you could find a multi-coated Hoya or B+W, get one for yourself. They are perhaps much better than the Marumi and Kenko.

Julius Pang said:

2. Wide-angle C-PL are very difficult to find here in Australia, so
I'm also considering purchasing a step-up ring and buying a
larger-size Hoya C-PL (say 62mm or 67mm) instead. Will vignetting
be a problem if I choose this option?

Click to expand...

You could consider a slim CPL. Both Hoya and B+W have slim CPL's. The use of step-up rings may not solve your problem because some step-up rings are very thick that could cause vignetting. It is hard to say if vignetting will occur because you did not specify focal length and lens.

Julius Pang said:

3. The Hoya HMC C-PL costs twice as much as the normal Hoyal C-PL
here in Australia (and needs to be ordered in where I live). Is the
HMC really worth the extra money?

Click to expand...

For most cases, the answer is YES. However, if your work is not so critical, you do not have to pay the extra and a coated CPL should work fine. Please take a look the Filters section of my 4500 user guide, especially the "Coated vs Non-Coated" and "...Threads..." sections for a little more details.

CK
http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam
Nikon Coolpix 950/990/995/2500/4500 user guide

i have a Kenco and it works for what i do with it...... am i looking at going to Hoya? heck yes!! i could not afford the Hoya at the time (both UV and CPL) so i bought what i could afford knowing i was buying "low shelf".

steve, i have a question for you....... i was told that digi's respond best (or needed) circular polarisers and do not purchase "regular"....... was i mis-informed or does it matter? thanks.

--
If Some Is Good, More Is Better, And Too Much Is Just Right.
I live in my own little world. But it's OK ... they know me here

Ching-Kuang Shene said:

Julius Pang said:

1. I can get a friend in Japan to get me either 58mm Marumi or
Kenko wide-angle C-PLs for me for around A$50 ( US$25 or 3200 yen).
Anyone know how the quality of Marumi and Kenko filters compares to
Hoya?

Click to expand...

If you could find a multi-coated Hoya or B+W, get one for yourself.
They are perhaps much better than the Marumi and Kenko.

Member said:

2. Wide-angle C-PL are very difficult to find here in Australia, so
I'm also considering purchasing a step-up ring and buying a
larger-size Hoya C-PL (say 62mm or 67mm) instead. Will vignetting
be a problem if I choose this option?

Click to expand...

You could consider a slim CPL. Both Hoya and B+W have slim CPL's.
The use of step-up rings may not solve your problem because some
step-up rings are very thick that could cause vignetting. It is
hard to say if vignetting will occur because you did not specify
focal length and lens.

Click to expand...

Yep...this is what I meant by wide-angle C-PL, which are considerably thinner than regular C-PL. The Marumi and Kenko models I've seen are suitable for cameras at wide-angle, according to their product catalogues.

I know that Hoya makes a 3mm thick C-PL, but this is very expensive. I've read conflicting things about the quality of Marumi filters...it seems Kenko is not well-regarded, so now deciding between Marumi and Hoya. B+W is simply out of my price range.

To me, the Marumi C-PLs seems good value, especially as they also come in multi-coated versions which aren't significantly more expensive than their mono-coated.

By the way, my G3 lens has a range of 7.2-28.8mm, f2.0-3.0.

Member said:

Member said:

3. The Hoya HMC C-PL costs twice as much as the normal Hoyal C-PL
here in Australia (and needs to be ordered in where I live). Is the
HMC really worth the extra money?

Click to expand...

For most cases, the answer is YES. However, if your work is not so
critical, you do not have to pay the extra and a coated CPL should
work fine. Please take a look the Filters section of my 4500 user
guide, especially the "Coated vs Non-Coated" and "...Threads..."
sections for a little more details.

CK
http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam
Nikon Coolpix 950/990/995/2500/4500 user guide

Click to expand...

Thanks for your website link....very informative! I think I'm sold on the multi-coat....but can anyone whose used Marumi C-PLs before please provide some advice?

Regards,
Julius

Unless your Digital Camera uses phase detection AF (which many Dslr's use) there's no need to use the more expensive circular polarizer. Most of the people who are misguided about this fact, work in camera stores. So they wind up selling the more expensive filter to the un-wary.

http://www.cs.duke.edu/~parr/photography/faq.html#glare

Steve

Iam3D said:

i have a Kenco and it works for what i do with it...... am i
looking at going to Hoya? heck yes!! i could not afford the Hoya at
the time (both UV and CPL) so i bought what i could afford knowing
i was buying "low shelf".
steve, i have a question for you....... i was told that digi's
respond best (or needed) circular polarisers and do not purchase
"regular"....... was i mis-informed or does it matter? thanks.

--
If Some Is Good, More Is Better, And Too Much Is Just Right.
I live in my own little world. But it's OK ... they know me here

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/slo2k

'If one really wishes to be master of an art, technical knowledge of it is not enough. One has to transcend technique so that the art becomes an 'artless art' growing out of the Unconscious.'

Hi Julius

As long as the polariser is bigger than your objective lens and its close to it, you should get very little or no vignetting. This also goes for additional lenses such as teleconverters. I use 58mm thread lenses.

I use a 55mm circular polariser and even at full wide on my Oly C-730 uz, I experience no vignetting.

Alf B.

don't know if you got my last post awhile ago, but it was an apology for going on a bit..... sorry again & hope there are no hard feelings.
--
If Some Is Good, More Is Better, And Too Much Is Just Right.
I live in my own little world. But it's OK ... they know me here

Ciould somebody please explain to me what iHMC is?

Thanks.

HMC stands for Hoya Multi Coated

CoolYota said:

Ciould somebody please explain to me what iHMC is?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Pardon me for jumping in here without any helpful advice. I'm ignorant of polarizers.
I have an Oly C-2100UZ and am considering a polarizer.
What's the difference between a circular polarizer and any other?
Do different mfrs versions require longer exposures?

Does anyone know if my camera has the kind of AF that polarizers can cause a problem for?

Barry L said:

CoolYota said:

Ciould somebody please explain to me what iHMC is?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Barry thanks for clearing up for me

Here's an explanation of the differences between the two types. I hope this helps.

If the camera has a "beam splitting" mirror or prism, for whatever reason, use a circular. Nearly all current SLR's (made within the past few years) use beam splitting.

A circular polarizer is a linear polarizer with a quarter wave plate added to the back of it (usually they're cemented together). The linear polarizing plate in front acts just as a pure linear polarizer. The quarter wave plate behind it circularly polarizes the the light that has been filtered by the linear polarizer. A "beam splitter" is similar to a linear polarizer. To the beam splitter, the now circularly polarized light reacts as if it were randomly polarized, allowing the beam splitter to direct the correct portion of light to the camera's internal exposure meter and auto-focus system (if it has one).

Using a linear on a camera that uses a beam splitter, at least for its exposure meter, won't always throw off the metering. It will only occur when the polarizer is rotated into certain positions (or near them). When it does happen though (and it's unpredictable), how badly it throws off the metering is pretty dramatic.

Phil Sexton said:

Pardon me for jumping in here without any helpful advice. I'm
ignorant of polarizers.
I have an Oly C-2100UZ and am considering a polarizer.
What's the difference between a circular polarizer and any other?
Do different mfrs versions require longer exposures?
Does anyone know if my camera has the kind of AF that polarizers
can cause a problem for?

Click to expand...