Polarisation filter.

Hey guys! How’ve you been? Well I’ve been to Sweden by bike and all went very well. I will post some shots very soon. Still in the process of selecting them, sorting them out etc etc.
But for now I have something funny, I’ve started using and understanding the polarisation filter.

Why now? Well at first I heard “yes it’s a must have, it removes reflections“. This is basically what all articles state and they show some pictures which look really nice. Still often I hardly see any difference. Once again I read one of those articles, and since some company accidentaly sent me one of those filters for my new lens, I thought let’s give it ONE more shot.

So where did it went wrong all other times? Aparently you can ROTATE the filter to change the effect. And all of a sudden a world opened to me…
When you try it… ROTATE THE FILTER!!!


Okay so now to the part “it removes reflections”. Sounds nice but … what does it really do?
According to my own observation it removes light with a high intensity. And the light range that you remove is adjustable (rotate rotate rotate….) I even managed to look at my PC screen and with the right setup I made the complete screen (which was for 90% bright white) completely black. Speaking of a difference lol!

But also reflections such as highlights on shiney smooth objects or matte objects.
When is this handy? I’ll show you in some examples.

Also something that is nice, imagine taking a picture from a car but you see the reflection from the window, you can allmost completely remove this reflection with this filter!!!! OKAY you will still see some, but hey who doesn’t love Photoshop these days aye?

So enough words, let’s get some examples where it’s obvious that it HELPS.

See the difference? NOTE: these are ALL taken with the filter on, but by rotating you can “turn it off or on”.

That’s it for now, hope it helps you guys! Oh and by the way the filter I used “Massa PL 77mm” on my Canon 24-105 L lens, on the 5DMKII.
Yes it’s a cheap filter from hong kong but seriously, it does it’s job!

3 thoughts on “Polarisation filter.”

  1. Steef,

    Moeten die 10% niet 100% worden?? Het staat der nu een beetje raar;)
    Dat je het even weet =)

    xx

  2. Technically speaking, a polarization filter (or any polarized glass) removes light of a certain “polarity”, regardless of intensity. The polarity of light is related to its angle of reflection off of an object, so polarized glass can block a reflection from one direction, but pass other light.

    You can turn a shiny oil puddle into a black hole, see deep into water, and erase the windshield in cars coming down the road.

  3. Webnician: Thank you very much for this. I already wondered if the angle had anything to do with it since sometimes I got results I didn’t fully expect. So it does.

    Thanks!!

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