Polarising Opinions Sought On Polarisers

If you're shooting digital, get a circular polarizer. In your price range, you'll probably be looking at a Tiffen or Hoya. I'd go with the Hoya.

if money was no object, get a BW its the easiest to clean. it depends on the size of your lens though as to what you choose.

if i had to choose again i would go with a threadless design. i get vignetting using the XUME adapter. get something coated. hoya is good, but hard to clean. i got a DHG pol this time around. as it was the thinnest i could find at the time. it tends to swirl easily.

a warming pol is nice to have, it make the trees look nice.

---Mike Savad

For that price range, look at the Cokin "P" stuff,

Rich

I haven't used a polarizer in years,by the way...........

B+W polarizers are generally thinner and less likely to cause vignetting. I consider them the best, but they probably cost more than $50.

I use BW and they are awesome except when they come unscrewed on the lens, and both the polarizer and the lens get scratched as a result. Aside from that they're awesome. Price is usually in the $150 range though.

I just bought my first one ever. Can't wait to use it.

Thanks Murray, I was thinking Hoya because of the name, and I have a selection of Hoya effects I bought second-hand back in the day. Still functional though not as versatile as PS obviously.

Thanks Mike - this is good info, I hadn't considered ease of cleaning - I have lenspens that are good on everything else. Warming looks interesting, this is new to me

Thanks Rich, Cokin was what's lost - it was second hand for about a fiver, probably a tenner in today's money

Thanks Greg, the B+W price pushes it to a coin toss between a whole new lens though (something I was aiming for by Xmas anyway, so...)

Thanks Adam - I'm not much of a fan of unscrewing, scratches, nor hefty prices. You may have just made the perfect case against them!

They're necessary for certain things Chuck. Like museums and art and lakes and skies etc. Looking at Rich's portfolio, I'd say the chrome/duco reflections are the perfect reason you'd not use one.

If you mainly only use a polariser, I'd say Hoya. If on the other hand, you are interested in other filters as well, I'm with Rich on the Colkin system. Sadly the poloriser will be more than $50 though.

i never liked the lens pen. it just encourages you to smear grit across the lens over and over. the pen just really pushes the grease around. hoya has always smeared on me. my current one smears after i clean it. there is always something on it. my BW cleans great. but it would cost me like $85 or more for it. so i opted for cheaper.


---Mike Savad