Anyone tried using a polarising filter with a long telephoto?

[Unframed Dave]

I've been baffled that Sony have gone to the lengths of manufacturing a drop in polariser for the long primes.

Then it occurred to me that they may be useful to cut down the glare when shooting birds on water in less than perfect conditions.

What's the feeling of the gang on this?

It's an expensive bit of kit just to find out. Around 400 notes in the UK.

 

[AlphaWorld]

One reason to make a drop-in polariser is that the long primes have really large front elements - putting a polariser in front of one of these would be really expensive (not to mention difficult to attach - the front of the big telephotos doesn't have filter threads!). Moreover, all three of the current big primes have different diameters, so it they did take front-mounted filters, they would each take a different size.

The good news is that all three of the current big white primes take a 40.5mm drop in filter, and they all take the same polariser (the VF-DCPL1), if you happen to have mortgaged your house to afford all three

But yes, it's an expensive item - A$699 in my country. Sounds like a lot, until you compare it with the price of the lenses it's for, and then it's still expensive, but almost a rounding error on the bill

 

[Unframed Dave]

Yep, I get all that. Thanks.

I probably didn't word the question very well. What's the view on whether the filter has any use when taking shots of birds on water?

 

[iamdlewis]

I'll use one with the 100-400GM when I know I'll be out taking photos of ducks at a park in which I know I can get fairly close to them. It does help.

 

[Unframed Dave]

A friend has just sent me this.

Finally I'm using Filters For Wildlife Photography

Freewell made Magnetic Filters for Wildlife Photography that allow you to change into creative mode and transform wildlife photographs instantly. They have r...

m.youtube.com

 

[Brownie]

I didn't respond because I thought you were specifically talking about the drop-ins on the 600/4. If you're asking about polarizers in general, then yes, very useful. They can not only cut glare on many surfaces (the video even mentions glare on a bird's feathers) they can also improve contrast. They do tend to cut some light, I try to purchase polarizers that cut < 1 stop.

I used to use them all time in the film days but not so much with digital until last year. I was getting tired of all the glare out at the track and invested in a couple of polarizers for my main lenses. They work great in that setting, and I shoot at 400mm quite a bit, to answer your initial question.

Couple of things, unless you're shooting the same scene into the same light, you need to rotate the filter to find the most effective setting for each shot. Also, a setting is only going to be effective in reducing glare on surfaces that are on the same plane. For example, a puddle of water next to a store window. You'll be able to cut or eliminate glare on one of those, but not both. You may find a compromise setting that helps a little with both, or maybe a setting where it's very effective on one and partially effective on the other.

I watched most of the video, and while they may be nice filters, there's no way I'd buy anything magnetic for walking around outdoors. Shooting out of a car probably would be ok, but I can easily see those getting lost.