Polarising filter - coated or non coated?

[David Evans]

Having sat on the fence on this I need to part with some money and buy in the next day or so, so to the forum for advice!
I need a polarising filter for the Lee 100mm system, and I'm thinking of a Heliopan
It needs to be a circular one (as I'm shooting digital), and it also needs to be a slim one as I will be using a 25-28mm (full frame equivalent) lens. I'm hoping that I don't get noticable uneven left to right polarisation from this.
The filter will be used with a Lee standard hood.
SO ... if I'm using the hood, does it matter whether or not the filter is multi-coatedt? Price difference new is £212 versus £174, but I may have been luck enough to find a used non-coated one.
Am I correct in thinking the Lee polariser isn't multi-coated anyway?
Is the Lee polariser any better than the Heliopan non coated version?
Come to that is the Lee filter a slim one?

Thank you for any advice on the above.

FINALLY if I do get uneven left to right sky, what's the procedure for evening it out. Preferably in Lightroom 4 but alternatively in Photoshop.

Thanks again.

[dave_whatever]

i wouldn't worry about the coating, my B&W 105mm polariser is uncoated, no problems. It would be quite unusual to shoot into-the-light with a polariser anyway.

Uneven sky tone with wide lenses with a polariser is par for the course unless you avoid it. Its not likely to be an easy fix in post, so if you don't want that effect then avoid shooting with the polariser on shots that show it ( i.e. side lit wideangle shots with open sky).

The stardard Lee polariser is quite thick, I think the heliopans are a bit thinner, but given the filter is oversized anyway I doubt you need an especially thin polariser. Mine isn't thin and I use with a 90 and 65mm without vignetting.

Another thought, how are you going to use the stardard hood over a screw-on filter on the lee setup? lee don't make any provision for this.

[David Evans]

Another thought, how are you going to use the stardard hood over a screw-on filter on the lee setup? lee don't make any provision for this.

Thanks for the advice Dave. I just checked and the Lee hood I have is the Universal one (not standard as stated previously). It's the one with a filter holder and two slots included, and I can fit the polariser adapter ring inside the hood. Now I'm looking at it though, it doesn't look like there's a lot of room to turn a polariser once it's screwed in. It would have to be turned at the hood corners I think. I'm not missing something here am I?
The alternative is I save the money and use my existing 77mm polariser directly on the lens, and mount the Lee hood on afterwards if I need to use any ND Grads.
As you can no doubt tell, the times when I use a polariser are VERY rare! Even when taking shots of water in sunlight I'm normally trying to capture the reflections, not polarise them out!

[dave_whatever]

If you can fit the lee ring inside the hood you should be ok, but like you say screwing it in might be fiddly.

When i used to use a cokin p-size system i did the trick of puttting a smaller polariser on the lens before the filter holder/ring, but this is also a bit of a pain.

If you can do without a hood then by far the most convenient method I've found with the 105mm polariser to to get a second lee holder and leave the polariser on this permenantly. Hence its very quick to fit and no fumbling around screwing it and dropping your expensive filter (I dropped mine!).

[David Evans]

Thanks Dave.
That sounds like the probably solution, a second filter holder ... except for the additional cost!

[Charles Twist]

A rotating mount for a second filter set is generally useful. Maybe not the most used, but invaluable for work with contrasty emulsions like colour transparency or DPP. I would just warn about the extra distance it puts in front of the lens. You will need to be very careful with your wide angle lenses to avoid vignetting. If you use movements, you'll need to slide the front filter set up, down or sideways to avoid vignetting. The weight of the polariser can then be an issue as the front filter set might then not have enough grip and could slide. So pack some BluTak. A £££ system saved by a few pence...
Charles

[Thingy]

With less wide LF lenses you can of course use the RF75 system: smaller, lighter and the polarizer just "locks" onto the front of the holder as standard. I must admit that I avoid using a polariser unless I'm phortographing through glass or wish to reduce excess reflections which cannot be eliminated by other means.

Holder: http://www.leefilters.com/index.php/cam ... -polariser

Clip-on polariser: http://www.leefilters.com/index.php/cam ... -polariser

[David Evans]

Right, got the filter. Next thing I envisage happening is the filter stuck on the Lee adapter ring (it already happened trying it out at home!), especially if I rotate with the thread to minimise risk of it dropping off.
A quick search on the cheap plastic wrenches shows they only seem to go up to 82mm.
What do people use for their 105mm filter? Elastic bands possibly?

[Paul Mitchell]

I rub a HB pencil on the thread to stop it from sticking

[David Evans]

Paul - good idea, like graphite powder for locks. I'll try that. Thanks

[David Evans]

I didn't get the Heliopan filter mentioned earlier in the thread after all, cash resources ended up elsewhere!
I've just noticed though that Formatt (Hitech) do a 105mm circular polariser at list price £125 an can be got new for around £100. Considerable saving on the Heliopan and Lee prices.
Has anyone any thoughts or experiences on the Formatt filters please?
Does anyone know how thick the filter is and whether it vignettes at wider angles?
Thanks

[dave_whatever]

Generally I've never had any problems with formatt filters, but I've never used any of their screw-ins, only square resins. I doubt you'll have any problems with one of their polarisers. Bear in mind the Lee 105mm polariser itself is nothing special, its made by Hoya.

If you don't mind a bit of edge seperation then this is cheap:
www.ffordes.com/product/12071810343381