Bought a linear polarizer. Need circular?

[griptape]

After searching through the forums, everything I found said a linear polarizer would be no different than a circular polarizer as far as the S3 is concerned. So I ordered a linear polarizer from lensmateonline.com (very happy with the speedy shipping), and when I actually used it, I didn't get nearly the amount of sky I would have liked to (sample below, sky was much more blue in real life, with some clouds). I have no problem buying a circular if it will make a difference, but I don't want to get one for no reason either.

So will a circular polarizer make any difference as opposed to a linear polarizer for the S3? The bottom pic is faux hdr, to show you what I thought the polarizer would come close to getting me.

[DirePenguin]

So will a circular polarizer make any difference as opposed to a linear polarizer for the S3? The bottom pic is faux hdr, to show you what I thought the polarizer would come close to getting me.

AFAIK, no ... the CPL will give you no more glare reducing than a linear.

When taking the pictures, did you turn the PL to see which orientation did the most good? If you don't turn the filter, it might not do anything at all (depending on the "direction" of the light).

[griptape]

^I turned it, but it didn't have any noticable effect when looking at the viewfinder. But holding it up to my computer monitor, and a car windshield, I can clearly see the difference. It would be nice if the filter was marked to make it a little easier. I may find a white sharpie and mark it myself. If it wasn't rainy out I'd go try it out in similar lighting again. Thank you for the help.

[nbh1]

Taking photos of your kids running around can drive you nuts. Well, at least it drives me nuts sometimes. In order to get the effect of a polarizer the sun needs to be 45 degrees from the direction your lens is pointing. The more this angle changes the less effect there will be. Someone suggested I put the sun just behind my should and that seems to work pretty well as an estimate.

[downtrodden]

No a CPL will not help anymore than a LP. And marking your filter won't help your situation either, as the strength of the effect is determined by not only the position of the filter, but more so, the angle of the filter to the reflected light. So in shot A you may want a reflection on glass to be eliminated and in shot B you may want the sky to be deeper blue, you're going to have to adjust the filter appropriately to both shots and a marking will not help with this unless you're exactly the same angle to the reflection and the reflected surface is the same angle every time- and a piece of glass is never going to be the same angle as the sky.

I hope that makes sense..

You best bet is to take the filter out on your camera and just point is skyward, remembering that the filter doesn't make clouds disappear, only makes blue in the sky more saturated. Point the camera at different segments of sky and adjust the filter and note what kind of effect the adjustment has in relation to what angle the sun is from the camera.

Hope that helps.

~Cory

[GaryS]

The photos you posted... A polarizer isn't going to help with this situation.

What you need for this photo is to use the flash. The flash would life the shadows off her face and bring out the colour in her clothes. You can then adjust the shutter speed (if in manual mode) to bring out the sky the best you can.

[jonalta]

I have both a PL and CPL and they give the same results with my S3.

[Turn]

this is exactly why I don't use my polarizer, I have never found it to be useful and would prefer to use a grad filter with my polarizer because the sky always blows out when I try to use longer exposures

I hate how easily filters can get dirty/lint on them

which brings my other question
with the A520 I could put it at 15 seconds and the image would have caught alot of light

my S3 IS at the same settings would still be pitch black

what the hell!?

[griptape]

For anyone still interested, it was a simple matter of rotating the filter. This is pretty much exactly what I was wanting it to do.

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m235/nothingisworking/IMG_1976.jpg