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Do you Polarize With the M8?

Gary P

Member
I've been venturing around this and other rangefinder forums enjoying a number of beautiful images. Some of those have included wonderful landscapes with gorgeous skies which leads me to ask, do many of you M8 users use a polarizing filter? I've seen the polarizing filter system for an M Leica which seems like it would be cumbersome to use.

My assumption is that not many do use one on an M, or if so not very often. I'm anxious to hear your feedback.

Thank you.

Gary P
 

hdrmd

New member
I have the M Polarizing filter which you mentioned. Yes, it is cumbersome and it looks like something out of Inspector Gadget, but it does work. DR
 
R

Riccardo

Guest
I have Heliopan polarizer with numbers on ring. You set filter outside the lens, remember number on top, and screw in into lens and set the number You remember. Sorry for my english. I hope this is easy to understand. ;)
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
I use the same Leica Polarizer on my 35 pre asph summicron. It is useful in Florida for Beach scenics and we have so much light its not a limitation. I just set it once and use it for every shot . Doesn t have to be optimized just to darken the sky and it does make the blues a lot stronger.

Probably not necessary with the ability to darken the sky in post and I don t need to eliminate reflections . But I enjoy the old Kodachrome look right out of the camera.
 

robsteve

Subscriber
The polarizer will also help with some colours such as a red barn or green leaves. The polarization cuts out some of the reflection off the surface and makes the colours deeper.

Robert
 

jaapv

Subscriber Member
When I get out into the mountains I have the "Goofy" Leica polfilter on the Summicron 35 asph and a homemade contraption ( step-up ring with slots I made myself and 77 mm polfilter) on the Summicron 90 AA. Changing the things around is too fiddly. I might add, photographic polfilters don't function in the IR part of the spectrum (although there are specialized astronomic ones that do) so you cut down your visible light by half, whilst the IR passes unhindered. That doubles the IR contamination, so it is essential to stack the polfilter on the IR filter. Fortunately one shoots polarized shots at an angle of 90 degrees to the light, so the disadvantages of stacking filters are minimized.




 

Gary P

Member
Thank you for the insight! Beautiful image JAAP! I'm convinced the polarizer will be a good investment in the near future.

Gary P
 

harmsr

Workshop Member
I have it and use it quite often. Not so much for the effect on skies or colors, which as noted can be moved in post very easily. However, if you are trying to get rid of reflections off of glass or water it is worth its weight in gold.

Here is an example. This photo is of the USS Arizona in Hawaii. Flowers being thrown by Japanese visitors. The superstructure was not visible, due to reflections, without using a polarizer.

Ray
 
A

Artorius

Guest
Robert White has these for sale;
http://www.robertwhite.co.uk/products.asp?PT_ID=284

I haven't been able to find it anywhere else. I'm waiting for the hotshoe viewer and a 39mm filter as I write this. Luckily, most of my RF lenses fall into this size. If it works as good as I've seen, I don't know whether to buy the largest for my lens size and get a step up for the other two, or just buy the two other sizes I need.
 

racefan

New member
New to rangefinders also and wondering if this a workable solution?

I have a 77mm circular polarizer I use on my Nikon gear. Can I adjust by holding toward the shooting direction and then simply hand hold in front of the hood/IR filter after adjusting aperture/focus? I'll try it later this week - seems like it would work for an occasional shot.

_________________
Ron
 

Peter Klein

New member
To avoid taking a non-Leica polarizer on and off the lens to get the setting, simply carry two polarizers. You can get the reading by looking through a polarizer in your hand, then transfer it to the one on the lens. The one you look through can even be an older, "bargain bin" filter that's no longer good enough for photographing through. Or, the one you use on other lenses, e.g. you carry both 39mm and 46mm polarizers.

My polarizers don't have numbers, only arrows. I just think of the arrow on the polarizer rim as a clock hand, and set the arrow on the lens' polarizer to the same "o'clock."

How do you know if the two polarizers' arrows are calibrated to the same reference? Simple. Look through both of them simultaneously, and rotate one until the image you see goes black. The arrows, or equivalent numbers, should be at right angles.

The above refers to standard, linear polarizers. I don't know if circular polarizers work the same way.
 
A

Artorius

Guest
I should have asked, what FL lenses do you want to use? If you are thinking ultra wides, forget it. They will help in the middle of the frame, but will not be useful for the outer areas of the frame. You can find more info here;
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/polarizers.shtml

I just received my KENKO set-up, and will post results here when I do the review.

With my M8, I don't usually use a Polarizer with anything smaller than a 21mm, and I think I am on the edge here. The most benefit I find is with any lens greater than 50mm up to and including the 135mm Elmar.
 
A

Artorius

Guest
Here is one with the Kenko viewer attached to the TU CSEP mod 4. Takes a little while to get used to the look, but very functional.

 

Gary P

Member
Hi Art,

Can you tell me what the components are? It looks like the viewfinder has numbers that when rotated to the appropriate polarizing angle get set the same on the filter to match the polarizing angle?

Are both the viewfinder and the polarizer made by Kenko?

I just returned from a western states vacation and handheld my larger diameter polarizer to my eye then stuck it in front of the lens trying to hold the angle. It worked o.k. but not a preferred method. This system looks like it might be a good compromise.

Can you tell me where you picked it up?

Thanks.

Gary
 

Gary P

Member
Hi Art,

I just went back a few posts and note the Robert White link. I understand the system. Do you like it?

Gary
 
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Artorius

Guest
Hi Art,

I just went back a few posts and note the Robert White link. I understand the system. Do you like it?

Gary
Gary,
Yes, although I am in the testing stage, the results I am getting are definitely favorable. It seems to be working out great for my light usage for this type of filter. The last couple of times in Jamaica with a DSLR, the polarizer proved invaluable, not just the effect, but as a sort-of-ND filter, so I figured I could use it for my last assignment there in August, using my M's(M8 and M3).
You use by looking through and rotating the finder/viewer for the desired result, read the number and, aligning the number on the filter. I use the f/stop dot on the lens for the alignment point.
Simple and quick, I like that part.
 
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Scargos2

New member
By having the IR filter on, how do you attach the polarize to the IR filter, I think I am missing some thing.
 
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