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Micro 4/3 lenses and filters

Hauxon

Member
I just sold all my Canon gear and bought a used Olympus E-P1 with kit lens, fl-14 flash and Panasonic 20/1.7 lens. I plan using the m4/3 system alongside my Mamiya 7 film camera. I mostly shoot travel/landscape and used my Lee filter system a lot with the Canon lenses both regular ND and ND grads.

Does anyone here have experience using the Lee system with m43 lenses? I have yet to buy a super wide lens. I'll probably buy the Oly 9-18mm because it takes filters and I can the fit the Lee holder to the lens. I'd like to buy the superior Panasonic 7-14mm but not being able to use filters with it does make it unpractical for me.

...and polarizers, do I need a slim polarizer with the 9-18mm lens? Guess a regular one will work with the kit lens??

Thanks, Hrannar
 

pellicle

New member
Does anyone here have experience using the Lee system with m43 lenses? I
because I don't I resisted replying. I use Hoya filters and on occasion the Cokin P system (which I share with my LF camera)

Loss of ultra fine detail may be an issue if ultra sharp images (think pine needles in the distance) are required.

aside from that I haven't found anything special about filters on 4/3 (or m4/3)
 
.Loss of ultra fine detail may be an issue if ultra sharp images (think pine needles in the distance) are required.
Hmmm...I haven't noticed such a thing when using filters (hoya brand) with my film gear. Actually, there was a 6x6cm transparency which I had exposed with an ND filter and that I had blown up to 20 x 20 inches. Not only was a filter used for this image but it was also a long exposure combined with the diffraction-loving aperture setting of f22. Despite all of that, the clarity and sharpness on that big print was quite impressive. When my sister first saw it, she assumed that it was a poster that I had bought.

Besides, if you hold up a photographic filter to your eye and you can see ultra fine detail through through the glass, wouldn't a lens also be able to 'see' that ultra fine detail through the same filter?
 
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Hauxon

Member
Thanks for relying. I'm not too worried about loss of detail with Lee filters or other high quality brands.

I'm looking into how the Lee holder is attached to the Nikon 14-24 lens and hoping something similar might be possible for the Panasonic 7-14mm lens.
 

pellicle

New member
Hmmm...I haven't noticed such a thing when using filters (hoya brand) with my film gear. Actually, there was a 6x6cm transparency
correct, nor me on my 4x5 either. But its related to the amount of enlargement and the number of LP/MM that the sensor needs to get ... with a 6x6 cm sensor the magnification is not as high. Try it, see what you find?
 

Tesselator

New member
I dunno about other filter types but polarizers have had a reputation for reducing fine detail since they 1st came out. It was a very common discussion among film photographers prior to the advent of digital. I'm sure it's the same on digital. If you don't notice it it's probably just because you're not doing with/without comparisons.

I haven't done any comparisons myself either but in my loooong life in cameras I don't think I've ever had a conversation with an experienced pro (about polarizers) without this issue being mentioned. As I understand it, use polarizers only for reducing unwanted reflection. If you need slower shutter speeds use NDs. If you want the brighter greens and /slightly/ more contrasty clouds that polarizers MAY offer under the right conditions, just do it in post (or the dark-room) instead.

That seems right to me too. I avoid all filters whenever I can - simply because of the added ghosts and reflections that ALL of them add.
 

Hauxon

Member
I agree one should avoid using filters if possible. Increasing color saturation in post does not yield the same result as using a polarizer.

Hrannar
 

Rich M

Member
I agree one should avoid using filters if possible. Increasing color saturation in post does not yield the same result as using a polarizer.

Hrannar
I find reducing Luminance in the blue channel in LR simulates polarization nicely (without the vignetting that usually accompanies using a filter).

R
 

pellicle

New member
I find reducing Luminance in the blue channel in LR simulates polarization nicely (without the vignetting that usually accompanies using a filter).
but it will not reduce the reflections on broad leaf species in the rainforest which makes them all go "white" and reduce their saturation, nor will it control reflections on surfaces and remove the ability to see them.

so I agree with Hauxons comment
Increasing color saturation in post does not yield the same result as using a polarizer.
Like everything know the tools and use where needed ... that's what differentiates experience from habit.

:angel:
 

Rich M

Member
but it will not reduce the reflections on broad leaf species in the rainforest which makes them all go "white" and reduce their saturation, nor will it control reflections on surfaces and remove the ability to see them.

so I agree with Hauxons comment


Like everything know the tools and use where needed ... that's what differentiates experience from habit.

:angel:
I couldn't agree more....the choice of a CP is situational.....and for the use you described is warranted. However, the vast majority of individuals using a polarizer use it simply to darken their skies and make their clouds look prettier. So for them, a few PP tweaks easily suffices.

R
 

Tesselator

New member
I couldn't agree more....the choice of a CP is situational.....and for the use you described is warranted. However, the vast majority of individuals using a polarizer use it simply to darken their skies and make their clouds look prettier. So for them, a few PP tweaks easily suffices.

R
And without the reduction in detail too. ;)
 

pollobarca

New member
I use a Hoya CP to remove reflections but It is very difficult to set up on the 14.42 kit lens with my e-pl1.
Last year (not with e-pl1 but with a c5050z ) I used the same filter at 2500 mtres
as I had forgotten the UV at home. Worked nicely.

b rgds
paul
 

Tesselator

New member
Yeah, that's something I didn't read in this thread yet. As I understand it UV filters are still desirable at high altitudes. I dunno at what general altitude violets start messing with the balance without looking it up, but I'm sure 2,500m (8,200 feet!!!) qualifies for sure! :D

From my experiences with film, living in Big Bear Lake, Ca. it also depends on the weather and it's affect on light too. I mean for example it didn't affect night photography much at all and images taken on very overcast days didn't go nearly as blue as on sunny days. I think my house was at 4,100 feet IIRC.
 

pellicle

New member
Yeah, that's something I didn't read in this thread yet. As I understand it UV filters are still desirable at high altitudes. I dunno at what general altitude violets start messing with the balance without looking it up, but I'm sure 2,500m (8,200 feet!!!) qualifies for sure! :D
having tried UV photography with LED as a source of UV I don't think that its as much an issue as it is with film (and colour not as much as B&W and pan chromatic not as much as ortho) IIRC
 

pollobarca

New member
Looking round the web there are people who say UV filters do nothing and others say they do something. All I know is that my first day out at 1700 metres (San Vigilio in Marebbe) the pix were pretty dull straight from the camera. Next day with the Polarizer , the colours were much brighter. That said I also used a Nikon WCE68 wide angle converter and the colours were great with that too_Obviously no filter can be used with this converter lens.
Btw I do shoot in RAW and I do play around with WB in the conversion. I'm not too good at that and am still at an early stage on the learning curve ...
 

pellicle

New member
Hi

Looking round the web there are people who say UV filters do nothing and others say they do something. All I know is that my first day out at 1700 metres (San Vigilio in Marebbe) the pix were pretty dull straight from the camera. Next day with the Polarizer , the colours were much
well you are comparing two entirely different filters. Put the filter up to your eye (make sure its facing the right way) and turn it ... you will see with your eye the effects the filer has. The polariser removes reflections from things and this also effects the nature of how we see the sky. We see the sky because light is reflected from something. As you'll notice the amount that the sky is effected depends on the angle you are looking away from the sun towards. This same phenomenon makes it difficult to get uniform effects with a polariser on very wide lenses ...

but please don't be thinking that a UV filter and a Polariser filter are the same thing.

certainly there are things which a polariser changes, that is why they are made. but equally everything brings with it a cost ... if the cost of "detail loss" or "post photographic time" is negligible in comparison to the benefit of using the tool then by all means use it :)
 
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