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A900 Filter vignetting

dhsimmonds

New member
I wonder if anyone else has experienced vignetting when using a polarising filter? I fitted a 77mm B+W MRC polariser on the front of the Zeiss 24-70 and suffered fairly severe vignetting at anything much wider than about 28mm.

As I have shot mainly with "cropped" sensors until I changed to the A900 it came as a bit of a shock!

Maybe the answer is to use the B+W slim frame filters but they are a fair bit more expensive so has anyone else had experience of whether they would solve the problem? A larger size filter with step down rings might solve it but then you still have the rim of the step ring and no possibility of using a hood!

I must try my polariser with the 16-35 as that may be even worse!
 

edwardkaraa

New member
I have a Sony Zeiss protection filter on every lens and didn't notice any additional vignetting. The frames of these filter are quite thin actually. If the polarizing filter has a thick frame, and they usually do, then some vignetting is to be expected at wide apertures, but it should be gone once you stop down a bit. Also, please note that sometimes the natural light fall off in the sky can be sometimes mistaken for vignetting.
 

picman

Member
I have a Sony Zeiss protection filter on every lens and didn't notice any additional vignetting. The frames of these filter are quite thin actually. If the polarizing filter has a thick frame, and they usually do, then some vignetting is to be expected at wide apertures, but it should be gone once you stop down a bit. Also, please note that sometimes the natural light fall off in the sky can be sometimes mistaken for vignetting.
I have the same experience. The Sony Zeiss protection filters show no vignetting at all. I also have the Sony Zeiss circular polarizing filter and that too, as far as I have tried it out, does not show any vignetting. It is actually almost as thin as the protection filter. But I have not really put it through its paces yet, all I can confirm is that it is very thin.

Cheers, Bob.
 

Eoin

Member
Here is 3 rough 'n' ready shots taken against a light blue wall

1st ZA 24-70 @ f:/2.8 with a Sony Zeiss *T polarising filter
2nd ZA 24-70 @ f:/2.8 with a Sony Zeiss *T protection filter
3rd ZA 24-70 @ f:/2.8 with no filter.
 

edwardkaraa

New member
I think Eoin photos prove that at least Sony's polarizer does not increase the lens vignetting. Some other brands might do though. Also since polarizers tend to darken blue skies, the vignetting might become more obvious. Many photographers do not use polarizers with UWA because the darkeing becomes too exagerated.
 

dhsimmonds

New member
When I used the Leica R9 system, I quickly learned that Leica filters were actually made by B+W which of course are owned by Schneider. The B+W filters are a lot cheaper than the same Leica branded commodity!

I have used Hoya and other Japanese filters but have found them tending to suffer "binding of the thread" compared to the German designs with coated brass file mounting rings. This can be a bu**er when trying to change a filter in the field, particularly with a circular polariser which is designed to turn within it's threaded mount anyway!

I rather suspect that Sony also brand their filters from another Japanese filter supplier such as Hoya? Unless of course they use Zeiss filters probably then made by B+W or Heliopan!! Back to sqare one! The answer is to use the slim mount for the Zeiss wide angle lenses imho.
 

Eoin

Member
The Sony filters I use are co-branded Sony Zeiss T*. They seem to be slim type code VF-77MPAM and the polariser is also very thin code VF-77CPAM.

Where they come from or who makes them is another question but they have the Zeiss T* coating and the box says made in Japan.
 
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