Using a polarizer?

Does anyone use a polarizer when they are shooting outdoor sports? Are they helpful when shooting with harsh sunlight?

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Originally Posted by masdog

Does anyone use a polarizer when they are shooting outdoor sports? Are they helpful when shooting with harsh sunlight?

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I have never used one when shooting sports of any kind. Maybe someone else will have some input here. I don't know what to tell you on this.

Polarizer won't change the character of the light much, no.
It's only effective at an angle to the sun, not direct into or away from the sun.
You get a change in the sky colour, good for cloudy skies to enhance the contrast, otr to deepen the hue of a blue sky.
Also reflections are diminished but may not be totally eliminated.
You may see with a wide angle lens the sky isn't the same colour all thw way across the iamge, that's becuase light is not evenly polarised. There is a theory insects canuse hte angle of polarisation of light for navigtion.

Depends on your camera how useful they are. Some lenses have a rotating front element to the lens, which means the polariser angle changes as it focuses - bad news because that changes the effect.

Safest to buy circular polariser, because it works on all cameras. Linear polariser will work only on cameras without beam splitters, it upsets the AF and/or metering.

http://www.mat.uc.pt/~rps/photos/filters_uv_pol/#polq8 is great. It even mentions Brewster's angle which few other references other to cover.

So I should save myself a hundred bucks or so and not buy one? I like that idea. :D

What sports do you photograph?
For motorsport it reduces the glare on the windscreens and you can see the drivers better.
If there's sky in your photos (mtb perhaps) then it makes a difference, you can get great skies.
It also has an effect on colours, looking more saturated.

I'm defnitely buying one, probably after next month's pay packet.
£150 for a filter !
Can't afford one for each lens, I'll have to share :)

The outdoor sports that I shoot right now are Soccer, Tennis, and Golf.

Never used one, as in the other thread I use a HOYA UV (0)

Get one!

JS

Golf you should get some awesome skies.
For that alone, I think it'd be worth it.