Well… in the ‘how to make a fool of yourself‘ department, Samantha and I present the goofy video below. We really think that UV filters are a complete waste of time so if you want some ideas of what to do with all your old UV filters then watch on!
And if you want something a little more serious and instructional about filters then check out our new eBook, Essential Filters for Digital Nature Photography over at Visual Wilderness.
Check out the differences between these two shots taken on a recent trip to Moncton, New Brunswick. The first shot was made with no polarizer. In the second image I used a polarizer and it interacted with the glass in the window to give some crazy rainbow colours. As I spun the polarizer around I got a kaleidoscope of alternating colours. Hey this was more fun than a bag of BC mushrooms! Either way, I was flying high.
©Darwin Wiggett - no polarizer
©Darwin Wiggett - polarizer
©Darwin Wiggett
All the storms passing through Alberta lately have given photographers great opportunities. I went out the other day after supper looking for some storm light and I got it close to home and I even had a willing subject for a foreground! I used a Singh-Ray LB warming polarizer (to enhance the rainbow) and a Singh-Ray 2-stop hard-step grad (to darken the sky) using my set-up for filters on the Canon G11.
©Darwin Wiggett - Canon EOS-1ds Mark III, 24mm Tilt-Shift Lens
I used my standard ‘prairie’ filtering technique (a Singh-Ray Cokin Z-pro sprocket mount LB warming polarizer plus a 4×6 Singh-Ray Two-Stop hard-Edge Grad in a Cokin Z-Pro Holder) to even out the exposure between the sky and the foreground in this scene. I also used the shift feature on my Canon 24mm TSE lens to make a big square image (click on the photo to see a larger version). If you are interested in exactly how I made this photo, check out the video below. The only thing the video does not show is my post-processing procedure which is simply using Photo Merge in Photoshop CS-5 to merge the two component images. Finally I used a strong s-curve on the photo to punch up the contrast in the scene. As you will see the video is ‘on the fly’ (or mosquito in this case) and anything can happen.
Note: To see all future reviews please note this blog is no longer active, please visit me over at oopoomoo.com
When I owned a Canon G9, I bought the conversion lens adapter that Canon made for the G9. I simply attached my Cokin P-holder to the Canon lens conversion adapter using a Cokin 58mm adapter ring and I was up and running using my Singh-Ray filters on my G9. So when I bought the Canon G11, I also purchased Canon’s Conversion Lens Adapter LA-DC58K (the G9 version would not fit of course – thanks Canon!). I assumed that I could simply attach my Cokin P-holder to the new G11 adapter and be off filtering my photos (see photo below).
Well… guess what? The adapter that Canon makes specifically to attach supplemental lenses and filters on the G11 vignettes at the widest lens setting on the G11–see top image in the photo below! What the hell? Why would Canon make an accessory for a camera that does not work properly? Thanks Canon. And to add insult to injury, once a Cokin P-holder and a Singh-Ray drop-in polarizer is added to the set-up, vignetting gets even worse (see bottom image of the photo below).
A solution to the vignetting problem inherent in Canon’s (poorly designed) conversion lens adapter is to buy a 72 mm filter adapter made by Lensmate. This adapter fits onto the Canon G11 in two parts and allows use of 72 mm filters without vignetting. I tried the Lensmate 72 mm filter adapter without any filters and as promised it did not vignette at all. But when I attached my Cokin P-holder with a 72 mm adapter ring and used a Singh-Ray drop-in polarizer vignetting occurred at the widest focal-length setting on the G11.
According to Lensmate, the only way to get around vignetting issues and still use a Cokin P-holder is to slide the P-holder onto the bayonet mount of the Lensmate 72mm adapter and then use a thin mount screw-in polarizer in the threads of the Lensmate adapter (see photo below). If you use this set-up then you have room for one extra drop-in filter in the Cokin P-holder. When I tried this configuration I did not get any vignetting even at the widest focal length setting on the G11. Finally!
With my Canon G9, I could use three filters in my Cokin P-holder. But with the configuration suggested by Lensmate, I can only use two filters with the Canon G11. This limitation is not too serious considering that the Canon G11 has a built-in ND filter (the third type of filter I would normally add). I can still use a polarizer and a grad together on the G11. The main problem with the Lensmate solution is that I needed to buy a separate 72mm polarizer specifically for my G11 – ouch my pocketbook!
If you do not want to spring for an extra polarizer for your G11 and you already own a drop-in polarizer for your Cokin P-holder then simply understand that you’ll need to zoom out slightly from the widest setting on the G11 to avoid vignetting with the Lensmate and a Cokin P-holder (the price you pay for saving money). So for those photographers interested in using filters on the Canon G11 (or Canon G10), the Lensmate System will work perfectly but it will hurt your wallet especially if you need to buy a separate 72mm thin-mount polarizer.
©DArwin Wiggett - Canon EOS-1ds Mark III, 24mm TS-E lens
When I first saw this rock with a leaf on it, I snapped a few photos with my Canon G11. I posted a B+W as a Daily Snap for Jan 28. After I saw the potential in the scene, I grabbed my ‘big’ camera and played around. In this photo I used two filters; the Singh-Ray Gold-n-Blue polarizer to add colour to the scene, and a Singh-Ray 5-stop solid ND filter to lengthen the shutter speed so I could get blurred water. To see what the scene looked like with out filter, I shot a comparison image below. Notice in the non-filtered image the bird poop on the rock; in the final image above, I cloned out the turd.
©Darwin Wiggett - no filters
I just did a a podcast with Marko over at Photography.ca about grad filters, polarizers, and ND filters. If you want to learn more about what these filters are, how they work and why I think every landscape photographer should use filters then turn up your speaker and listen to me ramble on… and on about these creative tools.
No filters - Canon Rebel Xsi
Singh-Ray 2-stop hard-edge grad filter over sky - Canon Rebel Xsi
Photographer's Guide to the Canadian Rockies now available
Darwin Wiggett 