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When it comes to capturing exterior real estate photographs, a polarizer is a must-have filter. The best polarizing filter on your camera can assist decrease glare. I have included in this article several polarizing filters to enrich your colors and improve contrast.
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Filters have become a critical contributor to picture correction. Some polarizing filters are so good that you won’t need Photoshop. Real estate photographers can now use wider apertures and longer shutter speeds in all lighting conditions without issue.
This B+W 46mm Kaesemann polarizing filter is neutral in color, efficient, and fixed between plano parallel and optical glasses, using a specific cementation procedure that’s great against delamination in humid regions.
The resulting sandwich is then refined to obtain exact plano parallel surfaces. This polarizing filter is considered the best polarizer on the market by many real estate photographers.
The retaining ring will not loosen when a filter or lens hood is removed, which is screwed too tightly. The only disadvantage is that vignetting at 12mm can be seen on all four corners.
This B+W 52mm Circular Polarizer reduces reflections and glare through filtering light that has spread from a non-metallic surface to the polarization process. This polarizing filter has a multi-resistant coating against reflection.
Thus, it helps increase light transmission by reducing reflections, dispersing light, and ghosting. The filter substrate is also more secure and cleaner than uncoated filters for more extended periods. For better optical clarity and color accuracy, this polarizing filter is made of high-quality Schott glass.
It also has a brass filter ring for sturdiness and jam-free operation. However, it’s not easy to adjust the polarizer with the pole on the lens and a lens cap.
This Amazon Basics circular polarizer is one of the most used special effect filters yet is mainly used for outdoor
The only flaw in this filter is that when used with specific cameras, there can be some vignetting. Despite that, it is one of the best polarizing lens filters. Unfortunately, the filter is not durable because the layer is perhaps of a lower grade and scratches faster than with expensive brands. It also lessens reflection and light, but it will not remove them entirely.
By filtering out light that has become polarized owing to reflection from a non-metallic source, the Tiffen 52mm Linear Polarizer filter aims to remove reflections and brightness. The light from the sun is usually slightly polarized as it reflects off electrons in air molecules, scattering into what looks to be haze.
The sole difference between the Tiffen linear polarizer and the B+W 77mm circular polarizer is that it lacks a quarter wave plane, which is required to improve exposure and autofocus.
Linear polarizers like this one are often employed with manual cameras that do not rely on interior mechanics to determine focus or metering settings, such as view cameras, which is why they might be a disadvantage.
This Nikon 2236 58mm is a multi-coated filter that minimizes flares and glare, provides an improved saturation and a sharper and contrasted image. On the viewfinder or the LCD screen, the polarization action is evident when the front ring is turned.
This compact filter ring design makes it possible to use this filter on wide-angle lenses, with a reduced vignetting possibility of the image corners. This filter is specially intended for autofocus SLR cameras, but it can also work on manual systems without problems.
In addition, this filter excludes UV radiation from the outdoors and polarizes the light to remove reflections and boost color saturation. The only drawback is that this polarizing filter is only applicable to Nikkor lenses and creates a heavy vignette on the sides.
The B+W HTC Kaesemann is a circular polarizer that provides high-quality, decent-priced glass. Light transmission is good, which reduces brightness by approximately 1 to 1.5 EV. The glass itself is of great quality and contains a scratch-proof layer. It repels dirt and water as well.
Each glass surface comprises several layers of anti-reflection coating to avoid internal sparkle and reflections. This multi-resistant coating also protects the filter substratum and helps it remain clean longer than uncoated filters. Moreover, the polarizer works wonderfully, reducing reflections and enabling you to get gorgeous water vistas, leaflets, and more.
For improved optical clarity and color accuracy, this polarizing filter is built of Schott glass. In addition, this filter has an F-Pro brass filter ring to avoid clogging and enhance durability. Unfortunately, the rotating section of the filter is so tight that manual focus can not be adjusted.
This B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer is a top-quality circular polarizing filter for all cameras with beam splitters on exposure meters and autofocus lenses. This polarizing filter both enhances and reduces color saturation and distortions.
The neutral gray tint and quality of the plane parallel polarizer offer the optimum image quality. The high-quality optical glass also guarantees great image qualities – and depending on how the filter is oriented towards the sun, the filter factor changes. There are about two f-stops to compensate for exposure.
To fight flare and ghosting, this polarizing filter uses a unique scratch-resistant water and dirt Resistant Coating. The image contrast and sharpness degrades with dirt, gray fingerprints, watermarks, and squat, leading to the influx of light sources and a soft-focused effect.
For that reason, a clean forward lens item and a clean filter surface are a prerequisite for demanding shooters. The rotating circular polarizing filter is rigid and needs greater effort.
The Marumi 77mm DHG is a high-quality filter featuring a satin finish with multiple light-blocking ridges that help reduce surface reflections, promoting more consistent light transmission.
Like the Nikon 77mm, the thin profile filter ring in this polarizing filter minimizes the likelihood of vignetting when used with wide-angle lenses. Unlike the Hoya 58mm HD, the male threads feature a Teflon-coating that reduces the chances of filter jamming, facilitating easier fitting and removal from the lenses.
The glass substrate has a blackened outer rim that offers less than 0.6% surface reflectivity, further reducing flare and ghosting. However, it does not incorporate high light transmission glass, forcing you to increase the exposure to compensate for the lost light.
If you are looking for a sturdy filter, you can't go wrong with the Hoya 58mm HD. This filter features a chemically-hardened optical glass construction that is four times stronger than other standard filters.
It features a lightweight aluminum-alloy filter ring which prevents vignetting when used on ultra-wide angle lenses. Unlike the Marumi 77mm DHG, it comes with a plastic filter carrying case, ensuring ease of storage and transport.
Like the AmazonBasics Circular Polarizer, it is designed to absorb ultraviolet light and reduce the unwanted blue casts of daylight without affecting the overall color balance. It employs an eight-layer multi coating to prevent ghosting and reflections while promoting clearer and sharper images.
On top of that, the multi-coating makes the filter resistant to stains, and repellent to water and oil, enhancing the ease of cleaning off smudges and fingerprints. However, the aluminum alloy filter ring is less durable.
The Nikon 77mm is a premium multi-coated filter that helps reduce surface reflections and glare, ensuring the production of clear images that have more contrast.
Like the Hoya 58mm HD, this filter allows you to control the saturation of the blue sky to enhance the definition of cloud formations when shooting in brightly-lit conditions. Like the Nikon 2236 58mm, its filter ring features a slim design, reducing the chances of vignetting when using it with wide-angle lenses.
This filter eliminates ultraviolet rays increasing color saturation without affecting the overall color balance when shooting outdoors.
This filter effectively reduces reflections and saturates colors and provides better contrast when shooting non-metallic surfaces such as water and glass. However, it is challenging to use it with the lens hood on, as the hood sticks on the way when trying to adjust the filter.
Let us take a brief look at these polarizing filters in the table below. Keep the following factors into account when selecting the best polarizing filter in real estate
| Filter | Scratch Proof? | Type | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| B+W Kaesemann | No | Circular | 46mm |
| B+W Polarizer | No | Circular | 52mm |
| Amazon Basics | No | Circular | 58mm |
| Tiffen Polarizer | No | Linear | 52mm |
| Nikon 2236 | No | Circular | 58mm |
| B+W HTC Kaesemann | Yes | Circular | 77mm |
| B+W Polarizer | Yes | Circular | 77mm |
| Marumi | No | Circular | 77mm |
| Hoya HD | No | Circular | 58mm |
| Nikon | No | Circular | 77mm |
This is also one of the most important factors to consider when selecting a polarizing filter. Normal and slim / ultra-slim are the two types available. Wide-angle lenses nearly always require thin models like Tiffen 52mm Linear Polarizer filters.
You will observe more or less vignetting on the edges of your shots depending on the focal length utilized, the type of camera used, and the aperture of the diaphragm used while taking your photographs. The regular filter is a thicker version of the Slim filter.
Glass is commonly used to make filters. High-quality glass ensures sharp images. There are also filters with plastic materials like AmazonBasics polarizing filter.
Two types of polarizing filters are now on the market: linear and circular. These classifications are based on how light waves are changed as the polarizing filter passes through rather than the filter shape.
On the other hand, circular polarizers incorporate a second quarter-wave layer, which depolarizes the light to suit all classical and modern digital camera applications. A circular polarizer's only disadvantage is that it does not emit as much light as a linear polarizer.
Examples of circular polarizing filters include B+W 46mm Kaesemann, B+W 52mm Circular Polarizer, and Amazon Basics.
A polarizing filter's most common shape is round, and it may be screwed onto a lens' filter thread. Circulatory filters can be used with both filter holders and lenses with drop-in filter holders. The operation of a round polarizer is relatively straightforward. B+W 46mm Kaesemann, B+W 52mm Circular Polarizer, and AmazonBasics are examples of round polarizing filters.
It is not advisable to use the polarizing filter in low light. Normally, the polarizing filter reduces glare effects. That means using it during the night, during blue hours, and when shooting, the Aurora Borealis can darken your images due to low light.
Because the lens can see the filter's edge when using an extremely wide-angle lens, vignetting is a possibility. Vignetting occurs when the four corners of a photograph are darker than the remainder of the photograph.
There is just one good answer: if you do not need the filter, do not use it. If you truly need the filter, make sure it is either very thin or so much bigger than the lens installed that the edges are not visible.
Glare spotting in your shot may lead to problems with water, glass and other reflective surfaces. The final image distracts these bright white specks. In certain parts of the shot, they also cause detail loss. However, the filter polarization lowers these effects.
A polarizing filter is one of the most important tools in a photographer's arsenal. It is typically the first filter that real estate photographers purchase to improve their images by rapidly improving color and contrast. I hope that this article helped you determine the best polarizing filter for your camera lens.
