[Leica] Polarizing filter

[tomschofield at comcast.net (Tom Schofield)]

Add the need for haze penetration in an industrial society to  
darkening skies and cutting water reflections.  Oh yeah, enhancing  
color contrast -- amazing difference in the Grand Canyon or red rock  
in the South West.  Too much cutting of water reflections can look  
unnatural too me, and I'll often turn the pol for less than max  
effect.  Show non-photogs a pic with natural colors and a polarized,  
enhanced color image and they'll pick the enhanced one every time.   
Ever watch CSI Miami?  My wife loves the ultra-enhanced colors.  I  
feel the need for sunglasses when I watch it.

As far as metering with a pol  is concerned, people over think the  
issue.  With an M5, 6, 7 or MP, you are metering through the lens, so  
exposure factor applies automatically just like your SLR.  When  
people say that the pol changes exposure variably, from a factor of  
1.7 to 2.3, what they are observing is that the pol is cutting out  
bright reflections that were throwing the meter off in the first  
place.   Regardless how you turn the pol, it always has approx 1.7  
exposure factor of neutral density.  So, if you are metering with a  
spot or selective area meter, you're probably not metering the sky or  
bright reflections anyway, so just applying the basic exposure factor  
of the pol usually works fine.

Tom

On Apr 22, 2007, at 8:45 PM, Ric Carter wrote:

> Thanks, Hoppy.
>
> I was never a frequent user of polarizers, but occasionally I like  
> to darken a sky or cut some reflections in water. I just didn't  
> know how one best did that with a non-slr.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Ric