Customer Reviews

Tiffen 67mm Circular Polarizer

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I have had many polarizers over the years. I have used filters such as this for over 25 years. I like the Tiffen as it is not too dark for most uses. I keep it on for almost every shot (unless it is night time or quite dark) to protect my lenses and for it's mild polarizing effect. (I take 1000s of images on a shoot, mostly landscape) Some other brands are too dark to do this. The dark ones many times look too polarized, and post processing has to take much of this out anyway. I do have a few of these and use them occasionally. I have found that an image that is properly balanced that does not need too much darkening or lightening post processing is much better, I have a Hoya but it is always falling apart (and way too dark). I have Heliopan 77mm Circular Polarizer Lens Filters and like the quality, but again they are too dark to keep on all the time. The Heliopan is the one I keep for special uses when I want more polarizing effects than I get with the Tiffen. The Tiffen polarizers I have had only were replaced when they became too scratched for use, broken from being dropped or run into things, or lost over board in my boat. As I said a couple of Hoya ones were replaced because they fell apart.
I use a Canon 5D with all high end L series lenses (most costing well over $1000.00) and have sold over 1300 framed GiClees ($300-$800 each). I feel that this filter does not compromise the quality of my images.
So in review. I don't want an unnatural appearance due to my filters. I do want the pleasing effects I can achieve with the Tiffen filter. I have never had a problem with any I had purchased, so recommend them to others. And I will continue to use them myself.
Albert Mach Fine Art

If you have an autofocus camera and shoot photos outdoors, this filter needs to be attached to the end of your lens. (If you have a manual focus camera you need a linear polarizer) The polarizer darkens blue skies (if the sky is light blue, you get deep, rich blue) and eleminates glare and reflection in glass and water.

With this filter, you can take a photo of someone standing in front of a window and not have the glare or reflection of the window shooting back into the lens. It also helps you shoot indoors at an aquarium (you can take crystal-clear photos of the killer whales and dolphins without glare from the glass).

This filter can't take the photos for you, but it can make your photos look much more professional. The only thing to be careful of is the fact that the polarizer makes the image a little darker, so if you are shooting in dark light, you need a flash or a slower shutter speed.

This item is either not coated or has a single coating and thus any time sun hits the filter, it produces flare in the picture. Furthermore, after doing more research it turns out that these uncoated or single coated filters can cause up to 9% light loss vs multi-coated filters like Hoya S-HMC or B+W MRC filters. As for polarizer effect itself, I think it's amazing and you owe it to yourself to at least try it on a nice sunny day. (the sky and foliage will look completely different and alive)

The Tiffen circular polarizing filter does exactly what it's supposed to do, and it does it well. The threading fits on my Nikkor lenses perfectly, screws on and stays put. The rotating ring on the filter is not too tight, nor too loose and rotates very smoothly, staying put where it's set at. When comparing identical images taken with and without the filter, there are no noticable distortions or color shifts present.

CIRCULAR POLARIZER:
If you have ever owned a pair of Polarized sunglasses, then you now what this filter can do for your camera. By reducing reflections and stray light waves, this filter makes any scene that much clearer.
You will see more vibrant colors in bright scenes, your skies will turn a deeper blue, and clouds POP right off the picture. Reduce glare from reflective surfaces such as metal or water.

A polarizer works on a specified plain, meaning that the lens must be perpendicular to the direction of the main light source. As with sunglasses, they are parrallel to the ground, which works in most cases since the sun is normally above you.
The key to using this filter is that it swivels. Looking through the view finder, turn the filter until the picture is clear and vibrant. You'll notice the image changing as you turn it. In this manner, you may even adjust the level of polarization.

A great deal for a very valuable accessory. This filter works perfect, and compared to the higher priced filters, is a steal.

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UV FILTER:
The UV Filter prevents haze and reduces bluish tint in photographs by reducing stray UV rays entering the lens. It also has the added benefit of protecting the lens and glass from scratches and accidental damage.

There have been stories of photographers dropping their lens and the filter acts as a sort of impact absorber, shattering but leaving the lens unharmed. I would much prefer replacing the inexpensive filter, rather than a lens.

In my experience with the Tiffen UV Filter, I have noticed an increased amount of lens flare and reflections over my slightly more expensive UV filters. If I were you, I'd put out the small amount of extra money for a better filter, preferably multi-coated to reduce glare.

Enjoy!

What a revelation! For the longest time I had been taking photographs without a filter only to end up with hazy skies and washed out scenes near the water. I got this filter before my honeymoon to Tahiti and as a result I came back with fantastick pictures. You simply turn the filter to get the correct angle for the UV rays. Clouds appear crisper and blue skies are much more vivid. The filter also helps to drastically reduce reflections particularly off of water surfaces.

Filter works fine for the price. It does exactly what a circular polarizer is supposed to. As for the user below who says it causes light loss he's obviously new to photography, all cpl's cause 2 stops of light loss, no matter which brand, how many coats they have.

This filter works great. I have used this filter on a Nikon 18-70mm lens and have produced excellent pictures. I have yet to experience any flare with this polarizer. Great polarizer for a great price.

This filter does its job. The action of rotation is not completely smooth, but the filter reduces reflections and deepens the blues of the sky. Here in Ghana it has been incredibly useful for highlighting natural skin tones when people are sweaty/greasy. There's no getting around it in 90 degree weather and 90% humidity, but the polarizer cuts the reflections and makes people look much better.

When the sun or even a bright part of the sky comes into view, glare becomes an issue. This filter has been unusable in situations with high contrast, light shooting towards the sky in a forest. It's what happens when you don't pay the extra bucks for a multi-coated circular polarizer I guess. One upside of the lack of multi-coating is that the glass is pretty easy to clean. I hear that the better the multi-coating, the harder to get the filter completely clean.

Overall I don't regret the purchase, but I'm getting a CPL for my second lens and it will be a $160 B+W. This filter is for my portrait lens so I'm not usually trying to capture extreme light situations. My second lens is an ultra-wide and I'll be asking it to capture dramatic differences in lighting. Glare just won't do.

You can see plenty of photos taken with this at [...] Easiest way to tell if I used the filter is to look at the skin tones. If they're warm and natural, I used the filter. If there is greasy glare, I didn't.

I've been successfully using this polarizer for a couple of years now, and it's been great when working with water and glass. When taking pictures of museum exhibits behind glass, this filter prevents the subject from being obscured by reflections. Taking pictures of fish through water presents a similar challenge, but with the filter I am able to focus beyond the surface.

I'm using it on an Olympus 750 with adapter tube with no major trouble. However, if you need a flash, the adapter and filter will extend into the path of the built in flash creating a shadow. But this is a challenge with my rig, not the filter. Also, I currently don't have my camera set to continuously auto focus to save my batteries. When trying to eliminate the glare or reflection by rotating the polarizer, you will need to get your camera to refocus so you can double check your work. I presume this to be an issue with all cameras that don't continuously auto focus - just something to keep in mind with mid range cameras or if you're trying to save your batteries like me.