Does a standard film polarizer lens work on digital cameras? I have a new digital and was wondering.
Does a standard film polarizer lens work on digital cameras? I have a new digital and was wondering.
You could have problems if you use a non-circular one (i.e. standard one).
It can stuff up the metering.
Lachlan.
You miss 100% of the shots you never take. -- Wayne Gretzky
There's no reason why it shouldn't. Same light, same lens, same physics.
Linear ones can mess up SLRs though (film and digital alike), especially the AF ones. Using circular type solves the problem.
Digital cameras need circular polarizing filters for the same reasons the autofocus film SLR's need them, for the autofocus. They're not necessary for manual focus (non-AF) cameras where linear ones work. Of course, there always is the tried and true method to know for yourself. Try it. It's not like you're wasting film with digital, you'll only get a few images where you'll go, "WTF?"
--Scott--
Scott M. Knowles, MS-Geography
scott@wsrphoto.com
"All things merge into one, and a river flows through it."
- Norman MacLean
Linear polarizers were first used on Canon auto exposure SLR cameras that were manual focus. The reason that a camera needs a circular polarizer is that it employees a beam splitter in the optical system. The beam splitter may be used for the expoure metering system, the auto focusing system, a focus confirmation system or any combination of them. In addition some cameras need a circular polarizer to properly display the readouts in the viewfinder of the camera.
Auto focus alone may not require a circular polarizer as it is possible for a camera to have an external cell that does the AF reading and not place it behind a beam splitter.
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