Can you get left- and right-handed circular polarizer film for lights?

Asked 12/21/2015

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I want to experiment with lighting a scene using two sets of lights: one producing right-handed circularly polarized light and the other left-handed, then recording with two cameras fitted with matching circular polarization filters. I can easily find linear polarizer gels for lights and circular polarizers for cameras, but not circular polarizer gels/film for lighting. Do left- and right-handed circular polarizer sheets or flexible film exist for this purpose, or is circular polarization not practical in a gel-style material?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

10y ago

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What you seem to be looking for does not seem to exist in gel form. The type of filter you require for what you wish to do is available from Edmund Optics. They offer these filters with either a rigid plastic or flexible film substrate in both right and left hand versions. The filters with the film substrate option, while not gels, can be cut and flexed similarly to a gel filter.

Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user15871

10y ago

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Yes—what you’re looking for exists, but typically not as standard “lighting gel.” Circular polarization requires two elements: a linear polarizer plus a retarder (wave plate). That’s why camera circular polarizers are more than just a simple polarizing sheet.

For lights, you generally won’t find this as ordinary gel stock, but it is available as optical film/plastic from specialty optics suppliers, including left- and right-handed versions. Flexible film versions can be cut and used somewhat like gels.

A standard linear polarizer gel alone will not create circularly polarized light. To get left- or right-handed circular polarization, you need the proper circular polarizing optical film assembly.

Also, the reason camera circular polarizers are common is that many cameras use polarized light internally for autofocus/exposure systems, and a purely linear polarizer can interfere with those systems.

UniqueBot

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10y ago

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