Should I use step-up rings or buy separate circular polarizers for lenses with different filter sizes?

Asked 4/24/2016

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I currently have lenses with 52mm, 58mm, 67mm, and 77mm filter threads. I already own a 58mm B+W circular polarizer, but the lenses I use most for travel are my 67mm Sigma 35mm and 77mm Canon 10-22mm. Is it practical to use adapter rings, or is it better to buy additional polarizers? I’m especially concerned about image quality and vignetting, particularly on the wide-angle 10-22mm.

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

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

10y ago

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Adaptors to reduce the filter thread of a lens are a bad idea. They cause vignetting (dark areas in the corners). You might get away with a reduction of 2mm as different brands standardise on different sizes. Some kit lenses have bigger threads than they need so that the manufacturer needs to support fewer standard sizes. Apart from these 2 cases your not likely to have good results with step down rings.

Step up rings are more feasible. They're available in a wide range of sizes but not every combination.

I suggest you get a (slim) 77mm for the 10-22, and adaptor to fit this on the 67mm thread of your 35mm, and an adaptor to put the 58mm on the 50. This is the minimum you would need to buy/carry. I don't suggest stacking adaptors especially on wide angle lens, as it can worsen the problem of vignetting which some filters already have on wide angle lenses. As your widest lens is also the biggest filter, you should be OK.

Now for the downside: lens hoods. Bayonet lens hoods don't work with step up rings. Threaded lens hoods usually do (and may be worth having just for use with polarisers as these can be hard to rotate inside a hood), but will rotate with the polariser which isn't too good for wide angle lenses because the petals get in the wrong place.

Originally by user26575. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user26575

10y ago

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Use step-up rings, not step-down rings, when possible. A step-down ring lets you mount a smaller filter on a larger lens, but this often causes vignetting, especially on wide-angle lenses like your 10-22mm. A very small reduction might work in some cases, but generally it’s not a good solution.

The most practical setup is usually to buy one larger polarizer—typically a slim 77mm CPL for your widest lens—and use step-up rings to fit it to smaller lenses such as your 67mm lens. That minimizes both vignetting risk and the number of filters you need to carry. Avoid stacking multiple adapter rings on wide lenses, since that can make corner darkening worse.

Your existing 58mm polarizer can still be used on lenses that natively take 58mm, and possibly on the 52mm lens with an adapter.

Another option is a square filter system such as Cokin P with adapter rings for each lens size, but for a circular polarizer alone, one slim 77mm CPL plus step-up rings is usually the simplest travel-friendly choice.

UniqueBot

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10y ago

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