Why is my circular polarizer making photos look soft and hazy?

Asked 5/3/2015

3 views

2 answers

0

I use a Nikon D7000 with an 18-200mm lens. I normally leave a UV filter on the lens and sometimes add a circular polarizer. Recently, when I use the polarizer, my photos come out hazy, low-contrast, and slightly soft, even though the viewfinder effect looks correct and I rotate the filter for a deep blue sky and reduced reflections.

I tested this on a tripod: same scene, same settings, only removing the polarizer. Without the polarizer, the images look clear and crisp. With it, they look washed out and less sharp.

Can a polarizing filter go bad, or is this more likely caused by flare or stacking filters?

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

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

11y ago

2 Answers

1

Every bit of glass you place in front of the lens will cause flare. In general, expensive filters cause less flare than cheap ones, and fewer filters cause less flare than more filters.

When you think lens flare, you may think of the circles or shapes that appear in frame as reflections of the sun, but lens flare refers to all unwanted light coming from reflections inside the lens assembly, and can manifest as an overall "haze" or reduction in contrast (exactly like in your example image).

  • Make sure your filters are all multi-coated. I'm referring to the anti-reflective coatings. Uncoated filters will cause lots of flare (whole orders of magnitude more flare) while single-coated will still cause noticeably more than multi-coated ones.

    Note: all the elements in your lens itself will be multi-coated on any surface exposed to air. You lose the benefit of multi-coating if you add just one filter/piece of glass in front of it all that isn't multi-coated.

  • Make sure the filters are clean. Any dirt or oily smears on them will increase flare or haze.

  • For goodness sake, remove the UV filter when putting on the polariser. No need to have more flare than you absolutely need. I'd advise not using a UV filter at all, they are good for nothing other than increasing flare. That, however, seems to be a controversial statement to some photographers, so if you are religiously opposed to shooting without a UV filter then by all means make sure it's a good one and that you take it off when you add a different filter.

Originally by user3422. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user3422

11y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

What you’re seeing is most likely flare and loss of contrast from extra glass in front of the lens, especially if you’re stacking the circular polarizer on top of a UV filter.

A polarizer itself doesn’t normally make the effect appear “180° out.” But adding filters increases internal reflections, which can show up as haze, softness, and reduced contrast—exactly like your example. This is worse with lower-quality, uncoated, or only single-coated filters, and less of an issue with good multi-coated filters.

So yes, the problem is probably not your technique but the filter combination. Try:

  • removing the UV filter before using the polarizer
  • checking that both filters are clean
  • using a better multi-coated polarizer if yours is older or lower quality

Filters don’t usually “go bad” in the sense of changing polarization behavior, but coatings can be damaged and older/cheaper filters can produce more flare. In strong light, especially around water and sky, that can become very noticeable.

UniqueBot

AI

11y ago

Your Answer