DHG Circular PL(D) product reviews

It has always frustrated me when I'm at a river or creek and spot some critter I really want to get a photo of, and every time I try to focus THROUGH the water, the camera just does NOT want to let me, and I end up with crappy, blurry shots. So for quite some time, I have been wanting to get some kind of polarising filter, and was absolutely delighted to get to try this one out. Now I've never even played with one of these before, so had no idea if they were any different from other filters I've tried, that are simply screwed onto the end of the lens and then ready for you to start snapping away. So at first I found it somewhat frustrating trying to screw this filter onto my Nikon D70, and found it awkward, as it turned out to be two seperate rings, and the 2nd one would just keep spinning. Finally I got it sorted and realised it was actually quite easy once you get the hang of holding the 2nd ring still while screwing on the 1st ring.
The next thing that had me rather confused, was why things looked pretty much the same when I looked through the camera WITH the filter on, as they did when the filter WASN'T attached. Playing around with the 2nd ring soon helped me work that out. (DOH! The joys of trying to learn new gear when you've had precious all sleep the night before!) Turning the ring suddenly had the leaf I was looking at, below the surface of the water, crystal clear, when before I could see it clearly when looking without the camera, but found it rather blurry when using the camera. Ok, really starting to like this filter now and seriously wishing I had found the money for one a LONG time ago!!
With the Gorillapod I had also recently received attached to the camera, I was able to get nice and close to the water, while keeping the camera safe and dry, resting the Gorillapod on a few rocks once I discovered a few small fish swimming around. Before getting the Polarising filter, I wouldn't have bothered going after photos of these cute lil fellas as previous experience had taught me that I'd just end up with blurry photos. But with the combination of both Gorillapod and Polarising filter, I was able to keep the camera steady and get nice clear, crisp shots of these tiny fish.
Later on, I also tried using the filter to take just normal, non-water related shots, wondering if it would make any difference. Not a lot of noticeable difference really, other than removing some of the glare, which is always a helpful thing.
Overall, a great, sturdy little filter that should be an essential in every digital photographer's kit, and one that could quite happily be left on the camera, whether you're taking shots through water or not.

I am not a professional photographer by any definition of the word but I do like to take photos and have recently taken to water shots at a local river. The patterns of light that reach through the water and onto the sandy riverbed are something stunning but shooting through the reflections can be seriously difficult when the best lightshows are caused by an angle of the sun hitting the water in such a way that reflections are just as strong, if not stronger than the patterns of light I want to capture.
Thats where this little beauty rolls in and does its stuff. Available in sizes from 52 to 82mm diameter, they are threaded on both sides, so that you can screw it onto the end of your lens, or better yet onto the end of your lens protector, and you can still screw more filters on as you need them. Now be careful, this little gem is a little tough to screw in because it is actually two rings. The base ring is threaded to fit into the thread on the end of the lens, while the polarising ring is free-spinning, which can make it a little tough. The trick is to get a good fingertip grip on the base ring.
As you can see from this dual photo, the polarising effect is brilliant. So easy to see, very simple to adjust and the results are stunning, giving you a far better photo to work with. It takes a little practice to use, but I found that holding the camera chassis right-handed as normal, while using my thumb and index finger to adjust zoom and manual focus, and my little pinky finger to gently spin the freewheeling polarising ring was the most effective, fastest way to set up the shot.
All in all this is an excellent little filter to have and quite possibly worth leaving on the lens at all times. There is always a way to improve any photo you take, and this could be part of that way. I later tried it out on a few shots of some really interesting cloud formations and the results blew me away. I tried the 52mm and 62mm versions and they were both so effective they will basically live on my lenses. Also keep in mind that the DHG range are designed specially for digital cameras and have some advanced features for reducing image artifacts such as flare effects and ghosting. If you have a digital camera, be sure to go for the Digital High Grade (DHG) range from Marumi.