Hi. First off, this is going to sound strange to most, so I apologize in advance. I am in the need of some advice. I bought a circular polarizing filter(58mm) today from B&H Photo in NYC and I am having some major problems with it.

The problem is two fold. One, when I put the filter on, it never completely tighten up, almost like the lens was stripped. I thought that was weird, but when i turned the camera on and looked through the viewfinder, it looked horrendous. It was blurry and had the appearance of motion. However, when I opened the LCD, everything looked fine. This was the first filter I ever put on the machine(it's a week old), so basically I was/am freaking out. But when I tried to take the filter off, it wouldn't come off. Again, it was just spinning with nothing "grabbing" onto the grooves of the lens.

Does anybody know what is going on? B&H are usually very good about getting things right, but could it be the wrong size? could it be a still lens? Is there a difference between a 58mm still lens and a 58mm video lens? If there is something wrong with the lens, do you think Canon will still honor my warranty?

thanks alot,

Vito Zarrillo

A "circular" polarizing filter, by definition, must be able to rotate in order to eliminate glare from polarized light. Take the camera with the filter outside on a sunny day, point it at a windshield (or just the blue sky) and slowly rotate the filter while looking through the viewfinder or lcd. Voila! To remove the filter you must grip it closer to the lens. Be careful not to screw it on too tightly.

Re: the "blurry" viewfinder, it sounds like you just need to adjust its diopter to your eyesight. There's a tiny lever below the eyepiece which should help.

All polarizers are a two piece arrangement (they do not come apart however). The threaded ring attaches to the front of your lens securely (do not over tighten). It is sometimes referred to as the mounting ring. The second part rotates and is referred to as the rotating ring. The rotating ring (either linear polarizer or circular polarizer) rotates inside the mounting ring. Circular polarizers get their name from the circular alignment of it's crystalline structure. Linear polarizers have a parallel linear crystalline alignment. When the filter is rotated perpendicular to the reflecting surface, unwanted (polarized) reflections are blocked by the crystalline structure. The rest of the light is permitted to pass through. The reduction or elimination of the polarized light causes the appearance of the colors to be richer, or more saturated. Because not all the light is permitted to pass through the filter, about 1 and 2/3 stops of light is lost. The camera automatically compensates for the exposure change the filter causes.

Jeff

thanks alot guys. In the end, it worked out alright. The filter that I was sold had defective threads and was replaced immediatly. Thanks for the advice on the diopter as well, adjusting that did the trick.

vito