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Polarizing filters are one of the most useful pieces of gear a photographer can own! Depending upon the lighting, a circular polarizing filter may be able to increase the color saturation and contrast in your photos. You’ll find this especially useful for capturing deep blue skies and making puffy white clouds stand out. To use a polarizing filter, you’ll need to rotate it slowly on your lens until you see the desired effect through the viewfinder or on your LCD screen.
Additionally, polarizing filters also help to minimize reflections on non-metal surfaces like glass and water. The ability to reduce reflections can come in handy in many situations, including when you want to photograph through a window without your own reflection showing up in the photo! Polarizing filters are also great for reducing sun glare and reflections on water, allowing you to capture the colorful rocks on the bottom of a stream, instead of a reflection of the trees above the water.
While polarizing filters can really improve your photos, they shouldn’t be left on your lens at all times the way a UV filter can be. Polarizing filters block one to two stops of light and are most effective when the sun is out. If you leave a circular polarizer on your lens when the ambient light is low, it won’t be serving a purpose and you’ll have to use a higher ISO or slower shutter speed to compensate for the reduced light.
Because polarizing filters are so useful, you may want to purchase one for each of your lenses, but if you want to start with just one, you should buy one for your lens with the largest filter thread size. To use this larger filter on a smaller lens, you can buy an inexpensive step up ring, like this Sensei 58-77mm Step-Up Ring which would allow you to use a 77mm circular polarizing filter on a lens with a 58mm filter thread size.