Posted by Larry Puckett on June 26, 2008 at 11:35 AM
I recently read that Canon recommends against stacking filters, but no reason was provided. Is this because with wider lenses you can get vignetting if too many at stacked? Or are there other reasons? Personally I don't like trying to mess with removing a UV filter when I want to add a polarizer or ND and sometimes you really need a couple filters such as a polarizer and a GND or ND. In another post here Kah Kit Yoon reported 2 stacked GND filters. For my own purposes I do use a thin polarizer when I stack it on a UV but just how far do you go with this? Thanks for your responses--Larry
If bright light can hit the filters, you also get lots of light reflecting back and forth between the front and back glass surfaces of all those filters. You get some really wierd flare.
I stack in only three situations.
I'll stack my 2x and 3x GND filters for 5x when really bright skies call for it.
I'll stack my regular screw-in ND filters when I want very slow shutter speeds in bright light. Sometimes I'll even add a polarizer if the NDs alone aren't enough.
In very specific situations I'll even stack two polarizing filters and adjust the orientation of the two for very fine adjustments of light levels or reflections. It only works with BW or Hoya filters in my experience because mixing brands or cheap filters can introduce wierd color shifts.
Oh yeah, and that reminds me of a fourth "stack" we use for some product or material shots in the studio. We'll put polarizing gels over our lights, then put a polarizing filter on the camera. Good reasons for doing that when required, but not a normal practice. A variation is used in macroscopy for bringing out unique colors in crystal samples or snowflakes, for example.
Discussion
2 repliesI stack in only three situations.
I'll stack my 2x and 3x GND filters for 5x when really bright skies call for it.
I'll stack my regular screw-in ND filters when I want very slow shutter speeds in bright light. Sometimes I'll even add a polarizer if the NDs alone aren't enough.
In very specific situations I'll even stack two polarizing filters and adjust the orientation of the two for very fine adjustments of light levels or reflections. It only works with BW or Hoya filters in my experience because mixing brands or cheap filters can introduce wierd color shifts.
Oh yeah, and that reminds me of a fourth "stack" we use for some product or material shots in the studio. We'll put polarizing gels over our lights, then put a polarizing filter on the camera. Good reasons for doing that when required, but not a normal practice. A variation is used in macroscopy for bringing out unique colors in crystal samples or snowflakes, for example.