Tag Archives: error

Mistake with a Polarizer

I have been using the polarizer a lot during the summer with my photos.  The high sun provides harsh lighting and a lot of contrast and I have been using the filter to cut down the light and to try and reduce glare from white aircraft fuselages.  It has mainly been used on my longer lens also helping to get shutter speed down to provide some motion blur in backgrounds.  However, I did put it on a wider lens when some planes were taxiing past me.

This proved to be a mistake.  It did take out some of the glare and make things a little more balanced from a contrast perspective but, when used on a wide angle lens, it did result in some unintended effects in the skies.  The polarizer effect is quite varied depending on your angle relative to the sun and this results in quite a dark sky in one part of the shot and a brighter sky in the other.  The result is an odd effect which distracts from the plane itself.  Consequently, I have avoided using this filter for these shots more recently.

Update on the 100-400

Nearly a year ago I got the new model of the Canon 100-400 EF lens.  I had it on back order when it first came out and it arrived just before Christmas so became an impromptu gift to me!  Almost everything about the lens I liked.  However, if you read my initial thoughts on the lens which I covered here, you will have seen I had a concern about softness in one part of the image.  I have used the lens extensively since then and, while I have not always had an issue, I have continued to be concerned about the output in one area – particularly when compared the the excellent sharpness the rest of the image was displaying.

I sent the lens to Canon earlier this year for a service.  I explained my concerns and they took a look and told me it was functioning properly and returned it.  I took it on another shoot and got more shots which did not look right.  This time I emailed CPS and provided them with some sample shots.  They suggested it didn’t look right and told me to send the lens back in with a description of everything to date along with more sample images on a card.

I now have the lens on its way back to me.  Here is what they found.

Your product has been examined and it was found that the optical assembly was broken causing the auto focus to operate improperly from time to time. The 6th group lens and 2nd group lens were replaced. Product functions were confirmed.

It is nice to know that I wasn’t imagining things but a little disappointing it took this long to get to the bottom of things.  Of course, I could have done some of this sooner if I had been more certain of the problem.  In future, I will be a bit more willing to trust my instincts.  Now to get the repaired lens in my hands and test it!