polarizer indoors

[sergio]

What a polarizer does is eliminate light reflected from the surface of objects at a certain angle. It works very well on the sky too. So if you are indoors and you adjust the polarizing angle you can cancel out the reflected light of a window or table or whatever at the cost of a light loss. When you filter out the reflected light colors tend to saturate. Be aware it doesn't eliminate specular reflections.

[Hank]

I often use a polarizer indoors if I am using studio lights to match indoor light intensity to that of the outdoors- specifically when views through a window are important to an indoor setting.  In most cases the affect of the polarizer on the outdoors, as seen through the window, adds measurably to the results.

Hank

[sergio]

definitley better than the hammer approach.

[tgieske]

I shot some frames at a cabaret show with my G2 and inadvertently left the circular polarizer in place.

I seem to have lost about a stop but otherwise it was hard to see any difference after downloading.

Has anyone ever done this on purpose?

[Jonathan Wienke]

The worst thing a polarizer can do to you is act like a 1 stop neutral density filter, unless you are trying to photograph reflections. I have a polarizer stuck on my 35-350mm f3.5-5.6L (it's a long, sad story, please don't ask) and the only time it bothers me is when working in low light and I would like the extra stop of speed.

[Dean]

Jonathan, I don't know the actual problem you have with your stuck filter, but when I get a filter stuck I use two rubber bands.  Put one band on the lens and one on the non-rotating portion of your filter, and then try to unscrew the filter.  The extra grip provided by the rubber bands has always worked for me.