Some suppliers, not wanting return hassles, will tell you that you must have a Circular Polarizer if you have an Auto Focus (AF) camera.

This is not always true and it very much depends on your camera’s AF system.

There are many AF cameras that will do just fine with less expensive Linear Polarizers.

Circular Polarizers tend to have a very narrow range around 90 degrees to the light source (direct or glare/reflected). Linear Polarizers, while falling off the further you go past 90 degrees, have an effective range from 65 to 155 degrees.

Your best bet, if you don’t know if your camera can use a Linear Polarizer effectively, is to take your camera to a local retailer and try it before you buy it.

I can say from personal experience that the Fuji S602 does just fine with Linear Polarizers and other Fuji cameras may, too. Give one a try. You may find it works fine with your particular camera and you’ll save some money, too.

Update: A photo binbook about this topic: »www.binbooks.com/books/photo/i/l/5A586AFC8A and a page explaining how they each work: »www.3m.com/market/omc/om_html/te···ex.jhtml

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by Hayward edited by climbers
last modified: 2004-04-20 12:03:52