Polarizing Filter

OK, I have a UV filter to protect all the lenses, but there is one filter called a “circular polarizer”:http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/filter/polarizer.html which most folks will tell you should have. It has a couple of purposes. When taking pictures of fish in water, you can actually see the fish

!http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/filter/filter-polar-fish-wo-pl-icon.jpg! !http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/filter/filter-polar-fish-wi-pl-icon.jpg!

And when taking landscapes, it makes the sky more blue and there is less haze

!http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/filter/polar-no-icon.jpg! !http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/filter/polar-yes-icon.jpg!

These babies can cost a fortune. For instance the top of the line B+W #66025844 “Kaeseman”:http://www.largeformatphotography.info/filters.html filter (that is one that is sealed so it will last longer) and multi-resistant coated (e.g., non scratcheable) and slim (means it won’t vignette, that is show up in wide angle shots) costs $170 at “B&H”:http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=cart_accessories&A=details&Q=&sku=181590&is=REG

“Photo.net”:http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00JOWP posts show that it is reasonable given the quality and there is a long discussion of alternatives and the many types of B+W filters.