California Mountain Haze Eliminator?

kenackr

kenackr

Well-known member
I'm doing some outside panorama shots in the Sierra Nevada Foothills for a project. It's actually across a gorge over the American river (in Auburn, Ca).

Previous attempts at the shot with a Sony TVR - 120 gave a fairly realistic representation of the actual haze one sees in person of the far side of the gorge and also gives good color of the foliage on the near side of the gorge.

It is not, however, what I want to have on tape though. I want to get rid of as much haze as possible.

After fighting too much with the older and much used Sony (a loner), I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a new DVX 100B which will arrive next week.

I have a B+W UV Haze 1 filter (coated) coming with it to help knock down the haze on the far side of the gorge.

Could anyone out there recommend anything else I should do to cut the haze on the far side? It is a pan shot across the gorge L>R starting on the far side (L) and shifting focus to the near side (R).

Should I just go ahead and get the Haze 2 filter also? Or would a polarizer help at all? Or grad ND?


Any help is appreciated,

Ken :)
 
I'd swap the Haze 1 for a Haze 2. Not sure about B+W, but the Tiffen Haze filter absorbs about 74% of UV (passes 29%), while the 2A absorbs all of it.
Hope this helps.
Ken
the Screen Skins guy
 
kplo,

Thanks for the tip. I think I'm going to keep the haze 1 and see how it does. If I need more, then I can always get the haze 2 or the skyline. Heck, I might wind up with all 3!!

Has anyone out there ever used the B+W skyline and if so what do you think?

Ken
 
Let us know how it works out. I do a lot of shooting of hazey skies and would love to make it look nicer.
 
ncje & tbanucci,

I just ordered a B+W Kaesman circular polarizer today (screw on + rotating) from B&H. It should be here next week.

I'll experiment with both, separately and together and post the results on this thread, so tune back in next week and I'll give you the low down.

Ken :)
 
Thanks! Would love to see the footage. Actually, you should take some footage with the polarizer on and off so we can see the comparison between the two! :)
 
tbanucci,

My plan was to take single shots of each condition (nothing, UV, Polarizer) and then both the polarizer and the UV together.

I'm so far in the country that I can't get DSL or Cable, so no high speed internet - just your basic unreliable slower than snot 26K dial up. I can't really download or upload video otherwise I'd put the footage on.

Ken :)
 
Digital sensors are not sensetive to UV, so I can not see how a UV haze filter could do any good removing haze. Film is a different animal.

Basically UV filter in front of the DVX100 lens does the same as clear glass.
 
This probably won't help you unless you included a still to include as an unusual visual, but infrared film cuts through haze like you wouldn't believe. I shot an aerial of a mountain in AZ that had an observatory on top and you can see clearly all the way to the horizon, and I was at about 10,000 feet altitude. Shot with (false) color infrared and a deep red filter.
 
Petrus,

I believe you are correct. I went back to the Schneider website and reread the filter description yet again, noting that they talk about film and photography and never once said anything about video.

Yesterday, I called Schnieder and talked to Bob Zutka, who is their go to guy on filter recomendations. He recommended the polarizer, as did ncje in an earleir post. I mentioned that I had the UV haze 1 and he said I could take that off if I put the polarizee on. He didn't talk about it's ability to cut haze in my DVX.

As I understand haze now, it is usually made up of either or both of smog and vapor particles.

Interestingly enough, both tbaucci & I have the same problem eventhough he's in the bay area and I'm in the sierra foothills. The smog that gets produced in the industrial and agricultural industries in the coastal/inland California cities generally blown from west (the ocean) to east (the sierras) or other mountain ranges on the eastern side of CA. Vapor heavy air coming in from the coast (it's called the Delta breeze in my area) carries some of the smog as it tries to get over the sierras and we get haze at the higher elevations.

So thanks for helping me to understand the whole thing better, hadn't really thought about the aspect of film prior to your statement. I have some baggage from my 35mm days.

Ken
 
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