Multi coated is a treatment to the glass...any filter can be multicoated.

My basic guideline is this: Hoya or better. :)

In other words, Hoya is the minimum quality I will use, although there are a few others which are better such as Heliopan, B+W, Singh Ray, etc. The Hoyas are affordable, but offer good enough quality that you shouldn't be able to tell much difference.

You might also see a brand called Kenko Pro-1 (as a side note, Kenko is part of Tokina and they are now part of the Micro Four-Thirds Consortium - yay!). They are not available in all areas, but where they are available they are usually cheaper than Hoya but use the exact same glass and construction as the Hoya PR0-1D series. Great quality to value ratio. :)

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Which type is better, linear or circular?

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Darren

You might want to re-think whether or not you want to get lower cost filters.
--> Best of the photography forums - tutorials: Cheap filters and Bokeh .

This is not to advocate getting the most expensive filters but rather the best filters

You want a circular polarizer (which is basically a linear polarizer with an additional circular polarizing element). This article does a much more thorough job of explaining why than I could.

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Criticism (no matter how harsh) is welcomed of ANY and ALL images I post.

I followed that link only to find an article I'd forgotten writing!

I will re-iterate that price does not conform to quality in every instance. Heliopan for example are over-priced and perform no better than much cheaper filters. I recommend looking for:

• "B+W MRC", but not "B+W MRC Slim" (no front ring) or "B+W Kaesemann MRC" (expensive)
• Marumi DHG or Fujiyama DHG (same manufacturer, but not found in all markets)
• Hoya Pro1 Digital, but not other variations (and there are many)

I have also found step-up rings to be a PITA. They are often hard to unscrew from a thin-line CP filter, since it turns (naturally).

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Just a note for UK readers, I recently picked up one of those Marumi DHG polarisers from fotosense on a huge price reduction. It was 30 something pounds.