A small review of the Massa CPL polarizer filter

Lately I bought the Massa CPL polarizer filter (58mm) at DealExtreme, for only $7.89. I'm planning to use it mainly for landscapes, so today I tested it on some skies. First, here's a picture of a sky with the polarizer filter deactivated.

(Almost) the same picture with my polarizer filter activated looks like this:

Pretty cool huh? I think the contrasts between the sky and the clouds make the picture a lot nicer. Just to see the differences in one picture very clearly, I made another picture with the filter halfway in front of the lens.
I don't have any other polarizer filters to make a comparison, but I think this filter does what it should do.

Comparing the Canon 55-250mm F/4-5.6 IS and the Tamron 55-200mm F/4-5.6 lens

Yesterday I bought the Canon 55-250mm F/4-5.6 IS lens, replacing my Tamron 55-200mm F/4-5.6 lens. Now I'm really interested in the differences in image quality, so I decided to put the two lenses to the test. I shot the same objects with different settings, modifying the focal length and the aperture. The test results are on a different page, so I was able to use a full screen layout.

My conclusion is that the Canon lens has a much nicer bokeh and more intense colors. However, I don't see very much difference in sharpness. I think the Canon lens is worth the extra money, because it produces better pictures and moreover has a 4-stop image stabilizer.