Cheap filters!

SnapHappy

I was having a look through ebay for some filters, primarily a C-PL and have noticed a massive difference in prices. Some as cheap as £20 and as much as £80. (all same thread size)
Most of the cheap one's are generally coming from the far east which I know can be a risk sometimes, I normally buy my memory cards this way.

What I am asking really is is there any major difference between manufacturer's/Quality etc?

ian408

SnapHappy wrote:

I was having a look through ebay for some filters, primarily a C-PL and have noticed a massive difference in prices. Some as cheap as £20 and as much as £80. (all same thread size)
Most of the cheap one's are generally coming from the far east which I know can be a risk sometimes, I normally buy my memory cards this way.

What I am asking really is is there any major difference between manufacturer's/Quality etc?

The answer is "it depends". I like the construction quality of B+W and am OK with
several others like Hoya and Promaster. I would likely stay away from a brand I don't
know.

Things I look for include the feel of a filter threading onto the lens, depth of threads and
how the filter element is retained. Of course, the overall quality of the glass is important
too.

Ian

Khaos

I've only bought and used B+W. I can say they are built extremely well and work great. I have the regular CPL for my telephotos and a thin one for the 10-22, and a step down?up (I can never figure that one out) for my other lenses.

They cost more, but I have found them to be worth it.

Mitchell

I also have used B+W filters almost exclusively. It may seem strange to say, but the quality and workmanship on these is obvious.

Is it me, or does anyone else derive pleasure from a finely crafted and engineered product? I just got my new Gitzo tripod. It is truly a work of art. The fit and finish are exceptional. I actually enjoy looking at this tripod. The same goes for my new D2X. Holding this camera is actually enjoyable. The way it fits in my hands with the controls at just the right location. When ergonomics work, you can really appreciate it.

Enough of my crazy musings. Many of you must be thinking that I need to get out more.

tclune

SnapHappy wrote:

I was having a look through ebay for some filters, primarily a C-PL and have noticed a massive difference in prices. Some as cheap as £20 and as much as £80. (all same thread size)
Most of the cheap one's are generally coming from the far east which I know can be a risk sometimes, I normally buy my memory cards this way.

What I am asking really is is there any major difference between manufacturer's/Quality etc?

I buy cheap accessories that I use only infrequently. External flash and lens filters are two things that fall into that category for me. My default company for cheap stuff is Sunpak. I have been quite happy with their flash and their GND.

You should realize that, with a filter, they use aluminum fittings and uncoated (apparently green) glass. For anyone who cares, this would send them screaming. But I love that GND, and it only set me back about $30 US in a 72mm size. Since it's uncoated, you'll want to keep the sun off the filter if at all possible (but you want that anyway, don't you?) My impression is that, if there is a noticeable bias in green glass, it gets subtracted out with white balance anyway. At least I haven't been aware of a bias in the images I take with this filter. Getting white balance right is always a chore, and the difference with this filter gets lost in the noise, to my mind.

However, when I bought a CPF from Sunpak, I was very disappointed. I got it -- once again -- because it was really cheap. It ran about $35! But, in this case at least, you get what you pay for. I cannot see ANY difference as I rotate the filter ring on this puppy, which makes no sense at all to me. It seems to act as just an ND filter, and as a rather aggressive one at that -- it cuts my lens speed by a factor of somewhere around 4 as far as I can tell. None of this is consistent with anything I can recognize as a polarizing filter, although I am new to circular polarizers. So, in at least this case, I would stay away from Sunpak. FWIW

Mike Lane

tclune wrote:

I buy cheap accessories that I use only infrequently. External flash and lens filters are two things that fall into that category for me. My default company for cheap stuff is Sunpak. I have been quite happy with their flash and their GND.

You should realize that, with a filter, they use aluminum fittings and uncoated (apparently green) glass. For anyone who cares, this would send them screaming. But I love that GND, and it only set me back about $30 US in a 72mm size. Since it's uncoated, you'll want to keep the sun off the filter if at all possible (but you want that anyway, don't you?) My impression is that, if there is a noticeable bias in green glass, it gets subtracted out with white balance anyway. At least I haven't been aware of a bias in the images I take with this filter. Getting white balance right is always a chore, and the difference with this filter gets lost in the noise, to my mind.

However, when I bought a CPF from Sunpak, I was very disappointed. I got it -- once again -- because it was really cheap. It ran about $35! But, in this case at least, you get what you pay for. I cannot see ANY difference as I rotate the filter ring on this puppy, which makes no sense at all to me. It seems to act as just an ND filter, and as a rather aggressive one at that -- it cuts my lens speed by a factor of somewhere around 4 as far as I can tell. None of this is consistent with anything I can recognize as a polarizing filter, although I am new to circular polarizers. So, in at least this case, I would stay away from Sunpak. FWIW

filter n00b here... Wouldn't a circular polarizer be the same no matter how it's rotated? Isn't that what makes it circular?

tclune

Mike Lane wrote:

filter n00b here... Wouldn't a circular polarizer be the same no matter how it's rotated? Isn't that what makes it circular?

Like I said, I'm new to circular polarizers, so I can't say for sure. The Sunpak data sheet that comes with the filter says that it acts just like a linear polarized filter in this regard and that makes sense by the design -- why make it so you can rotate one plane relative to the other if they don't do anything? Besides, I would expect that, whether the orientation helps or not, I would see a difference in reflectivity from a puddle between using the polarizer and not. I don't. It just plain seems dysfunctional to me.

ScottMcLeod

tclune wrote:

Like I said, I'm new to circular polarizers, so I can't say for sure. The Sunpak data sheet that comes with the filter says that it acts just like a linear polarized filter in this regard and that makes sense by the design -- why make it so you can rotate one plane relative to the other if they don't do anything? Besides, I would expect that, whether the orientation helps or not, I would see a difference in reflectivity from a puddle between using the polarizer and not. I don't. It just plain seems dysfunctional to me.

Circular polarizer is polarized in a way that doesn't interfere with the polarized mirror on an autofocus camera. (polarized out of plane from the AF mirror)

MF cameras need POL
AF cameras need C-POL

YayyyY!

yoyostock

Ian,

So, you think the Promaster filters are OK? The closest photo store from me carries the Hoyas, Tiffins, and Promasters. There was a signficant gap between the prices for the Hoyas, with the Tiffins and Promasters (which both cost about the same). I asked the guy at the store what his opinion was of the Promaster and he said it was basically the same as the Tiffin filters. Any thoughts?

ian408 wrote:

The answer is "it depends". I like the construction quality of B+W and am OK with
several others like Hoya and Promaster. I would likely stay away from a brand I don't
know.

Things I look for include the feel of a filter threading onto the lens, depth of threads and
how the filter element is retained. Of course, the overall quality of the glass is important
too.

Ian

TristanP

All my filters are Hoya HMCs from 2filter.com. I've never had a problem with the filters or the site. Just my $0.02.

pathfinder

Mike Lane wrote:

filter n00b here... Wouldn't a circular polarizer be the same no matter how it's rotated? Isn't that what makes it circular?

If you roatate a Circular Polarizing filter as you look thorugh it you will definitely see the polarizing effect. I look thorugh my viewfinder and rotate the polarizing filter to achieve the darkening of the sky that I desire. The effect is greatest at 90 degrees to the suns axis.

If you can rotate a filter looking at the sky 90 degrees to the suns axis and not see any effect, I would wonder if it really is a polarizer. The easy way to find out, is to hold another polarizing filter next to the first filter and then rotate them. TWO TRUE polarizing filters will transmit almost no light when they are rotated correctly 90 degrees from each other. Or rotate the filter in question while looking through a polarized sun glass lens.

If you have low quality lenses, then a low quality filter won't really make much difeerence. Maybe like a Hakuba lens. But if you own excellent glass, and are concerned about the quality of your images, remember anything you put in front of your lens WILL degrade the image somewhat. I prefer B&W or Hoya or Canon filters.

shutter

I bought some cheap close up lenses and the main thing I found was that I was actually taking photographs again! The enjoyment I got was worth the small investment alone.

I agree with a previous poster though that you can't beat quality. The focussing ring on the 18-55 kit lens on the 300D is dire and hardly inspired confidence or enjoyment. get the best you can afford I guess is the motto.