step-up rings?

cmason

I am getting a B+W Circular Polarizer, but it isn't cheap. I have three lenses, two that are 77mm filter diam,., and one that is 67mm filter diam. Now, besides replacing the 67mm lens with a 77mm one (I wish!), is a step-up ring a viable alternative?

Do they work? are they a pain? My thought here is to get the Cir-Pol in 77mm, which someday nearly all my lenses will be 77mm (L you know). Then for the other lens, I can use a $20 step-up ring for it to fit. Seems like having a bigger filter on a smaller lens should work...May look funny, but it would work.

Any experience with these?

Seymore

Easier (and cheaper) to carry one filter and step up ring(s) needed for the lenses you may own. The only other thing to watch for is using these on really WA lenses. Vignetting can occur.

gryphonslair99

I do use step up rings for my different lenses. Most of my L glass uses 77mm filters. Some use 72mm filters and then I own some non-L glass as well. For the money, I purchased one of the very best (translation = usually very expensive) polarizers in the 77mm size and have step up rings for all of my other lenses.

Fortunately the one thing I was worried about was my Ultra wide angle lens. It takes a 77mm filter and works pretty well at 10mm, although I have to be very precise in adjusting it. Since it is a slim design filter (thinner glass and no front threads on the filter) I have no problems with it. Wide angle lenses are the one area you have to watch out for though as with a thicker standard filter you can sometimes get vignetting.

The way I look at it, if I spread the cost of this one $180.00 filter and a couple of $20.00 step up rings over all the lenses I can use it on, it works out to about $22.00 a lens. Cheaper than buying one cheap one for each lens. Just my take on the matter.

cmason

gryphonslair99 wrote:

The way I look at it, if I spread the cost of this one $180.00 filter and a couple of $20.00 step up rings over all the lenses I can use it on, it works out to about $22.00 a lens. Cheaper than buying one cheap one for each lens. Just my take on the matter.

That was my thought exactly. The B+W I want is $150, and getting to use this on all the lenses makes sense. I had considered the Cokin polarizer as a cheaper 'all lens' solution, but I have really come to trust B+W filters.

Do you think the slim is the way to go for my 10-20 lens? How bad a vingnette will I get with the standard filter

gryphonslair99

cmason wrote:

That was my thought exactly. The B+W I want is $150, and getting to use this on all the lenses makes sense. I had considered the Cokin polarizer as a cheaper 'all lens' solution, but I have really come to trust B+W filters.

Do you think the slim is the way to go for my 10-20 lens? How bad a vingnette will I get with the standard filter

Best thing to do is to go to a photography store that handles the filter you are looking at and try it. No one in my area handles B+W. One of the two photography shops did however carry Hoya's top of the line. I took my 10-22 and tried the Hoya and it worked fine. The only problem I have with a polarizing filter on my 10-22 is at that in the 10-14mm range I have to be very careful to adjust it precisely, otherwise a blue sky will be darker on one side of the photo than the other.

If you are looking at the "Cokin" type of solution then I would suggest that you look at Schneider or Tiffen top of the line 4 X 4 filters. Be sitting down though when you do. They are far superior to Cokin filters IMO.

claudermilk

cmason wrote:

That was my thought exactly. The B+W I want is $150, and getting to use this on all the lenses makes sense. I had considered the Cokin polarizer as a cheaper 'all lens' solution, but I have really come to trust B+W filters.

Do you think the slim is the way to go for my 10-20 lens? How bad a vingnette will I get with the standard filter

You should get no vignetting at all with the standard filter--slim is a waste of money for crop bodies. I've used a standard CPL on my 12-24 on a 20D. Now, the UWA FOV with a polarizer issue is a different story--the issue as mentioned by gryphonslair99.

You can cut the $150 pricetag by a lot going through hvstar.net. I got the Kaesemann 77mm CPL from them for about $122.

Back to the original question: yes step-up rings will work fine, you just lose the ability to use the lenses' hood.

cmason

claudermilk wrote:

You can cut the $150 pricetag by a lot going through hvstar.net. I got the Kaesemann 77mm CPL from them for about $122.

Dang, that place is cheap....

claudermilk

Yup. That's why I keep recommending them. Shipping time is about a week-and-a-half to the west coast. The filters appear to be genuine & function as such. There are many satisfied customers over at FM. The one thing to watch for there is they now have "alloy" and brass variants--you want the brass.