Filters- Leica vs B+W or none?!

Filters- Leica vs B+W or none?!

  • Leica UV filters

    Votes: 38 10.6%

  • B+W MRC fliters

    Votes: 177 49.2%

  • Hoya MC filters

    Votes: 18 5.0%

  • Go "Commando" (no filters at all)

    Votes: 127 35.3%
  • Total voters
    360
Sorry, I have a noob question. Is it advisable to compensate for exposure if we put on a yellow B&W filter? If so, is 1/2 stop enough?
 
If it is light yellow then a 1/2 stop is correct. Medium yellow filters generally require a full stop more.
 
The more substantial B+W brass filter probably saved my 50 1.5 C Sonnar when I dropped it, the only discernible injury being a slight inward bend of a few degrees of the filter lip. The thread still runs sweetly. I like them even more after that.
 
No filters unless shooting in rain or mud or sand.

I had a cheap sigma 18-200mm lens that my dad gave to me because it broke. These are the dregs of the lens world - cheap, nasty and terrible IQ. I dissembled it to see if I could find the cause of the break - turns out the electric wires had separated and there was no point in re-assembling. Out of curiosity, I took the front glass element and a sharp screwdriver, and using a decent amount of pressure, tried to scratch the glass (just out of curiosity).

After about 2 mins of rubbing with a decent amount of force, and then a quick buff with a micro cloth, there were no scratches in the coating.

If sigma can do that with a $200 lens, why would I compromise image quality with a $2000 lens.

I tested a BW multicoated UV filter with my canon 35L against a bright light source, and the with the filter there were certainly effects on the picture - for example a light flare around light points etc.
 
I have B+W MRC fliters for both my 50 lux and my 35 cron ASPH, but I only keep a filter on the lux. If I'm shooting at night or in tricky lighting situations, I'll remove it. The only time I use the filter on the 35 cron is when I'm shooting in dusty or rainy conditions, mostly so I can just run my T-shirt over it for a quick cleaning without having to worry about damaging the lens. Otherwise, the 35 cron stays in my bag with no filter and just a 12585H hood for protection. This lens hasn't seen a or filter in ages.

My Elmar 90/4 and CV 25/4 go without filters.
 
I use both Leica and B+W on Leica lenses, whichever available at the moment. I keep MC UV filter on lenses all the time because I don't like using lens caps. I just put the camera into my bag or pocket and hold in hand everyday, and the caps are spending the rest of their natural lives in "misc" camera equipment bag or the lens packages.
 
I never use UV filter when photographing. Use them as lenscaps for travelling instead since they do not fall off easily. Leica and BW.
 
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I figure the filter provides a "sacrificial surface", as I'd prefer damage there than on the lens front element. One can reeplace a filter with "cleaning marks", etc. But, recognizing the possibility of optical degradation caused by the filter, I won't skimp on quality of manufacture, coating, etc. I use both B+W and Leica but as I recall there are situations where the Leica filter will allow a hood to fit over it where the B+W will not...
 
Where's the heliopan check-box? I have half a dozen filters that fit the lens on my Leica, half B+W and half heliopan.
 
peter_n said:
Binding is reduced when there is like metal to like, so I understand. Internet wisdom is that brass is best in all cases but I have had more than one brass filter bind on an aluminum lens. This is partially because I'm a complete clutz but I don't buy the brass is always best argument any more.
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Aluminuim is really soft and it can stick or gall when used in threaded applications. It's really not a very good material for a filter ring. But it's cheap.

Brass is very good material for this kind of thing.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by peter_n
Binding is reduced when there is like metal to like, so I understand....


Actually, it's just the opposite; identical metals tend to interchange particles and stick. Different alloys of the same basic metal are better used together, or different metals altogether.

40oz said:
Aluminuim is really soft and it can stick or gall when used in threaded applications. It's really not a very good material for a filter ring. But it's cheap.
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Depends on the specific alloy and temper; some aluminum is as hard and strong as mild steel. Pure aluminum is pretty soft; there's been a lot of progress in creating new alloys for specific properties, over the years.
 
Doug said:
Actually, it's just the opposite; identical metals tend to interchange particles and stick. Different alloys of the same basic metal are better used together, or different metals altogether.
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Interchanging particles and sticking... Hmmm. ;) Thanks for the education Doug, my "understanding" has changed! :D
 
peter_n said:
Binding is reduced when there is like metal to like, so I understand. Internet wisdom is that brass is best in all cases but I have had more than one brass filter bind on an aluminum lens. This is partially because I'm a complete clutz but I don't buy the brass is always best argument any more.
Click to expand...

I think it's the other way around. Brass and aluminum are said to have a natural low-friction contact. Leica uses brass and aluminum as the mating parts in their lenses, for this reason. Painted Leica lenses have brass outer parts, since aluminum does not take paint well. Anodized ones have aluminum on the outside and brass for the inner parts.

Aluminum on aluminum galls worse than other combinations.
 
kully said:
I prefer B+W filters because that's what I've always used. And they seem more beefy in build than the Leica/Hoya filters.
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Leica/Hoya filters? Does this mean that Leica buys its filters from Hoya? I don't see that as a bad thing, if it's true. Hoya's best filters are quite good. But that may not be what was intended, though.
 
If I really had to depend on the shot. I wouldn't use any filter no matter who made it. It's another piece of glass and an air space, and I have had occasional flare w/ the best filters made (and often not so much from the cheapest, so go figure).
 
The new high-end Hoya ones are really easy to clean, as easy as a B+W, and tests have shown that they have superb transmission characteristics. I use Hoya, B+W, and Heliopan.
 
Stopped using filters. It's like putting a window pane over the Mona Lisa, you're going to get reflections. Makes me wonder how many times people lament about flare when it's just that flat piece of glass out in front of that finely crafted lens element.
 
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