filters...

[ferider]

I've scratched a front-element in the dark, trying to put a hood on. Since then, always filters. Also, I live close to the ocean, and goop collects on the filters with every camera outing.

Tested with and without. Found the only drawback of a good filter to be additional reflections when shooting in the dark against strong highlights. Ghosts and such, similar to Chris' observation in post #7.

I like Hoya HMC filter best, optically. B+W filters are best built and easiest to clean.

Also, the old tradition of using yellow filters (always) for protection when shooting B&W makes a lot of sense. Skies are prettier, skin tones are better.

Roland.

 

[Roger Hicks]

The other type of degradation often overlooked in "tests" is astigmatic and chromatic smearing at the edges. This can be very evident with wide angle lenses where the light forming the image at the edges passes through the filter at a significant angle.

I did a test quite a number of years ago with a decent by not great Soligor 21mm f/3.8 and an excellent Zeiss Skylight filter (a real Skylight with a rose/pink cast). I was testing to see if the then new Kodachrome 25 would see the color tint (I didn't). I shot at a middle aperture (probably f/8) where the lens, from experience, worked its best. When I examined the image closely I noticed that while I saw no sharpness difference in the center, there was a distinct radial smearing in the shot with the filter. This was with a lens that wasn't particularily great at the edges itself, so the additional smearing addid by the filter had to be significant to be seen.

Makes sense. Thanks.

Cheers,

R.

 

[maddoc]

Also, the old tradition of using yellow filters (always) for protection when shooting B&W makes a lot of sense. Skies are prettier, skin tones are better.

Roland.

+ 1.

I also prefer to clean a filter over cleaning a lens front element. Filter degrade the image (theoretically) but so does scanning the negative or printing or the slide projector ... With a digital sensor it might be more visible indeed.

 

[Finder]

I've seen that test before. I just don't know if I believe that Heliopans are as bad as the test makes them out to be... For the last couple of years I've been mostly B+W anyway; just the older ones include Heliopan.

Heliopan and B+W use the same glass (Schott optical glass), have the same frames (brass) - the question I guess is in the coatings (as the test might indicate). Heliopan uses their SH-PMC coatings (8 per side) and B+W uses their MRC coatings (unsure, but likely similar).

Between the Heliopans and B+W filters that I have, I've never noticed a difference. But then neither flare in the first place unless really pushed (specular highlights at night). In that case, I'd usually remove the filter anyway - except in the case of the M8 where you need the IR component.

I have had a bad experience with a Heliopan center filter that had several tiny air bubbles in the glass. B+W and Heliopan may use the same glass, but they don't process it the same way.

 

[ferider]

As a side note:

Sometimes one can buy great camera brand filters much cheaper than top-of-line B+W, Heliopan, Hoya, etc.

For example, I use Nikon 39mm, Minolta 40.5mm and Olympus 49/55mm filters. Built quality and coating are excellent.

Roland.

 

[Steve M.]

Don't want to tempt the fates. Ever notice that when you go out w/o a camera something nearly always comes up that you'd love to shoot? I suspect it's the same w/ filters. Leave one off and sure enough something will scratch the lens.

A hood is usually protection enough though if you want to shoot bareback. My problem w/ UV filters is flare. I've had a number of shots ruined by it, and they were Leica filters that were used w/ a hood.

 

[wolves3012]

Is that comment purely for UV filters or for 'coloured' ones also? I recently tried two different filters - red (Jessops) and orange (Hoya) - when shooting the same scene: compensating the exposure in each case. Once developed, the first image wasn't as sharp as the last one.

Best regards,
RoyM

Red vs orange isn't really a fair comparison though. You changed more than one variable.