lens filter

[alice]

B+W filter vs. Leica filter for the Summicron, which one is better?
any pros and cons? or do they perform pretty much the same?

i am thinking if i should get the B+W or not......
please share your thoughts!

thanks!!!

 

[peter_n]

Alice B+W are the best filters you can get. Leica are good filters but ridiculously overpriced. If you can, get the B+W FPro with hardened coatings, the most expensive but will last the longest. B&H and Adorama are good places to buy new. Heliopan and Hoya are also good but the Hoyas have softer surfaces. Having said that I've used a couple of Hoyas for years and they are fine - hardness/softness of surface is a relative concept. 🙂

 

[alice]

thanks Peter for your advice.

In terms of producing/supressing flare, is the Leica pretty much the same as B+W?

 

[back alley]

why have you posted this twice?

as to filters, b+w filters are great, good glass and brass rings.
but cheaper filters, like hoya and kenko are pretty darn good also.


joe

 

[alice]

joe,
thanks.

i posted it twice by mistake......press the wrong backward and then forward again buttons.....

 

[Stephan]

Best is no filter at all 😀

 

[Steve Hoffman]

Leica filters are made by B&W in the first place so what does that tell you? Get the "thin" B&W versions and you will be in good shape.

 

[richard_l]

In terms of producing/supressing flare, is the Leica pretty much the same as B+W?

Any filter will increase the possibility of flare. I have a couple of old Leitz filters (expensive) as well as the cheapest B+W and Hoya filters. They all perform as desired, but I almost always use a lens hood, which reduces the likelihood of flare.

 

[back alley]

yes, i prefer hoods to filters.

joe

 

[Ben Z]

1. Leica and regular B+W filters have one antireflective coating layer per side. B+W "MRC" (Multi Resistant Coating) filters have several coatings per side. If you hold each of them face up and look at your reflections, they are clearly visible in the Leica and plain B+W and all but absent from the B+W MRC. Those are the ones I now use.

2. Hoods do not keep specks off the front glass, which if even one of them remains when you wipe the lens, will scratch the coating. Some say Leica coatings are super strong and can't be scratched. I say, you do what you want with your lenses and I'll do what I want with mine. I've never had anyone look at one of my pictures and say "oh, you must've had a UV filter on your lens, the image is so degraded".

 

[Roger Hicks]

No reliable double-blind test of which I am aware has EVER shown significant differences between half-decent filters. Nor have tests where the experimenter was TRYING to find differences. Nor has anyone shown detectable quality losses in normal photography with good-quality filters, though it is possible that this is because sensible photographers know when NOT to use a filter, e.g. straight into the sun.

Ctein (a better experimentalist than I) agreed when we last discussed this.

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

 

[peter_n]

thanks Peter for your advice.

In terms of producing/supressing flare, is the Leica pretty much the same as B+W?

They produce rather than suppress Alice. 😉 As does Richard, I also use a lens hood religiously. And Ben is spot-on with the B+W multi-resistant coating, I was at work when I posted earlier and couldn't remember all the acronyms. My preferred filter is a B+W MRC FPro, I think they run around $36-42 at a place like B&H. In relative terms that's a lot for a filter but if you put it on Leica glass that cost $1K+ it's not so bad.

 

[Ben Z]

sensible photographers know when NOT to use a filter, e.g. straight into the sun.

Since I've switched to those MRC filters I haven't bothered removing them ever, and have not gotten the weird flares and ghosts I used to with the plain B+W filters if I forgot to take it off when shooting backlit shots toward the sun. However, it's been my experience that most lenses will exhibit some bad behavior when shot "straight into the sun"...not to mention the chance of burning a hole in the Leica shutter or your retinas or both if you dally a moment too long.

 

[alice]

thanks guys!!
i will try to get a hold of the MRC then...

 

[jaapv]

Since I've switched to those MRC filters I haven't bothered removing them ever, and have not gotten the weird flares and ghosts I used to with the plain B+W filters if I forgot to take it off when shooting backlit shots toward the sun. However, it's been my experience that most lenses will exhibit some bad behavior when shot "straight into the sun"...not to mention the chance of burning a hole in the Leica shutter or your retinas or both if you dally a moment too long.

The problem is usually not weird ghosts, but an overall (slight) loss of contrast.

 

[Ben Z]

The problem is usually not weird ghosts, but an overall (slight) loss of contrast.

None of that with the MRC filter either.

 

[jaapv]

None of that with the MRC filter either.

As one poster said, it is just how one uses them. I don't 😛

Insurance is imho better than putting an extra piece of glass in front of a lens that cost me a considerable number of Euros to get best qualities. Despite everything there is no way the laws of optics, which dictate that the number of reflections will multiply by four, will be suspended. On top of that, any light striking a filter at an angle will exit the filter at a different angle, depending on its frequency and not affected by any coating. That means unsharpness towards the edges and chromatic aberration, especially with wideangle lenses. Whether this is relevant for the photo's one likes to take everyone must decide for themselves.

 

[peter_n]

I guess there are just some of us who who are believers, and some who are not, and never the twain shall meet. Like so much in life... 😉

 

[richard_l]

The official instruction manual for the Leica M3 recommends always keeping a UV filter on lenses for proitection.

 

[back alley]

i'm guessing they were hoping it would be an official leica filter too!

😉

joe