Filters with Mamiya 7

I did I search, I swear!

I am taking my M7II on holidays with me with my 43mm and 80mm lens. It's a nice light setup (relatively speaking!). But unfortunately I do not yet have filters that fit the glass. I have yellow, orange and red filters in 77mm (screw-in type) and also Cokin (the rectangular ones). My question is, and I hope you guys can help me, if I were to just manually place the filters over the lens (with camera on tripod), which one should I use? The 77mm screw-in ones or the plain rectangular ones? Or is this just a waste of time and effort?

Either should work

perfectly well, I often just hold the filter in front of the lens if the camera is on a tripod (e.g 4x5, Bronica SQ) and have never seen any problem.

luvmydogs said:

I did I search, I swear!

I am taking my M7II on holidays with me with my 43mm and 80mm lens. It's a nice light setup (relatively speaking!). But unfortunately I do not yet have filters that fit the glass. I have yellow, orange and red filters in 77mm (screw-in type) and also Cokin (the rectangular ones). My question is, and I hope you guys can help me, if I were to just manually place the filters over the lens (with camera on tripod), which one should I use? The 77mm screw-in ones or the plain rectangular ones? Or is this just a waste of time and effort?

Click to expand...

As mentioned either will work and can be held over the lens. However, Cokin filters are generally not the best quality. You can get high quality Lee or Singh-Ray filters amongst others that will fit Cokin P or Lee holders.

Rich

Cokin quality can be good enough though

FWIW I tried to see if I could detect a difference in the sharpness of an 11x14 print from FP4 using a Bronica SQ w 80mm lens printed with an EL Nikkor with & without a Cokin filter held in front; I could not see a difference even looking much closer than normal viewing distance. Conclusion the quality is good enough for that situation at least (B&W film & print so contrast can be adjusted, probably do get some flare from them since not coated)

naturephoto1 said:

As mentioned either will work and can be held over the lens. However, Cokin filters are generally not the best quality. You can get high quality Lee or Singh-Ray filters amongst others that will fit Cokin P or Lee holders.

Rich

Click to expand...

Thanks so much!! I'm glad to hear that I can use the filters I have for this trip. I don't have time to buy new ones for this trip so I'll have to stick with my Cokin or my screw-in ones (I think they're Hoya) for now.

Thanks again.

Macy,

In answer to your question about whether to use the 77 mm screw-in or the Cokin square, I suggest the screw-in ones.

I guess that the Cokin filters have plain uncovered edges. A filter with covered edges, like the mount of the screw-in or square filters covered in a filter holder, is preferable to one that doesn't have covered edges. It is better if there is no light entering the filter from the edges. This can lower the contrast. (In fact it is used to lower contrast.)

You want to make sure that no light hits the back of the filter, and that the gap between the rear of the filter and the front of the lens is closed. That should be easier with the screw-in, thanks to the lip.

The screw-in filters might be multi-coated or single coated, the Cokin resin one will not be.

If you have a lens hood that screws into the front of the 77 mm filters, you might be able to use that with the 80 mm. The absence of a lens hood is one of the biggest disadvantages of holding filters in front of the lens. I guess that you don't need to be told to shade the filter from direct sun whenever possible.

The effect of the differences I mention above will not always be evident, it will depend on the situation. How important these factors are to you will depend on how important it is to reduce the chance of having problems.

If, like me, you don't change filters very often, you could put polyester or gel filters (like Lee, Kodak Wratten and Wratten 2) behind the lens, attached with 'snot tape' (Scotch ATG tape). You aren't using fast lenses, so the slight focus shift should not be a problem.

Good luck,
Helen

Is there a reason a step up ring wouldn't work? You could leave the ring on the lens. Cheaper then new filters.

Nick Zentena said:

Is there a reason a step up ring wouldn't work? You could leave the ring on the lens. Cheaper then new filters.

Click to expand...

A reason? It would depend upon the ability to use a suitable lens hood, and the degree of obscuration of the viewfinder.

Best,
Helen

Helen B said:

A reason? It would depend upon the ability to use a suitable lens hood, and the degree of obscuration of the viewfinder.

Best,
Helen

Click to expand...

If you use a step-up ring you definitely will not be able to use the Mamiya lens hoods, which are specially designed for the 43mm and 80mm lenses that you mention. If you use screw-in filters to fit the lens you can use the hood with one filter on the 43mm lens, and two on the 80mm.

My advice would be to use the best multi-coated filters you can with these lenses. The Mamiya 7 lenses are among the sharpest you can buy for any camera, and not inexpensive either, so it seems like false economy to me to stick mediocre filters between the image and your glass.

Sandy King

I agree with Sandy's comments, but recognise that it is expensive to stock up with a range of filters, especially as Mamiya have been inconsiderate in choosing two different filter thread sizes for this lens range; so some compromise, at least to start with is understandable. For myself I have brought my favourite types to in the two thread sizes, but resort to holding others in front of a shaded lens as recommended above. So far the results have been satisfactory; at least for me.

Dave Miller said:

I agree with Sandy's comments, but recognise that it is expensive to stock up with a range of filters, especially as Mamiya have been inconsiderate in choosing two different filter thread sizes for this lens range; so some compromise, at least to start with is understandable. For myself I have brought my favourite types to in the two thread sizes, but resort to holding others in front of a shaded lens as recommended above. So far the results have been satisfactory; at least for me.

Click to expand...

I understand the expense, and the fact that two separate thread sizes are needed is really irritating. But perhaps it was necessary to keep size to a minimum, and that too is an important consideration.

My advice would be to use the existing glass threaded filters (assuming they are multi-coated and of high quality) , even if that involves the use of non-Mamiya lens hood.

Obviously the very best path is to get high quality filters that can be used with the Mamiya lens hoods. Or even best, avoid the use of filters whenever possible since anything in front of the optical glass is going to degrade image quality, even though it may not be by much and not seen until you get to large enlargements.


Sandy King