What do you think of cheap filters

seanE · Apr 15, 2016

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Ex-Pro-77mm-...393053?hash=item5b2311ccdd:g:HlEAAOSwJQdXCUPV

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Ex-Pro-62mm-...311779?hash=item4d2cdf4623:g:UwMAAOSwstxVWmRo

John Bragg · Apr 15, 2016

Up to a point, you get what you pay for. I would doubt the wisdom of buying cheap, certainly where somerhing like a UV or Skylight filter is concerned. Hoya and Kenco are about the cheapest I would go. Both are quality products made in Japan. Why get a precision made quality lens and then add a piece of random glass on the front of it ?

Theo Sulphate · Apr 15, 2016

There is a difference and it matters. Here is a link to a series of filter tests that seem to have been done methodically and scientifically:

http://www.lenstip.com/113.1-article-UV_filters_test.html

You can read the whole thing or just the first four sections (very short) to see the results.

I've seen the results of stacking multiple bad filters together vs. good ones in order to show the difference is dramatic.

Alan Gales · Apr 15, 2016

If you are on a budget then you can find inexpensive used filters on Ebay. I've bought B+W and Heliopan at good prices but you have to be patient. Hoya HMC filters are good too.

Don't put cheap glass in front of a quality lens if you value image quality.

MattKing · Apr 15, 2016

Don't forget how important the mechanical quality of a filter is.

That being said, cheap special effect and other infrequent use filters are certainly tempting....

wiltw · Apr 15, 2016

Cheap, single-coated and double-coated, filters are not worth the postage you pay to get them to you.

Alan Gales · Apr 15, 2016

MattKing said:
Don't forget how important the mechanical quality of a filter is.

That being said, cheap special effect and other infrequent use filters are certainly tempting....

Cokin is good for that!

Gerald C Koch · Apr 15, 2016

Since any filter becomes part of the image path it pays to get the best one can afford.

Poisson Du Jour · Apr 15, 2016

If your photography is done with a $600 camera snouted with a $5,000 lens, would you seriously want to hobble the lens' optical performance with a cheap, unknown brand filter, of whatever type? Match the quality of the filter to the quality of the lens and resist the temptation to take shortcuts.

ColColt · Apr 15, 2016

In the past I've bought Nikon, Hoya, Tiffen and B+W. Never was disappointment in any of them. Today, I only buy B+W as I consider them about the best glass to be put in front of my best glass.

narsuitus · Apr 15, 2016

When I want to experiment with a variety of filters, I use inexpensive but high-quality gel filters.

shutterfinger · Apr 15, 2016

They're fine if all you want is 3x5 or 4x6 prints that aren't critically sharp.

CropDusterMan · Apr 16, 2016

So, you spend $2500 on a Summicron, then slap a cheap filter on it...I think that should be grounds for
a serious beating. lol.

blockend · Apr 16, 2016

The question is more fundamental - why put anything in front of a lens? As a former long term filter user, a lens hood is the only protection I use nowadays. You can make a case for filter use, if you're likely to get sprayed by paint or unpleasant chemicals, but generally speaking there's no point. A good lens is designed to have a certain number of elements, and the outer one has a tough coating - a Nikon rep used to stub a cigarette out on it and wipe the surface clean as a demonstration. Why add another element? An impact is as likely to damage the lens by shattering the filter as anything.

A gentle cleaning regime with the appropriate materials is the best way of achieving the optical goal the lens designers intended. And camera insurance.

darkosaric · Apr 16, 2016

blockend said:
The question is more fundamental - why put anything in front of a lens? As a former long term filter user, a lens hood is the only protection I use nowadays.

Yellow, orange or red filter - I use them not for protection but for the effects. I will not get the same effect from lens hood .

blockend · Apr 16, 2016

darkosaric said:
Yellow, orange or red filter - I use them not for protection but for the effects. I will not get the same effect from lens hood .

Correction filters, yes. Protection filters, very rarely.

CropDusterMan · Apr 16, 2016

Blockend, I tend to agree with you...I just got an expensive piece of Leica glass, and although the u.v filter I
put on is Leica, it almost felt like a sin to do so.

E. von Hoegh · Apr 16, 2016

I use UV filters religiously, the best I can find and preferably multicoated (especially on uncoated lenses), as protection, on everything from 120 year old Dagors to $15 Industars and anything in between. I'd rather trash a filter than a lens. I can always take the filter off if I want the best from whatever lens.

blockend · Apr 16, 2016

E. von Hoegh said:
I'd rather trash a filter than a lens.

Your filter might take your lens with it. Does a multicoated filter make an uncoated lens better?

RalphLambrecht · Apr 16, 2016

Alan Gales said:
If you are on a budget then you can find inexpensive used filters on Ebay. I've bought B+W and Heliopan at good prices but you have to be patient. Hoya HMC filters are good too.

Don't put cheap glass in front of a quality lens if you value image quality.

a cheap UV filter degrades your image quality less than a greasy finger print on your front lens element.

Alan Gales · Apr 16, 2016

RalphLambrecht said:
a cheap UV filter degrades your image quality less than a greasy finger print on your front lens element.

Ralph, you may be right on that but you still get some degradation. The OP is not just looking at UV filters. His links show colored filters and a polarizing screen also. I don't have any idea of the quality.

I completely understand why the OP wants to save money. Top brand filters are expensive. That's why I suggested buying used on Ebay. I have settled on 77mm for my filter size for large format. Large filters are even more expensive but I have found some great deals on used filters on Ebay. You do have to be patient though.

I guess it all comes down to how picky we are.

E. von Hoegh · Apr 16, 2016

blockend said:
Your filter might take your lens with it. Does a multicoated filter make an uncoated lens better?

Of course not. But the light that reflects off the front element is less of an issue with coated/ multicoated filters.

Sirius Glass · Apr 16, 2016

Not much

Ko.Fe. · Apr 17, 2016

I have lenses which deserves normal filters, not cheapo. Which I have tried cheap ones as well

seanE · Apr 17, 2016

So I spend 200 euro on a CV 35mm 2.5, And 200 on a fungus infected CV 15mm 4.5, then pop one filter out of a kit that cost me half the price of one recommended filter, and I will see a noticeable drop in image quality?, from your replies that looks like the case, Im looking to buy a good 50 or 90mm so i would like them to be future proof. Altho looking at the prices I might get A good polariser,
And some of the cheap effects filters to tie me over until i can afford better ones.

Thanks for your replies

What do you think of cheap filters

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