Which company filters (ND, color correction) are good?

[erian]

I need to source set of ND and color correction filters.

Is there large quality difference between different makers?

 

[Sirius Glass]

I prefer Helopan, B+W, and Hasselblad, but Hoya and Tiffen make very good products too.

 

[wiltw]

Tiffen's reputation was driven by the motion picture industry. Considering that most Tiffen filters are single-coated, and the fact that a very few recent filters have multicoating (to reduce flare) I would not mention Tiffen in that list.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I went looking for a six stop ND filter a few weeks ago. I ended up buying one from someone on Ebay called image-laboratory to try out. The specs looked good. Haven't used it yet though...

I generally prefer B+W and Heliopan coated filters. Make sure they are coated. I think all Heliopan filters are coated, but not all B+W filters are. Hoya makes great multi coated filters too.

Neutral density filters are more of an issue because of color shift. You will need to do research on that depending on how you are going to use it.

If by "color correction" you mean matching kelvin, then historically Kodak gelatin filters were used for that. You are going to need a bunch of them. On the upside, you can find sets cheaply on ebay since no one needs to match kelvin in the camera anymore because of digital....

Hope that helps you.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Tiffen's reputation was driven by the motion picture industry. Considering that most Tiffen filters are single-coated, and the fact that a very few recent filters have multicoating (to reduce flare) I would not mention Tiffen in that list.

I look for multicoated filters, coated on both sides.

 

[alentine]

Warning: I've seen recently several filters from Heliopan that came with multiple coating defects, even those labeled 2017.
Some defects are more than 2mm to several millimeters.
Could be a serious quality control issue.
Plus Heliopan make filter on demand only, not batches as other manufacturers, wait 2 weeks on the dealer side, which will turn to be 2 months at least to get your filters, then if clear of blemishes/defects!
B+W at the top of the list, but they do not offer all grades of Yellow filters(and no green), unfortunately. Only the very basic B&W filters.
Hoya still good, specially HMC filters.
Tiffen filters hopefully are available in all Yellow grades and most green. But, not coated as B+W.
Format Hitech MC filters(fire crest as far as I recall) are good filters. But problem of availability.
Off course, smaller filters(below 82mm) may be available from all manufacturers more than the larger ones.

 

[BradS]

I prefer B+W (Schneider), Asahi and Minolta and Nikon but also have and use Vivitar, Toyo Optics, Hoya, Tiffen...
There are even a few old Kenko filters in my kit...they seem fine. I have a Quantaray polarizer that I bought when I was a kid...it seems to be fine too.
I don't worry too much about whether a filter is single coated or multi-coated...the difference isn't that significant.

I should add that I don't use filters very often and when I do, I really only use Polarizer, and the basic black and white contrast filters, yellow, orange, green and very rarely, red. I amback and forth on whether to leave a UV hze or Skylight filter on all the time as a prophylactic.

 

[Trail Images]

Needless to say the cost can be a real challenge across brands. During my working days I bought the best ND's at that time with Singh Ray units. Using 77mm lenses mostly back then I got the Lee Wide Angle 100 rectangle filter holder. After my working days I had a need to get some Reverse ND's and bought Hi-Tech brand to fit the Lee holder. They work OK but not the same level as the Singh Ray units.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I prefer B+W (Schneider), Asahi and Minolta and Nikon but also have and use Vivitar, Toyo Optics, Hoya, Tiffen...
There are even a few old Kenko filters in my kit...they seem fine. I have a Quantaray polarizer that I bought when I was a kid...it seems to be fine too.
I don't worry too much about whether a filter is single coated or multi-coated...the difference isn't that significant.

I should add that I don't use filters very often and when I do, I really only use Polarizer, and the basic black and white contrast filters, yellow, orange, green and very rarely, red. I am back and forth on whether to leave a UV haze or Skylight filter on all the time as a prophylactic.

I only remove UV or Haze filters when I put on another filter.

 

[rayonline_nz]

If you are talking about strong ND filters, maybe you need to try.

I have tried the cheaper standard Hitech 4 stop filters as a Cokin P slide down filter and the B+W 2 stop and 6 stop.
Re: with film. Hitech certainly has a cast. B+W 2 stop still does but was pretty much OK, 6 stop definite cast. I have resorted to get out when it is darker to shoot longer exposures. I heard the Lee Big Stopper has a blue cast also, same with the 10 stop B+W brown cast. Not sure about the Firefly Hitech now and the Nisi.

I have found online they used them on digital and it is been fine like my Hitech standard 4 stop. But that was prob due to the sensor.
Here are some of my tests fwiw
https://www.flickr.com/photos/31194022@N00/albums/72157665603859883

 

[AgX]

Plus Heliopan make filter on demand only, not batches as other manufacturers, wait 2 weeks on the dealer side, which will turn to be 2 months at least to get your filters, ...

If they did so, why then they are stating to phase-out a lot of filter types and ask to inquire if a certain type of these is still there as old stock?