Filters...brands?

The_Duke

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I have some questions about the quality and brand.

What are some brands that I should look into?

One that a local store caries is promaster, and the have a multi-coated UV filter for 30$, or a digital UV filter for 60$, or a Digital HGX UV filter for 90$. can anyone explain better than their website the real benefits of one vs the other?
 
definitely look into Hoya, one of the better brands.
but might be a little expensive. it's up to you if that is worth it.
sorry i don't know much more about filters, just that a circular polarizer is a must, i love them. ( i have a Sunpak- isn't the best at all.. but it does add better color, i definitely wish i had paid a bit more for a better one though. don't look at sunpak, rather cheap)
 
Best brands: Lee, Singh-Ray, B+W and Heliopan.

Good brands: Tiffen and Hoya

Don't bother: Pretty much everything else.

There is a HUGE amount of marketing hype with filters. Terms like "digital" "optimized", etc don't mean a thing. You want a filter that is mutli-coated to reduce/prevent CA, reflections, etc, and preferably in a brass mount rather than steel or aluminum (seats well, less likely come loose or to bind). Filters, second only to lenses are an area where it does not pay to go cheap. A cheap or poor quality filter is often worse than none at all. For the multi-coated Hoya and Tiffen be prepared to spend $50-75 a filter depending on size and for the best ones, you can easily spend $300+.
 
Be careful with Hoya filters. Stick to the multi-coated ones. Their un-coated filters are not worth buying, IMO.

I fully agree with tirediron's rankings.
 
I use Tiffen and Hoya. The Hoya 4x ND are very delicate. Be careful cleaning.

The prices in the OP are crazy. Can't you buy online for a fraction of that cost?
 
...The prices in the OP are crazy. Can't you buy online for a fraction of that cost?
Sure you can; I've CPOLs on eBay for $8.99 - of course you'd be better of as far as image quality just to stick your lens in a mud-puddle. You get what you pay for; there's a reason that one filter costs $300 and another $30 even though, in theory they're the same filter. You will almost never go wrong spending more money on anything glass in photography.
 
After reviewing the articles in lenstips.com, I am interested in getting the Marumi DHG Multi-Coated CPL filter and ND filter.
 
Best brands: Lee, Singh-Ray, B+W and Heliopan.

Good brands: Tiffen and Hoya

Don't bother: Pretty much everything else.
I'll add one more to the list.... Hitech. Although no personal experience myself, I was made aware of them a few years ago after I bought a set of Cokin GND filters. The latest issue of Rangefinder mag (April 2012) had an article on ND filters with a holder system. I'll quote a blurb from the article.....
Fortunately, problems with quality and supply don't plague the little-known Hitech filter line. Hitech is the only maker other than Cokin and Lee to offer a dedicated holder, and (contrary to some internet blather) Hitech filters are on par in optical quality with Lee's. Unlike Lee filters, though, if Hitech filters aren't already in retailer's stock they can be ordered to arrive within a week or two. And unlike Cokin filters, Hitech's much-harder resin is produced entirely in-house, allowing a higher level of quality control.

Details can be found at http://www.formatt.co.uk/default.aspx
 
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40 years ago, give or take, the camera dealer I dealt with put me into Hoya filters.

Fantastic then, still fantastic today. For my filter needs nowadays, it's exclusively Hoya HD line of filters. As the Youtube demonstration shows...fantastic!

 
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Using B+W and Lee here, and very happy :)
 
Forgot to mention that I currently run with B+W (Kaesemann & thin CPL & 3 stop ND) and Hoya Pro1 series (CPL & 3 stop ND) screw-on filters....... and the Cokin P series of GNDs.
 

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