Are Kood UV, ND and Polarising filters OK?

Gordon Scott

Gordon Scott

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I am buying some 72mm filters for my new Tamron 17-50 F2.8 VC lens. Having scouted around, Kood filters are keenly priced, but just wanted to get some feedback on if they are as good as they claim considering the low price? Can anybody confirm they are good / say they are not or give good reasons to opt for something else? I tend to only use UV in hostile conditions as a lens protector, polariser for landscape and fancy playing with ND.

All advice very welcome - including good suppliers.
 
I occasionally use Kood 77mm CPL on my 24-70mm f/2.8L with pretty good results. I can't see a reason to spend £100 for a better one at the moment.

All my UV filters are from *Genuine* Hoya HMC (ie. with several layers of multi-coating) range and are as good as it gets at fairly low price. They never leave my lenses, as I'd rather clean or replace the filter, not the lens. On Tokina 12-24mm it actually improves the IQ. Plain UV filters are probably not the best thing to use.

Suppliers - ebay, but watch out for fakes!
 
Gordon Scott said:
I am buying some 72mm filters for my new Tamron 17-50 F2.8 VC lens. Having scouted around, Kood filters are keenly priced, but just wanted to get some feedback on if they are as good as they claim considering the low price? Can anybody confirm they are good / say they are not or give good reasons to opt for something else? I tend to only use UV in hostile conditions as a lens protector, polariser for landscape and fancy playing with ND.

All advice very welcome - including good suppliers.
Click to expand...

Don't spoil a nice lens like that with a cheap filter. Get a Hoya HD or Pro-1 from Amazon.

daugirdas said:
I occasionally use Kood 77mm CPL on my 24-70mm f/2.8L with pretty good results. I can't see a reason to spend £100 for a better one at the moment.

All my UV filters are from *Genuine* Hoya HMC (ie. with several layers of multi-coating) range and are as good as it gets at fairly low price. They never leave my lenses, as I'd rather clean or replace the filter, not the lens. On Tokina 12-24mm it actually improves the IQ. Plain UV filters are probably not the best thing to use.

Suppliers - ebay, but watch out for fakes!
Click to expand...

It's the season of miracles :D
 
Thanks for the replies.

HoppyUK said:
Don't spoil a nice lens like that with a cheap filter. Get a Hoya HD or Pro-1 from Amazon.
Click to expand...

I've done some more research and am moving towards buying just the Hoya HD 72mm CPL (Amazon £81 delivered). It seems to have verified claims of only loosing 1 stop rather than the normal 2 stops. That means I should be able to use it when I was going to pop on a UV filter anyway with the bonus of polariser characteristics i.e. by the sea on windy days and other more hostile conditioned outdoor pursuits. I wouldn't use a UV filter indoors or on fine days anyway.

Think I'll post a wanted up on here and see what come back... Is there a better / cheaper source than Amazon in this case do you think?

Cheers
Gordon
 
Gordon Scott said:
Thanks for the replies.



I've done some more research and am moving towards buying just the Hoya HD 72mm CPL (Amazon £81 delivered). It seems to have verified claims of only loosing 1 stop rather than the normal 2 stops. That means I should be able to use it when I was going to pop on a UV filter anyway with the bonus of polariser characteristics i.e. by the sea on windy days and other more hostile conditioned outdoor pursuits. I wouldn't use a UV filter indoors or on fine days anyway.

Think I'll post a wanted up on here and see what come back... Is there a better / cheaper source than Amazon in this case do you think?

Cheers
Gordon
Click to expand...

I have a Hoya HD polariser in 77mm. Paid £78 from Amazon so that sounds a little expensive, but probably only by a tenner or so. I've noticed the prices go up and down a bit. Maybe somebody will post a cheaper source but it won't be by much.

I have that filter permanently on my 10-22 super-wide. It loses 1.2 stops in overall exposure, compared to 1.7 - 2 stops for others so about 2/3rds of a stop saving along with the other benefits of the HD range.

I also have a Hoya Pro-1 UV protection filter but so far I have not used it. I hope I never have to because, season of miracles or not, even the highest quality filters affect image quality, even if it's mostly hardly detectable. Flare is usually the main problem, not sharpness. The only time I'm likely to use it is against sea spray - nasty stuff, gets flippin everywhere. For protection, I always use a lens hood and that actually does improve image quality.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Or have a scout around for a Kenko Pro version (Hoya's "budget" brand) they tend to be near enough identical...
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Thanks Graham, have had a look and can't find a HD equvallnet in the Kenko branding. I'm really attracted to the lower loss of light through the Hoya HD.

HoppyUK said:
I have a Hoya HD polariser in 77mm. Paid £78 from Amazon so that sounds a little expensive, but probably only by a tenner or so. I've noticed the prices go up and down a bit. Maybe somebody will post a cheaper source but it won't be by much.

I have that filter permanently on my 10-22 super-wide. It loses 1.2 stops in overall exposure, compared to 1.7 - 2 stops for others so about 2/3rds of a stop saving along with the other benefits of the HD range.

I also have a Hoya Pro-1 UV protection filter but so far I have not used it. I hope I never have to because, season of miracles or not, even the highest quality filters affect image quality, even if it's mostly hardly detectable. Flare is usually the main problem, not sharpness. The only time I'm likely to use it is against sea spray - nasty stuff, gets flippin everywhere. For protection, I always use a lens hood and that actually does improve image quality.
Click to expand...

Thanks Hoppy; interesting the light saving is not as much as indicated elsewhere, but still worth having. I tend to rely on the lens hood too...

Think I'll do a quick wanted advert... then go for it new if nothing comes back before the VAT increase.

Cheers
Gordon.
 
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