Cheap or brand filters?

If you feel the need to put a filter on a lens to protect it, make it one that matches the quality of your lens

high quality lens = dont ruin the lens quality, so buy a high quality filter
lower quality lens = can get away with a lower quality filter

The only filter I use in normal conditions is a polariser. In abnormal conditions eg windy seaside, lots of salt spray etc, I would use a good quality protector filter if I wasnt using a polariser or 10 stop etc
 
If your going to buy a filter buy decent stuff as a test get a cheapo one one on a telephoto and zoom in see how soft the image goes. Try a nd filter on a very bright day with at f22 and see the colour of the nd filter
 
Lens hood? Try that first perhaps. Or buy a longer lens :P

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I must admit I use cheaper UV filters on my lenses to protect them and can't really find any problems except when shooting backlit subjects when they may cause slight flare.

But a few months ago I did buy a polarising filter from Ebay -I think it cost about £7.00 and included a centre pinch lens cap!

The filter seemed to cause a kind of "stretching blur" along what I presume is the axis of the polarising material.

But the centre pinch lens cap works great so it wasn't an entire loss! :lol:

.
 
Get a decent UV filter if you want to use one. Hoya Pro are quite good. You don't actually need a UV filter on a digital camera, but they're usually a bit cheaper than the plain optical glass protection filters, and they do the same job.

I only use a lens hood, unless conditions are poor - blowing spume, water, grit etc - then I'll pop a filter on.
 
I just buy the cheapest Hoya filter I can find. People say it can affect lighting but I haven't noticed any changed under various lighting conditions.
 
I would only use a decent quality one like Hoya.
I've only recently purchased my gear so don't have any filters on any of the lenses, but I'll get at least one that I can put on as I need to and I'll probably invest in hoods once I figure out which ones I need. Its got me all confused. :thinking:
 
Mandoo said:
I would only use a decent quality one like Hoya.
I've only recently purchased my gear so don't have any filters on any of the lenses, but I'll get at least one that I can put on as I need to and I'll probably invest in hoods once I figure out which ones I need. Its got me all confused. :thinking:
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Lens hoods are a good investment. The easiest way to get the right ones is to buy the OEM hoods, but these can be expensive. You can often find them for less from Hong Kong suppliers and on eBay, but be a bit careful. There are a lot of cheap knock offs around. Some are OK, and others aren't. At best, they don't do anything useful, and at worst they can cause vignetting.
 
Don't most lenses come with a hood as a rule? All mine have, even the 2nd hand ones!

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MatW said:
Don't most lenses come with a hood as a rule? All mine have, even the 2nd hand ones!

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Nope. Canon L lenses do, but that's it. You have to buy the hood separately for all the rest, including the expensive 17-55mm f2.8. I don't know about other brands.
 
MatW said:
Don't most lenses come with a hood as a rule? All mine have, even the 2nd hand ones!

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MartynK said:
Nope. Canon L lenses do, but that's it. You have to buy the hood separately for all the rest, including the expensive 17-55mm f2.8. I don't know about other brands.
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As above, only the L series in the Canon range come with a hood as standard, which is a big bug bear for a lot of Canon users.

I believe Sigma (the few I've had did) lenses come with a hood as standard and a padded case for that matter as well.

Not sure re Tamron / tokina etc.
 
MartynK said:
Canon L lenses do, but that's it.
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Ah, oops. Sure I got one with the EF-S 17-85 that came with my 40D, but perhaps that was because it was part of the kit.

The siggy 10-20 came with one, but it's so tiny it's just a plastic ring!

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MatW said:
Ah, oops. Sure I got one with the EF-S 17-85 that came with my 40D, but perhaps that was because it was part of the kit.
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I got my 17 - 85mm as part of a kit in South Africa, and it didn't come with a hood (I bought one from a Hong Kong dealer), but the UK kits might have been different? Don't think so though. As the previous poster said, Canon's policy is irritating, particularly for expensive lenses.
 
I've used a lot of Hoya Green Label filters in the past, they're the cheapest Hoyas... think they might now be branded Kenko. Anyways, never had a problem with them other than flare when shooting into bright light at night. Bought some Pro1D's for my faster lenses, eyewateringly pricey, but they do seem to control the flare better.

Sticking with the Greens on lenses I don't use in the dark tho!

Oh, and I tend to use hoods too... belt n braces :-)
 
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