Jacobs Filters - Premium Quality?

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efunc

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Hi all, some quick advice please. I've never been to Jacobs, or used any of their products, however I'm off to Morocco next week and think I may need an ND filter for my Canon 5Dmk2 and 24-70mm lens. I'm not sure what to get and have never tried one, but the Jacobs ones are going cheap on ebay at the moment. Are these as good as their £90 retail price suggests?? I don't know the details, and if they're multi-coated or anything. Perhaps they're re-branded Hoya or something. Anyone use one?

I would rather not use one at all if it compromises the sharpness and contrast of my lenses though. Anyone?
 
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Jacobs have gone bust and auctions all there stock of last week, which could explain the cheap gear. Personally i would rather stick to i know like hoya.
 
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To be honest I never even knew that they made filters, and I suspect the reason you haven't had any replies is because nobody else really has either or if they have, have avoided them because they are an 'own brand's line and they tend to be cheaper filters which are rebranded and sold a bit dearer.... I think!
 
Yes, I was interested to hear from anyone who's used them, or knows the origin. At £89.99 (RRP) they were hardly cheap knock-offs! Usually companies like Jessops, Jacobs, Calumet etc don't make their own stuff but get established brands to do it, and then sell them in-house at very attractive prices, compared to the original name brand. If these were almost £90 I'd imagine that original manufacturer were a premium outfit, but I'm just speculating. I guess nobody knows then.
 
I've just bought. 72mm CPL and ND4 as well as a 67mm CPL and ND8 from eBay. All Jacobs brand. Cost me £32 all in.

Everything has arrived over the last couple of days and they seems to be pretty good quality.
I've not had the chance to try them yet, but for the prices I was prepared to take a gamble.

I've had cheap hoyas before and these new ones certainly feel better made that they were.
 
I've just got myself an Hoya Pro ND filter & it's brilliant, photos & video come out sharp & there's hardly any change to the colour.
 
daveharlow said:
I've just got myself an Hoya Pro ND filter & it's brilliant, photos & video come out sharp & there's hardly any change to the colour.
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Yes, but how much did it cost you? These are going for £10!

But if it's crap it's £10 wasted..
 
ecoleman said:
I've just bought. 72mm CPL and ND4 as well as a 67mm CPL and ND8 from eBay. All Jacobs brand. Cost me £32 all in.

Everything has arrived over the last couple of days and they seems to be pretty good quality.
I've not had the chance to try them yet, but for the prices I was prepared to take a gamble.
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I would be interested in your verdict? Any chance you could take a picture of it?
 
efunc said:
I would be interested in your verdict? Any chance you could take a picture of it?
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A picture of it, or a picture with it??

I should be able to do something tomorrow and post it up for you.

I've just had a quick look on eBay and they seem to have a standard (blue packaging) and pro multi coated (black packaging). All the filters I bought were the black packaging. They are also slim filters to prevent vignetting if you stack a couple.
 
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Umm.. either.. or both! LOL. It would be interesting to see the quality of the actual item, but I appreciate it can be hard to show that in a picture. Likewise it's actually quite difficult to show how it performs if you're not already familiar with the sharpness/contrast characteristics of the lens used.

Do the documents enclosed reveal anything about who the actual manufacturer is but any chance?
 
I know people bang on about the lee filters etc but I have a 3 stop filter from eBay that cost me a fiver - IQ is unaffected also.

The only thing is, it gives me a purple tint - no biggie, sorted in WB.

You don't HAVE to spend money to get the job done.
 
Just got my 77mm UV today. Wish i'd bought a few more. This post inspired me to do a few tests. Yes there's a fraction of a reduction in sharpness but that's to be expected with any UV and i'm pixel peeping. Vignetting is negligible when stacked with the ND4 at 17mm FF only the very edge.

Here's a quick knock up to compare the size with a Kenko from ebay.


IMG_4677.jpg by sharris86, on Flickr
 
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Hmmm.. thanks for all the info. I might take a punt, because the alternative is blowing about £70 on a Hoya or something, and I really can't see that happening.

Is there anything better value I should look at, just in case? I don't want to buy into an entire Lee setup right now because I leaving next week and there's not enough time to look into that right now.
 
I'd definitely place the 77mm Slim ND4 at the higher ends of the market. Can't see much if any difference under good lighting between the ND4 on and off. Obviously I won't be breaking mine to test whether its shatter-proof but that could be a consideration between an own brand and known brand, as it hasn't been extensively reviewed. But as another poster has said it could be made by a top end manufacturer and sold as own brand.

(Bear in mind tho if you need it quickly I think the seller may be bogged down in orders as I'm waiting 2 days and yet to have confirmation of dispatch for a 67mm UV i've ordered)
 
exactly what I wanted to know. The auction itself doesn't list any details, and jacobs are no more, so info is scant.
 
I don't see any mention of multi coating on the packaging. Tho i did shine a 60w bulb at it to compare any flaring and there wasn't any noticeable difference. Correct me if that's not a definitive test as i was improvising.
 
daugirdas said:
Are they multicoated? That's the first question one should ask
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They'll be coated in mud, moisture and fish slime within a week in my case... Is that what you meant? ;)
 
The tech spec is alarming:

Filter Diameter 77mm
Effect Neutral Density
Multicoated -​

That's it!
 
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I've emailed the eBay seller to ask, but having been to the Jacobs site and looking through the tech specs of all their filters I can only conclude that this is not Multi-Coated. The ones that are have the letters MC on the packaging and also mention it in the Tech Spec seem to be explicitly Multi-Coated, whilst the ones with just a ' - ' after Multicoated are not.

So, given that, will I be experiencing more pronounced lens flare or other artefacts because of this? Does the natural coating of my 24-70L do anything to couteract this?
 
My ND4 arrived just there. Doesnt mention anything about MC etc on box or filter, but just a quick google found this (mine is the same 67mm, same box (black), same everything). Camera shows no loss in IQ that I can see, so cant grumble.....

http://www.lensfilterstore.co.uk/20...mc-filter-67mm-for-nikon-canon-sony-new-9-74/

Mine was 4 quid odd, i'll use it 'now and again', dont have the need/justification to spend on Hoya etc, so for me and my frequency of using an ND filter, this will be fine. Physically, the filter seems great, but it's hard to say as i havent dropped it yet :)
 
I received the 77mm UV MC filter yesterday (arrived next day), it's the one in black packaging and it does say MC on it.
 
...when I say 'the same', I mean same apart from mine being a ND and the pic being a UV lol :)
 
terryt said:
I received the 77mm UV MC filter yesterday (arrived next day), it's the one in black packaging and it does say MC on it.
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Yes, all the UV MC ones are Multi-Coated, hence 'MC' in the name and 'Multi-Coated' in the tech spec. However the 77mm ND filter has neither 'MC' in the name or 'Multi-Coated' in the tech spec. I conclude then that it does not have these feature. Not sure if the £90 price tag was ever justified then.

Nonetheless though, I think I'm going to have to go ahead and order one because I don't have much time left before I go on my trip :(
 
efunc said:
Yes, all the UV MC ones are Multi-Coated, hence 'MC' in the name and 'Multi-Coated' in the tech spec. However the 77mm ND filter has neither 'MC' in the name or 'Multi-Coated' in the tech spec. I conclude then that it does not have these feature. Not sure if the £90 price tag was ever justified then.

Nonetheless though, I think I'm going to have to go ahead and order one because I don't have much time left before I go on my trip :(
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Yeah, i'd agree with all that, especially if that was the original RRP :LOL: Wonder why they are no longer around!?
 
can't really argue with a tenner though! Just wish there was a bit more info.
 
Well, it's done now. Hope it's OK, but it's worth taking the risk for the tiny outlay. I wouldn't care too much if I was slapping on a kit lens, but with a 24-70L and 24L it would be good to have something nice, if I could afford it right now.
 
Well, had a bit of a chance to play with these filters today.

The nds seem ok and the cpl on my 17-70 seems fine, but the cpl on my 70-200 is shocking. Will not focus at all at the 200 end. Focus locks but the image is shocking.

Anybody else experiencing this??
 
I bought a cpl 67mm which arrived today. Very quick delivery. Not had a chance to try it but will give it a go tomorrow.
 
I bought 3 uv's and 1 ND4 from the ebay link from this site, all three uv's stated MCoated, The ND4 does not mention Mcoating.
 
I bought a 77mm CPL, arrived today and a quick up-to-the-sunlight check suggests it may be a bit pants. I obviously ordered the wrong one - not the pro one with the black paper insert. I paid £25.99 for the one with the blue insert. I need to take more time over clicking Buy Now on Ebay. My bad :(
 
I've now had my second CPS 67mm for my Canon 70-200 f4L and neither work. Focus locks but is nowhere near in focus.

All I can say is lucky I didn't pay the £60 RRP from Jacobs or somebody would be getting a flea in their ear.
 
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