What's the difference between cheap and expensive filters?

J

James Sparham

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James
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Hi all

I've been advised to try out the following filters for architectural photography:

Neutral density
Graduated neutral density
UV
Polarising

They seem to range in price so much - from dirt cheap to mid range to over £100 - that I don't know where to start.

Ultimately I'm on a budget, so I don't want to spend over the odds for a pricey filter when a cheap or mid-range one does the same job.

If the expensive filter is the only one to get the right results then so be it, but I'd like to weigh up the pros and cons first. If anyone has any experience of using filters your input would be much appreciated.

Cheers

James
 
Clarity, colour shift.

Rules of diminishing returns, there is a point where it’s “good enough”, that generally isn’t the cheapest one.
 
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For cheap filters I've had good experiences with SRB photographic and Neewer filters through Amazon, although whether they are 'good enough' is up to you.

If you're shooting digital then a UV filters adds nothing because there is a UV filter already on the sensor. I would be inclined to buy one filter type at a time & learn to use it before buying another - that would also help you evaluate the supplier without splurging a large amount of cash in one go.
 
Sticking a £15 filter on a £1500 lens is likely to be a mistake. Equally it's not going to be too beneficial sticking a £100 filter on a £50 lens so perhaps some idea of the equipement that you'll being using will allow people to better assess your needs.

Bob
 
Crappy* filters have a surprisingly little effect on the sharpness of wideangles but will absolutely murder anything over 50-70mm. Some reduction in contract can be expected but its largely non-issue with tools like Lightroom. However contrasty light can induce some terrible flares, which is where you really want to have the grade multicoated filters and none of the plastic junk. Scratched filters also react badly to bright contrasty light so another reason to avoid plastic. I just blend multiple exposures instead of these horrid overpriced plastic grads these days and I wouldn't go back.

UV - this is for lens protection only and may be required to complete the weather sealing of canon L lenses. Avoid cheap or fake ones. Genuine Hoya HD, Fusion or even pro1D are fine; no need to go for ultra pricey top of the range B+W, etc on your typical 24-70mm until you buy into Zeiss or cine lenses.
CPL - pick some good multicoated one but if you are like me you won't use it all that much. Hoya Pro-1d CPL coatings scratch like nothing else so choose a different grade or brand.
ND - glass, multicoated, ideally screw in. They could have some bad colour cast which you would ideally like to avoid. Very seldom used for real estate, a little more for landscapes or blurring out people...

* including anything plastic like Lee, vinyl, non-coated glass, cheap ebay fakes, etc.

I have shot through the double glazing of residential towers and got away with acceptable IQ even up to 100-200mm but at 16mm you get away with it a lot easier even with some very unfavourable angles.
 
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One tip, if you are going to get an circular filter, especially ones that you put on and take off for a photo like a ND filter, get the largest size you have for your lenses and a step up ring for a few quid. That way you can use it for all your lenses.
 
I agree with the analogy above that states that If you buy a £30-£40 filter would you want to put it over a £1500 lens?.

If you spend all that money on a good lens with optically great glass then stick sub substandard piece of glass/resin over the front, you cannot expect a knock down in image quality.

I have recently moved to Kase filters (glass) and can say they are a revelation over my previous Lee (resin) setup.
 
I’m going to be blunt James; I don’t know who’s ‘advised’ you but I’d take their future advice with a huge pinch of salt.

UV filters are completely redundant as ‘filters’ on digital, likewise graduated ND’s can be replaced with PP for better results.

The only filters we need when shooting digital are ND and polarising, and of those, the only one I could see as being regularly used is a polariser (ND’s are used to lower a shutter speed for effect, either to blur movement or to mix flash and bright ambient).

As above, the quality you buy should be in keeping with the quality of your lenses, and if you’re buying circular, buy the biggest you might need.
 
I recently had a lens swap around & had to buy/sell/swap a few filters.

I've now got a Haida ND which I can say gives no bad effects that I have noticed & I bought a Hoya (HD I think) CPL which again, gives no bad effects & works as it should.

Both of which are reasonably priced too. And, as has been said get the biggest size you need & use step up rings.
 
Canon Bob said:
Sticking a £15 filter on a £1500 lens is likely to be a mistake. Equally it's not going to be too beneficial sticking a £100 filter on a £50 lens so perhaps some idea of the equipement that you'll being using will allow people to better assess your needs.

Bob
Click to expand...

I stuck a £13 SRB filter on a £2,100 lens and was very pleased when it hit the ground this weekend and it stopped it getting damaged. It's an unusually small filter, 34mm, SRB are the only people who make that size. I've not noticed it being any worse than my normal Leica or Helioplan filters.

I have about 7 or 8 Lee 75mm square filters, most half price from Ffordes. A good source.
 
I stopped using UV filters a while back after feedback/advise on here.

I do however still have some protection filters that I use when shooting equestrian as I find myself in some quite dusty conditions (beach, sand schools etc).

But I don’t use cheap ones - Hoya HD gold ones.
 
I have only had bad experiences of cheap filters once before.... I had some ND and graduated ND filters that cast an awful purple all over the image.

More recently, I have had good results with hoya filters which seem to be a good compromise of cost and performance. I picked up some used Nikon polarizers whilst in America and these were excellent value - although pretty heavy ...
 
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