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Picked up a HOYA "Super HMC PRO1" skylight filter yesterday, and while taking it off I just put a little finger mark on it. I decided to clean it with the solution I use for my glasses on a Pec Pad. Result: coating is RS, showing bubble like marks and scratches... To me just crap coating, not worth either the appellation or the price!
Cheers,
Gerard

glamy wrote:Picked up a HOYA "Super HMC PRO1" skylight filter yesterday, and while taking it off I just put a little finger mark on it. I decided to clean it with the solution I use for my glasses on a Pec Pad. Result: coating is RS, showing bubble like marks and scratches... To me just crap coating, not worth either the appellation or the price!
Cheers,
Gerard

That's the reply why I don't stock them or buy them anymore.
I had problems with all those Hoya top range filters.

If you want to have a top range of filter, go for the B+W brand.

I'm with Birddog on this one

I've got both Hoya and B+W filters.

With the 77mm HMC Hoya UV on my 80-400, the glass actually seems loose in between the filter locking rings that keeps the glass in the filter rim, and just doesn't seem to be the same quality as the B+W range.

The B+W on my 50/1.4 is faultless, and is noticeably heavier despite being only a 52mm (? I think) size thread. It also appears that the filter rim is made out of a heaver duty alloy/metal.

I have a B+W polariser and I agree the quality seems superior. I hope other members read this, as to avoid the disappointment.
Cheers,
Gerard

got news for you all

even the most expensive Nikon CPL filter has a multicoat that when you touch and try to get it off with proper solution and lots of lens tissue
streaks remain
my one has several streaks i can't get rid off

I only have 1 B+W filter a 64x neutral density and it wipes clean with or without solution

Cool, so where do we get our hands on some B+W filters?

Wendell, did i read that right? A 64x ND???

Killakoala wrote:Cool, so where do we get our hands on some B+W filters?

Wendell, did i read that right? A 64x ND???

yo steve

you read it right

I can look directly at the sun with it.

wendellt wrote:got news for you all

even the most expensive Nikon CPL filter has a multicoat that when you touch and try to get it off with proper solution and lots of lens tissue
streaks remain
my one has several streaks i can't get rid off

I only have 1 B+W filter a 64x neutral density and it wipes clean with or without solution

Streaks are easy to get them off by using the right method and solution.
The pain with Hoya MC and Nikon filters are: quality is not the same with B&W.

B&W filters are not cheap.

birddog114 wrote:

wendellt wrote:got news for you all

even the most expensive Nikon CPL filter has a multicoat that when you touch and try to get it off with proper solution and lots of lens tissue
streaks remain
my one has several streaks i can't get rid off

I only have 1 B+W filter a 64x neutral density and it wipes clean with or without solution

Streaks are easy to get them off by using the right method and solution.
The pain with Hoya MC and Nikon filters are: quality is not the same with B&W.

B&W filters are not cheap.

and you cant find them on ebay right now especially 77mm ones
i just bought 2 hoya nd 4 and 8 because i could not find a b+w one

Even my Nikon L37C has the coating coming apart. I remove it every time I use the lens. I find the streaks on the Hoya impossible to get off... Steve, I got my B+W from Madsens in Wollongong. They are on the net:http://www.madsens.com.au/
Go into the filtershop section and you get all prices.
Cheers,
Gerard

The NDx64 is $175, they go up to NDX100000! (Still $175)
Cheers,
Gerard

wendellt wrote:
and you cant find them on ebay right now especially 77mm ones
i just bought 2 hoya nd 4 and 8 because i could not find a b+w one

Madsens in Wollongong almost always has stock of B+W or can backorder them:
http://www.madsens.com.au/hoyacart/b%2B ... _bwscrew77

Sweet, thanks for that info. Sounds like a trip to the 'Gong is in order. Must check my brakes first.

My recommendations for filters are in this order

Nikon NC/L37c
B+W MRC

I've seen tests comparing various filters to no filter on the lens and the Nikon NC/L37c filters provide the closest result to no filter with regards to IQ and flare, followed closely by the B+W MRC, then the filter quality degrades based on the price.

Actually a simple test you can do to see the quality of the filter is to place the filters over a white piece of paper or newspaper. You will see a big difference between the Nikon filters and the cheaper Hoya filters - the Nikon filters will look like there is no glass at all, whereas the Hoya filters will have a colour cast to them.

Also, a good item for cleaning filters I have found is the Lens Pen. Very good at removing stains - even on the Hoya filters.

Being new to DSLR . I have uv filters on my 2 lens, have always felt that my photos where not as sharp as they should be, yesterday I took off the UV filter, took test shots , and from what I can see my photos are much sharper without the UV filter,, Do I really need to have a filter on the lens, I know its suppose to protect the lens, but at the cost of soft photos I am not happy,,


Suzanne

So do many individuals remove filters and clean lenses? I have always treated filters as the first line of protection for a much more expensive lens and will take it off when needed.

Hi Suzanne,
A good filter should not be a problem but as I mentioned even my Nikon filter shows deterioration of the coating, so I have to remove it as well. I'll try the B+W to see how it goes as it is awkward to remove filters all the time. Also the B+W are made with a brass thread wich is much smoother than the standard aluminium thread.
Cheers
Gerard

bindiblue wrote:Being new to DSLR . I have uv filters on my 2 lens, have always felt that my photos where not as sharp as they should be, yesterday I took off the UV filter, took test shots , and from what I can see my photos are much sharper without the UV filter,, Do I really need to have a filter on the lens, I know its suppose to protect the lens, but at the cost of soft photos I am not happy,,


Suzanne

A lot depends on the brand/type of filter you use. Which brand of filter are you using ? For all my main lenses I use Nikon L37c or NC filters as I find them to be the best optically with pretty much no image degradation. The other brand I use are B+W filters for my "cheaper" lenses, I find te B+W filters to be pretty decent.

But you are right, you don't really need filters for protection if you are careful with your lenses - especially if it degrades your lens performance - what's the point of buying $1k to $2k lens when you end up putting a $10 piece of glass in front of it. But if you spend a little more on filters, you can get very good quality ones that can protect your lens for added peace of mind.

birddog114 wrote:The pain with Hoya MC and Nikon filters are: quality is not the same with B&W.

This is quite the opposite to my own experience. Not relating to UV filters (my UV filters rarely see the day of light, I don't know why I got them in the first place), but to CPL's.

I've got two B+W and a few Nikon polarisers. The B+W ones are utter crap, close to being unusable. Their glass is fine, but the two rings are coming apart, and are oozing lubricant onto the glass... The Nikons started out much better mechanically and are still like new, although they've seen much more use. All of my Nikon and B+W filters were purchased over ten years ago. I will never in my life get another B+W filter, no matter what the price is.

If anybody thinks I'm full of it, I can bring my B+W's and Nikons to the next mini-meet, for inspection. BTW, I believe the Nikon CPL's were intentionally not multi-coated, at least not the ones I've got.

Cheers
Steffen.

Steffen wrote:

birddog114 wrote:The pain with Hoya MC and Nikon filters are: quality is not the same with B&W.

This is quite the opposite to my own experience. Not relating to UV filters (my UV filters rarely see the day of light, I don't know why I got them in the first place), but to CPL's.

I've got two B+W and a few Nikon polarisers. The B+W ones are utter crap, close to being unusable. Their glass is fine, but the two rings are coming apart, and are oozing lubricant onto the glass... The Nikons started out much better mechanically and are still like new, although they've seen much more use. All of my Nikon and B+W filters were purchased over ten years ago. I will never in my life get another B+W filter, no matter what the price is.



If anybody thinks I'm full of it, I can bring my B+W's and Nikons to the next mini-meet, for inspection. BTW, I believe the Nikon CPL's were intentionally not multi-coated, at least not the ones I've got.

Cheers
Steffen.

I too have heard about the quality issues with the B+W Kassemann circular polarisers from another forum. Apparently when they first came out of the production line at B+W they were top notch but over the pass few years things have been going downhill.

One thing I liked about the B+W MRC filter's was the ease of cleaning and it's resistance to dust. Just stay away from the B+W circular polarisers.


Obviously with that in mind I bought the Nikon circular polariser instead.

huynhie wrote:
I too have heard about the quality issues with the B+W Kassemann circular polarisers from another forum. Apparently when they first came out of the production line at B+W they were top notch but over the pass few years things have been going downhill.

One thing I liked about the B+W MRC filter's was the ease of cleaning and it's resistance to dust. Just stay away from the B+W circular polarisers.

I had B+W Kasseman CPL and sold it with my kit lens but I could not complain about it at all. Never had any quality issue with it

having spent the $$ on the VR I took Fozzies advice (below) and purchased a B+W UV filter for $115- no complaints so far.

1. I use B+W MRC (010M) UV-HAZE Filters and purchased in Australia from:

http://www.mainlinephoto.com.au/category19_1.htm

Filters are made by this company, and worthwhile looking at:

http://www.schneideroptics.com/filters/ ... otography/

Unfortunately they do not come cheap. Hoya do have problems with flaking coating. I work on the theory, buy once.

cheers
rookie2