Questions on this topic has come up again and again. And I have cut and paste this infor quite a number of times. Finally decided to create this thread to help the newbies when buying filters.
Filter Price Guide
First and foremost, for the sake of convenience, I will list Clubsnap's Filter price guide as maintained by our hardworking mods. The price guide to filters can be found here:
[url]http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263716[/URL]
What are Filters for?
No we are not talking about the ones you put into your coffee machine, or the ones that goes into your car.
The Filters we are talking about pieces of glass or optical resin (plastic) that we put in front (and on rare occassions, inside) of our lenses to achieve a specific effect or for protection.
Filter Brands - The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Filters have cheap range, medium range and high end range. All depends on your budget but I would recommend you to get at least a medium range one.
Examples of some popular/well known/notorious brands/models:
very cheap range: Vitacon, Emolux, Steinzeiser, Sunblitz
cheap range: tokina, Hoya uncoated, hoya both sides coated, Kenko standard, Marumi standard
Medium economy range: Hoya HMC, , Kenko MC, Marumi DHG,
Medium high range: Hoya Pro1D, Kenko Pro1D, Marumi Super DHG
Hi end range: B+W MRC, Hoya HD, Kenko Zeta, Rodenstock, Heliopan
Filter Brands are like Cars
Continental cars are expensive and generally perform very very well. Continental cars also have higher and lower models. eg. S-class, A-class.
Continental cars: B+W, Rodenstock, Heliopan, LEE, Schneider Optics
French cars are ok and reasonably priced but sometimes performance is not the best in certain situations.
French cars: Cokin
American cars quite a few are very good, but quite a number are lemons. Some are good but just not worth the money.
American cars: Tiffen, Singh Ray
Japanese cars: some are cheap and perform not so good but better than the ones listed below. medium priced ones are quite good and very reliable. some are top of the line (like Lexus, Infiniti, Acura) and perform very well, and some of those top of the line even exceed the performance of continental cars.
Japanese cars: Nikon, Canon, Hoya, Kenko, Marumi, Tokina
China cars: very cheap, usually copies of more expensive brands, quality depends on the specific car. Some are terrible. But if you find a good one, it will be good and worth many times the low price you pay for it.
China cars: Tianya
I will stay away from any other brands not mentioned here and the ones below.
Malaysia/Singapore cars: Brands are owned/founded locally in MY or SG. Usually most of the parts are OEM by other companies. Supposed to be very cheap. Salesman always try to tell you it is very good and give you the wrong impression that it is made in Germany or Japan. And will try to sell you at a much higher rip off price. Performance is just so so. Some are totally terrible. Some are not bad.
Malaysia/Singapore Cars: Steinzeiser, Vitacon, Emolux.
About Hoya and Kenko
Hoya and Kenko (and Tokina) are very closely related companies in Japan. They are most likely in the same
keiretsu. Many of their filters share almost the same model names, and some of them are almost identical.
Not all Hoya filters are made equal. Not all Hoya filters are priced equal. Not all Kenko filters are made equal. Not all Kenko filters are priced equal.
Also note that Tokina filters are on the lower end and they do not offer any of the higher performing filters.
Also note that Tokina manufactures all of their own, Hoya's and Kenko's filters using Hoya's glass
Know what you are buying.
Current models...
Hoya (from cheap to expensive):
Hoya both sides coated (single coating on each side)
Hoya HMC (Hoya Multicoated - basic multicoating)
Hoya SMC (discontinued?, good multicoated)
Hoya Ultra (discontinued?, thin ring, good multicoated)
Hoya Pro1D (advanced multicoating matt thin ring with knurling edge, optimized for digital)
Hoya HD (multicoated and hardened, scratch and oil resistant. around price levels of B+W MRC)
Kenko (from cheap to expensive):
Kenko standard filters (no coating),
Kenko MC (Basic Multicoated),
Kenko Pro1D (equivalent to Hoya Pro1D)
Kenko Zeta (equivalent to Hoya HD)
Kenko Zeta EX (extra thin/slim CPL filters)
