Re: [Leica] Leica or B+W Filters

[Jeff S <4season@boulder.net>]

I think this whole filter business is blown out of proportion and that
even a cheap (but decent) filter, properly used, makes for a better
picture.

I'm happy with the (single-coated) Hoya filters that I picked up
recently, brand-new, and about $8/ea. Mike's Camera was clearing these
out to make room for Sunpak filters.

Just looking at the brightness of the reflections off the surfaces of my
filters, I'd tend to think that, in order of flare resistance, my
filters stack up as follows, from best to worst:

Hoya (current)
Heliopan (current)
B+W (exact age unknown, looks recent) quite a gap between this and the
top two.
Leica (exact age unknown, looked recent) about the same as B+W
Cokin

I pay extra for the Heliopan E39s because I really like the rings and
standard 39mm filters don't seem to fit Leicas so well--I think the
thread pitch is slightly different. One Heliopan keeps falling apart, so
I guess their QC is shoddy too, but I like them all the same and I have
a big tube of PVA glue around here somewhere :-) In other sizes, oh
whatever. I plan on buying into the Lee compendium hood and resin
filters--that is an amazing hood. Lee? Cokin? Those who have lenses
which take 67mm, Series VIII, Bay 50 and Bay 60 accessories will
appreciate the benefits of a universal system!

Jeff Segawa
no archive


Bob Walkden wrote:

> I will second Shel's description of the shoddy QC on Hoya filters - I've
> even had one that, when I lifted it out of the box for the very first time,
> left the glass behind and just an empty ring in my hand!
> 
> However, apparently Hoya make the Contax filters, and they are very good
> indeed, although more expensive even than B+W.
> 
> One thing to be wary of with B+W filters is that under some circs. the
> retaining ring can come loose. I had this problem when I used a B+W brass PL
> with a Heliopan metal hood, which I think is aluminium, and removing the
> hood unscrewed the retaining ring.