Cheap Haida ND Filters vs. B+W: A Comparison

FlowtographyBerlin

In case anyone is interested: I did a comparison of the rather affordable Haida ND filters with my B+W 110 ND filter. Check it out here: Neutral Density Filters: Are Haida ND Filters as good as B+W?

Disclaimer: There are no ads or whatever on my "blog", if you wanna call it blog at all, since there's so far only that one test. I set it up solely to share the information of the article. Enjoy.

Beso

@FlowtographyBerlin - I enjoyed reading through your test. Thank you for posting. I like my B+W, and while much less expensive, I am not convinced Haida is a better value. Like you, I didn't buy expensive glass just to put something in the optical path that will reduce image quality noticeably. Just for fun you may wish to take a look at heliopan filters.

Ironheart

Great job Flow. Thanks for doing this! So my takeaway is that the B+W has a cooler case, therefore worth the extra $€£¥ :-)
Seriously, why do you think the threads are "scratchy"? Did you get a bad sample or is there a burr on them? I haven't experienced this with any of my other filters. Interesting that one of the filters wouldn't even screw on all the way. Have you taken a soft nylon brush (toothbrush) to the threads on the lens and filters to make sure no gunk is in the way. Thanks again, great article (and the rest of your website ain't too shabby either ;-)

FlowtographyBerlin

@FlowtographyBerlin - I enjoyed reading through your test. Thank you for posting. I like my B+W, and while much less expensive, I am not convinced Haida is a better value. Like you, I didn't buy expensive glass just to put something in the optical path that will reduce image quality noticeably. Just for fun you may wish to take a look at heliopan filters.

Thanks for your feedback! Yes well, I'm the same. Then again, often times when I do real-world tests, I realize how little the difference is – or not noticeable at all, like in the Haida case.

Great job Flow. Thanks for doing this! So my takeaway is that the B+W has a cooler case, therefore worth the extra $€£¥ :-)
Seriously, why do you think the threads are "scratchy"? Did you get a bad sample or is there a burr on them? I haven't experienced this with any of my other filters. Interesting that one of the filters wouldn't even screw on all the way. Have you taken a soft nylon brush (toothbrush) to the threads on the lens and filters to make sure no gunk is in the way. Thanks again, great article (and the rest of your website ain't too shabby either ;-)

Hahaha. To be honest, small things like the case can actually sometimes make a real difference to me. Anytime you have a hard time with something, it makes you think "Oh man, WHY didn't I invest those couple of bucks more back then..." No, in this case, it surely wouldn't be worth the difference, though. :-)

Yeah well, the B+W threads are ok, it's just that they're so well made that screwing them into the cheapo plastic thread of the Nikkor always makes me feel like the lens might fall apart. I guess it's the plastic vs. brass feeling. The aluminum of the Haidas feels a lot smoother and (in this case) nicer. No, of course there weren't any grains in the way.

FlowtographyBerlin

I just added the dimensions table, which I didn't notice that I forgot it before. (Just in case this is of help to anyone.)

Blinkingeye

Thanks for the effort with the research and review (write-up.) You sharing your experience and thoughts is timely for me as I am buying a 10-stop filter this week. I was heavily leaning toward the B+W, the main thing I learned is the B+W too has a color cast, which is different than the advertising materials want you to believe. You have swayed me. I will be purchasing a Haida. Again, thanks for the effort.

FlowtographyBerlin

@Blinkingeye: How nice to know that it was timely for your decision! :-)

The color casts are actually not that much of a problem, even using the simple gray-card method. But yeah, with B+W, too, there are a bunch of filters that introduce a cast (although I haven't heard them trumpeting about being color-neutral either).