Want to buy a Filter...

JCTibu

Hello all, Tried to do a search but for some reason it pops anything...

Thanks in advance for any recommendation....

Long history short, i came from a D5100... D5300.. And i just got the D750 with a Sigma 24-195 F4... Because my bank was broken, i bought just a tiffen 82mm UV filter for 15 bucks....

After reading and reading, now I feel guilty because i waste 15 dollars for a cheap filter in front of a good lens...

Now i am wondering if I get a Hoya HD or a B+W filter.... Also, if you guys recommend to move to a polarized or continue with a UV/Clear....

This is just a hobby for me.... And my budget is from 100 or 150 or close... Hopefully that will be enough to get a good filter.....

Photobug

Sell that cheap filter on eBay or Craig's List. Target Hoya or B+W at $75 to $125 UV filter. Quality is good st this price point. Look at the better Hoya HD or HD2. Well worth the money. My last one cost me 115 but I see they are $125 now.

spraynpray

Save your money. Keep that cheap rubbish for when there is a high likelyhood of damage to your front lens group (Motocross etc) and don't bother with one any other time. Hint: There are UV filters built into the sensor so you don't even need one - you are just putting rubbish between your lens and the subject. The only filters worth using these days are neutral density and polarising filters.

retread

I have used Nikon, Tiffin, Hoya, and have a B&W also. I have been putting a Hoya clear protective hardened glass filter on all my lenses when I am not using anything else. last ones cost me fifty some dollars US at B&H. I am not sure it was a 52mm or the 77mm. I have need of both sizes. I am quite happy with them.

JCTibu

Yeah.. I understand that UV filter do nothing, but a bad filter will lower the IQ a lot... so i was using it more as a protective filter for the glass of the lens...

FlowtographyBerlin

+1 for @spraynpray. However, I recently started using clear glass filters just so the cleaning is easier.

Don't waste any money on anything else but B+W, they are pristine optically, and it's like not using a filter at all. Hoya has the "new" HD2 series, which seem to be super-unbreakable or something, and super-easy to clean, too. Don't know if they're as great optically as the B+Ws.

Why B+W? Because it's a filter you'll ALWAYS have on your lens, I wouldn't compromise. The only time I'd get anything different is for polarizers, ND filters and the like.

I tested the Haida ND filters a while ago (click), they're very recommendable.

tcole1983

I don't use them. My 17-55 came with the Hoya hd...I took it off when I got it and I couldn't tell you where it is now. I never use them. With a lens cap and the lens hood which I almost always use. I feel pretty good about being careful with it.

PB_PM

I agree with the majority, since I would skip using a UV or protective filter, in most cases, because they are not really worth while. Indirect impacts, such as sudden hit to the lens body, can do more damage, causing the elements to become misaligned, or micro cracks, than any direct impact. To sum it up, if the lens falls hard enough to break the front element, it is unlikely that a protective filter will do more than prevent visible damage. Now if you are going to be using the camera around young children, who like to get their hands on everything, that's another story altogether.

Regarding my earlier point about lens damage, I can give an example. I used to own a AF-S 300mm F4 and had an incident where it was dropped, and that was only a 3 foot drop mind you. The front element had no direct impact, and other than a bent filter thread there was no visible damage. Auto focus was still faultless as far as I could tell. I took the lens in to be checked anyway. All of the lens elements were out of alignment and the front element was damage and needed to be replaced. Yes, even though there was no visible damage it had become warped, making off centre targets look like mush. Basically the point is, no protective or UV filter would have made a difference, other than it might have got stuck on when the filter thread got damaged.

I have a B+W UV filter on the AF-S 16-35mm F4 due to the lenses design, which can suck air in via the front element, which moves when zooming. Other than a lens that exhibits that kind of behaviour, particularly in environment like a beach, where sand and salt could be sucked into the lens, I don't see much use for said filters. A polarizer or ND filter would likely yield far better results, even though they are only used for specific tasks.

Killerbob

I have Hoya and B+W UV filters on all my lenses, except for the Sigma 8mm and Nikon 14-24mm on which it is impossible.

Living in Greenland the elements are simply too hard on equipment. In the summer we have sand, salt water, and mosquitoes. In the winter we obviously have snow and ice. Hence it would simply be to much having to clean the front glass every time I had been out shooting. A filter is much much easier to clean, especially the high quality ones.

Photobug

+1 with Killerbob - high quality filters are much easier to clean than the cheaper ones. I use Hoya on every lens and do it for these reasons:
++protect that front element from spray and sand
++my filters are easier to clean then the front element of the lens
++I have been known to have my had slip off the barrel and hit the front of the lens.

True story, I had one friend return his Nikon zoom lens to the service center to have the front element replaced. He always cleaned his lens with lens tissue and he had beach sand in his pocket (didn't know it) and pulled out the tissue and cleaned his front element...thereby imparting beautiful micro scratches on the front element.

I have discovered that my grand kids love to reach for my 17-55 zoom lens and several times last year they got my front element when I was not looking. They know better now.

I really second the use of B+M and Hoya HD and HD2.

JCTibu

Grease fingers and rain, Thats my problem and fear.....

Sad story about that beach sand

sevencrossing

Do some test shots with it on and with it off
can you tell the difference

Unless you are the sort of person who always works in a clean safe environment
and never forget to put the lens cap back on, immediately after the shot
I recommend always having a clear or UV filter on

bald_eagle

For me the jury's still out with regard to UV Filters... I sometimes use them, as others have said to protect the front element from the environment and or sticky/greasy fingers, etc. but I'm always worried about the effect they have on image quality..
For example: I took some night time shots at one of the Christmas markets here last Christmas and forgot to take the UV filter off.. resulting in several unusable pictures with nasty light reflections caused by the filter (don't ask me why I didn't see them when taking the shots )
When do use them, I generally Always use Hoya "HD" or "Pro1 Digital" ones, and thought they would block UV (as claimed).. until I saw this youtube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfAwd_8aklE. I guess if the Hoya ones block hardly any UV, then the cheaper ones most certainly don't....

Here's a couple more interesting UV filter test videos..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5DPVme8Ak8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MN1n0HPmXc

Cheers,
Baldy

Edit: Links fixed... Thanks Photobug..

Photobug

@blad_eagel - both links did not work, had to copy them to my browser to see the videos.

bald_eagle

@blad_eagel - both links did not work, had to copy them to my browser to see the videos.

Thanks.. I've fixed them now..
Cheers,
Baldy

Photobug

@blad_eagel - both links did not work, had to copy them to my browser to see the videos.

Thanks.. I've fixed them now..
Cheers,
Baldy

Your welcome.

Msmoto

As in the past, there are those who use front filters and those who do not. Obviously, the highest IQ will be obtained in most cases without another optical element in the light path. But, some of us like to be able to shoot in nasty venues where junk gets on the front element for whatever reason. Thus, i simply leave a B & W or other high quality filter on the front of the lens. As important or possibly more important item for lens protection is a lens hood. Not only does this help to keep fingers, and other objects from the front element, if one drops the camera or bumps the hood, there is a certain energy absorption when the hood bends,breaks or falls off. So, I use a good filter and hood....so when i fall and can't get up at least the camera is better off..... :-j

Parke1953

Thanks Msmoto, You always make me smile.