Branded Filter

[beelychee]

Does the branded filter (like hoya) makes the difference compared with cheaper brands? (e.g. prostar). I got to know some sellers denied as what I mentioned. Need advice here. Thanks.

[tigadee]

Branded filters use better quality glass, sometimes thinner but good quality glass too, so that the filter isn't too fat and causes 'vignetting' or dark corners.

Branded filters also do really apply special coatings that perform the job of the type of filter, e.g. UV, CPL, ND, etc. Especially for UV filters, you can't tell the difference but with the branded ones, they have the coatings whereas with the cheap ones, it's most like just the glass w/o coating, or less coating or cheap coating chemicals that may wear off or easily scratched.

Some unknown brands can actually be good, and only well-known in their own country, e.g. B+W (US) or Jessops (UK). But at least those are European or US brands and there maybe some Taiwanese or Korean brands which may be good too - But the rubbish no-name made-in-China ones you need to watch out for!

Something to think about: For older lenses especially, good quality filters could help a lot because they are specially coated to work with digital sensors instead of film. Older lenses were made for film, so lack some of the coatings that new lenses have which cut down on ghosting, flare, etc which affects digital sensors more. Buying good quality filters for your old AF lenses would be like adding those special coatings onto your old lens, making them more suitable for use on digital SLRs.

[heejennwei]

well. i bought a cheap XX UV filter the flare was terrible, until i got myself a Hoya UV filter, it tremendously reduce in flare!

Lens + quality Filters= Brilliant!

[P.I.M.P]

must be due to the coating matter....

[beelychee]

Thx anyone for spending time explain about the different. It helps alot about the filter

[efx133]

i think if you go to a good shop stocking many filters, you can take look at them and you might notice that the more expensive filter can be seen through more easily. the cheaper would show more reflection.

tigadee, good explanation, very helpful to me too. but one thing that i don't understand is that I thought many issue with digital sensor reflection is at the last element, so how useful is the filter in this scenario? i have thought that the filter just helped to prevent itself from making things worse. not challenging but am interested to know more, especially when these filter makers talks about digital optimised filter eg. pro1d.

[tigadee]

i think if you go to a good shop stocking many filters, you can take look at them and you might notice that the more expensive filter can be seen through more easily. the cheaper would show more reflection.

tigadee, good explanation, very helpful to me too. but one thing that i don't understand is that I thought many issue with digital sensor reflection is at the last element, so how useful is the filter in this scenario? i have thought that the filter just helped to prevent itself from making things worse. not challenging but am interested to know more, especially when these filter makers talks about digital optimised filter eg. pro1d.

That is true, especially for older lenses that have less coatings optimised for digital sensors. That is why it's a good idea to put on a good quality filter which can minimise the amount of problems entering the lens before they get to the last element, that way you cut down on potential problems before they are supposed to be activated at the last stage.

Of course, a lot of technological advances have now occured where even the sensors themselves are made to minimise problems, but that doesn't mean you can't be safe than sorry and apply good quality filters on older lenses. And many older lenses still work very well on modern cameras, e.g. Canon EF 70-210mm f4, Nikon AF 70-210mm f4, Tamron 24-135mm SP, etc.