Are premium filters worth the extra money for B/W contrast filters?

[J Ney]

I'm getting ready to make a more significant investment in filters as I'm prepping for the leap into the 8x10 world. To this point, I've been using Cokin P filters yet continuously read that they are far below the quality ladder from Lee / Hitech / etc... I completely understand that when you are talking about grad. ND filters that it is worth the investment to get a premium filter to avoid the color-cast, etc.


My question is, for black/white contrast filters (#25 red; #58 green; etc...) is there a significant quality difference between Cokin filters and the higher-end filters (specifically Hitech)?

Thanks,
J

[BetterSense]

Really, I don't think there is much difference between any filters, except maybe when it comes to flare. I use color gels held in front of the lens all the time. I've even used 3D glasses. The filter is in a plane so far out of focus that scratches and so on will never show up, so it's pretty forgiving. If you can afford to buy premium filters, by all means do, but I wouldn't worry about Cokin filters not being high enough quality.

[Sevo]

My question is, for black/white contrast filters (#25 red; #58 green; etc...) is there a significant quality difference between Cokin filters and the higher-end filters (specifically Hitech)?

Resin filters are more like gelatin filters in that their material is low refraction and has less lens element like behaviour. Optically this is an advantage - as long as they are perfectly clean, unscratched, unwarped and properly shaded inside a deep compendium. For wides, either in camera gelatin or multicoated glass is indicated, as shades are rather limited there. And resin filters do get wasted rather soon - my filters are split between glass for all frequently used types and gelatin (for portability) or resin (if considerably cheaper than gels) for the odd ones that get used only rarely.

The dyes and tints can sometimes be questionable, or maybe more subject to aging, but that seems to affect some colours only - I haven't ever had a mid or deep red resin filter which was up to gelatin and Zeiss or Hoya glass.

[Drew Wiley]

I gave up on everything but top notch multicoated glass filters long ago. Not only
was sharpness visibly affected and flare sometimes an issue, but condensation, fogging, dust retention, hazing, etc etc. Might not instantly be noticeable on large
format due to limited magnification when printing, but it is a factor. Just looked at
some 35mm negs tonite which were taken for critical filter testing. Could easily see
the difference under a 10X loupe.

[Greg Blank]

& I will add the those filters were tested on the same format under the same conditions and same film and shaded exactly same way. So they proved to be superior. Otherwise using resin will be just as good if you don't care. I am not a big filter advocate BTWY. The company I work for sells Cokin and I use the K2 and R25 for BW I also do like the FLD and FLW grads. I Don't like ND grads and NDs in general, but do like CC filters for very specified work.

I gave up on everything but top notch multicoated glass filters long ago. Not only
was sharpness visibly affected and flare sometimes an issue, but condensation, fogging, dust retention, hazing, etc etc. Might not instantly be noticeable on large
format due to limited magnification when printing, but it is a factor. Just looked at
some 35mm negs tonite which were taken for critical filter testing. Could easily see
the difference under a 10X loupe.

[Greg Blank]

Optiflex offered by Visual departures is a thinner filter, thinner equals less defraction. in short I like Optiflex have used quite a few Optiflex filters. Hitech by my understanding is a resin filter and is about 2.5mm in thickeness on parr with Cokin. I buy Cokin- because I work for a company that I get a good price and see not a lot of difference bewteeen Hitech and Cokin- I do own a Lee-Calumet grad-Hi-tech. I have the #25 red Cokin as well as some R25 glass Hoyas,....my statement is: if buying a more expensive glass R25 makes you think you make better pictures then me, buy it! I can still afford buying more film, so maybe you won't be taking pictures when I am 70- i know I won't be sweating your choice

I'm getting ready to make a more significant investment in filters as I'm prepping for the leap into the 8x10 world. To this point, I've been using Cokin P filters yet continuously read that they are far below the quality ladder from Lee / Hitech / etc... I completely understand that when you are talking about grad. ND filters that it is worth the investment to get a premium filter to avoid the color-cast, etc.


My question is, for black/white contrast filters (#25 red; #58 green; etc...) is there a significant quality difference between Cokin filters and the higher-end filters (specifically Hitech)?

Thanks,
J

[Brian Ellis]

I've used all the common brands of circular filters for b&w photography - B+W, Heliopan, Tiffen, Hoya. There's no noticeable difference among them that I've ever seen in a photograph. With color photography you can see that different brands of polarizers impart slightly different color casts but all the major brands are the same for b&w photography. I usually buy B+W filters just because they're made well but as far as different effects on the photograph as among the major brands, there is none.

[anchored]

I would disagree with any suggestion that resin filters are inferior to glass filters. More fragile... yes... better... no. Some of the highest quality filters available are made of optical resin (HiTech, Lee, Singh-Ray)... I surely wouldn't qualify these high-end resins filters as throw-aways... one just has to take care while handling them.

Although a bit off-subject but mentioned above, I've found there are major differences between brands of polarizers, far more than slightly different color casts. Some of the brands (especially the cheaper ones) have a tendency towards loss of contrast and turning deep shadows a blue-ish tinge. There is also quite a variation between range of polarity between brands. I've owned and tried most brands of polarizers (including B+W, Cokin, Heliopan, Hoya non-coated, Hoya HMC, Lee, Nikon, Quantaray, Singh-Ray, SunPak, Tiffen, and "non-branded"). My personal favorite polarizers have been those by Heliopan, Lee, and Singh-Ray.

On subject, for B&W photography, I personally lean towards higher-end filters simply due to problems I've incurred with lower end filters for color photography. I use HiTech contrast filters simply because I've been pleased with the quality of their other filters (color enhancers and grads) and they're quite a bit cheaper than my general favorite brand of filter (Lee).

[Doremus Scudder]

Some of the advantages of high-end filters lie outside their optical excellence. B+W filters and others are multicoated, which means less flare in certain situations. They also have brass rings, which means less jamming and sticking threads (i.e, easy to get off). The colors of top-quality filters are usually better dyes, which means both greater longevity and better consistency. These are the main reasons I have switched to B+W filters.

That said, I would not hesitate to use uncoated filters with aluminum rings, I'd just take the proper precautions (lens shade, don't screw it on too tight...). If you are careful with flare, there should be no appreciable difference in the image quality.

The resin and gel filters are very good, but are not coated and have the disadvantage of needing a holder/system to attach it to the lens. This is fine for much studio and product work, but for my type of work, i.e., field photography in often difficult to get to places, the smaller bulk and greater portability of screw-on filters are a real boon.

Best,

Doremus Scudder

[BrianShaw]

That said, I would not hesitate to use uncoated filters with aluminum rings, I'd just take the proper precautions (lens shade, don't screw it on too tight...). If you are careful with flare, there should be no appreciable difference in the image quality.

The resin and gel filters are very good, but are not coated and have the disadvantage of needing a holder/system to attach it to the lens. This is fine for much studio and product work, but for my type of work, i.e., field photography in often difficult to get to places, the smaller bulk and greater portability of screw-on filters are a real boon.

These two comments represent my experience, too.