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

[Jim Noel]

Why put a cheap piece of plastic or glass in front of an expensive lens?
This makes no sense to me - I only use optically flat glass filters, or gels which are scrupulously clean.

[Sevo]

Technically, plastics (or more specifically the CR-39 and PMMA used in camera optics and filters) have advantages similar to gels - namely high transparency and low refraction at a high Abbe number, and the possibility to use them in thin wall strength without the fracture and splinter risk of glass. CR-39 moreover is a high quality near UV blocking filter by itself.

It really depends on the applications - "plastics" filters are not bad by themselves, the more so in large format where they often can be mounted in-camera, where they have much less flare issues than with the flimsy budget 35mm holders they are usually associated with.

[J Ney]

Thanks all for this great insight... whenever I read some of these threads I feel like I need to go back and get a degree in physics, but the thing I love about photography is that there is always so much more to learn! :-)

For me, the most valuable thing I took away was the absolute need for a lens shade or compendium (especially when using resin filters). For contrast, I think I'll use Cokin filters but definitely stay with Hitech for other filters that may be used with color film.

Thanks again,
J

[anchored]

J - One thing you may look into replacing if wanting to spend a bit to improve your filter system for use with Cokin and other brand square/rectangular filters: Replace the Cokin holder with the Lee filter holder system. Build is MUCH better than Cokin; it is fully adjustable to accommodate different filter thicknesses (adjustment screws or replacement slide rails to vary tension); can customize the number of filter slots in the holder to suite your needs; and Lee has superb compendium shades that fits their holder.

[J Ney]

J - One thing you may look into replacing if wanting to spend a bit to improve your filter system for use with Cokin and other brand square/rectangular filters: Replace the Cokin holder with the Lee filter holder system. Build is MUCH better than Cokin; it is fully adjustable to accommodate different filter thicknesses (adjustment screws or replacement slide rails to vary tension); can customize the number of filter slots in the holder to suite your needs; and Lee has superb compendium shades that fits their holder.

Thanks for the tip... definitely planning on veering away from the Cokin holder!

[tgtaylor]

I disagree. I've found the Cokin Z holder essentially the same as the Lee Foundation except that the Cokin allows you to adjust for filter thickness without using a screwdriver. Plus it cost about 1/2 what the Lee holder costs.

I am in the process of replacing my resin 4x4 filters (HiTek, Cokin and Lee) with glass filters primarily because the glass is scratch resistant but also because of the supposd better optical quality of optical grade glass. The glass filters are super expensive - $250 for example for a Schneider Tru Circular Polarizer - but worth it in the end as long as I don't drop them on concrete So far I have two Schneiders (Polarizer and UV) and two Formatt (1stop ND and 2 stop grad).

I've been using the Cokin Z-Pro filters for B&W, HiTek for Grads, and Lee and Cokin (I bought a complete set of Lee 4x4 81 Series warming filters at a camera show for $30 in brand new condition with Lee case) with no discernable problem other than they will develop scratches over time despite taking the utmost care.

BTW, I've searched E-bay for some time for a reasonable priced compendium shade for my Toyo's. Haven't found any yet but you don't really need one. Every time I pull the dark slide I hold it to the side of the lens until I see its shadow cover the lens/filter.

[Sevo]

also because of the supposd better optical quality of optical grade glass.

The optical properties of glass are actually worse, when it comes to a plan-parallel plate introduced into a optical system. Optical plastics are not neutral (even gels are only approximating neutrality), but a fair bit closer to neutrality than glass.

[Wally]

I disagree. I've found the Cokin Z holder essentially the same as the Lee Foundation except that the Cokin allows you to adjust for filter thickness without using a screwdriver. Plus it cost about 1/2 what the Lee holder costs.

...

I've been using the Cokin Z-Pro filters for B&W, HiTek for Grads, and Lee and Cokin (I bought a complete set of Lee 4x4 81 Series warming filters at a camera show for $30 in brand new condition with Lee case) with no discernable problem other than they will develop scratches over time despite taking the utmost care.

...

Are you sure you don't mean the Cokin X-Pro? I don't think the Z holder can handle a 4-inch filter.

[J Ney]

Are you sure you don't mean the Cokin X-Pro? I don't think the Z holder can handle a 4-inch filter.

The Z holder can hold the 4-inch filter... the X filter is something huge like 130mm.

[Brian K]

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

Besides some of the qualitative differences mentioned already, such as lower flare on multicoated glass filters, there are several other differences that can be significant. The most important being that the use of plastic or resin filters with longer focal length lenses will noticeably degrade the image. If you plan on shooting with lenses over 250mm you really need to use glass filters that screw in so that that remain plano parallel.

As for my first choice of filters it's always B+W.