Having just watched as a 77mm filter slipped from my hand and shattered on a tombstone, I am again thinking about moving to rectangular filters. Will these survive dropping, or do they scratch easily? Would I be better to use the thin Lee polyester filters (red 25, etc.) and keep a spare? How easy are they to handle in frames?
Ed Richards
http://www.epr-art.com
Ed
The Lee resin filters are reasonably durable and can be cleaned, but they do scratch. I've had to replace a few of the most used filters over the years.
The polyester filters stand up better than gels, but you will definitely need to replace them. The Lee frames for them are easy to handle and work well with the Lee filter holders. The preframed ones are better, but only available in sets. For single filter use they are fine, but be careful with multiple filter stacks. I have had a moire pattern on the film which I believe came from a stressed polyester filter (maybe used with a polarizer?). The polyester must be placed between the polarizer and the lens.
All my lenses have a lee adapter ring, fitted with an oversize lens cap. Using filters is very quick - no screwing and unscrewing, and fairly fast setup with ND grads. The only hitch is with smaller front elements, as the adapters are relatively large.
That said, I'm not sure what the best filter for dropping would be. Resin filters are unlikely to shatter, but I would recommend dropping them on an edge. That might preserve the business end.
I used to use a lot of filters, often with two Lee holders rotated in two directions. I found them to be quite efficient. Using fewer filters and mostly negatives now I still like the simplicity of putting any filter on any lens. I hope this is useful.
I really like your New Orleans photographs.
Peter
No filter will stand up well to being dropped.
-Chris
I dropped a square Lee glass polarizer this past weekend and it's history. Unless you drop it on grass, a glass filter will not survive a drop.
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