Back in the day I used to study this topic seriously (film days, see?) and I never was able to see a significant-enough difference from the high-end filters to justify the cost. And I think the gap's narrowed over time. For whatever that's worth...
Back in the day I used to study this topic seriously (film days, see?) and I never was able to see a significant-enough difference from the high-end filters to justify the cost. And I think the gap's narrowed over time. For whatever that's worth...
Thanks! I'm thinking they're pretty close too. I think I'm a lot more concerned about durability tho. I should've specified. As I have an older hoya thats stripping.
I can say that I had a Hoya that I accidentally left on the top of a rental car... it died an ignominious death about 10 years ago in the middle of the highway near Sedona, AZ. I replaced with a B+W, and I am more satisfied with the B+W. Seems to be less color cast, and less impact on image quality (though I was obviously not able to do a side-bi-side test, so take that with a grain of salt.
I can say that I had a Hoya that I accidentally left on the top of a rental car... it died an ignominious death about 10 years ago in the middle of the highway near Sedona, AZ. I replaced with a B+W, and I am more satisfied with the B+W. Seems to be less color cast, and less impact on image quality (though I was obviously not able to do a side-bi-side test, so take that with a grain of salt.
I have bought 3 Hoya HRT filters and one B+W 72mm XS-Pro HTC Kaesemann Circular Polarizer with Multi-Resistant Nano Coating.
I paid $140 for my B+W 72mm, and only about $42 each for the "equivalent" Hoya HRTs. I did manage to scratch one of the Hoya's. The B+W's are supposed to be more scratch resistant. But I was being stupid and put it in my pocket while out in the field, then later forgot and stuck something in with it.
In any case, the B+W filters have come down significantly in price, and I think they're worth it (around $95 now). I also think they reflect less when shooting into the sun (less flare spots).
I wouldn't have so many but it's inconvenient to keep moving them from lens to lens, especially for the Fuji lenses which would all require an adapter ring since they have different size requirements. That's a lot of fidgeting in the field.
