Circular Polarizing Filters, A Question.

[arg245]

Hi All,

I recently went to the local photo supply store looking for a Hoya circular polarizer. To make a long story short, I came away with a generic brand (Werner-Hollingsworth) 72mm. They did not have any Hoya, Tiffens, or any of the other well known brands in stock, and I needed it for this weekend.

My question is - are there differences in tonality, or differences in total overall polarizing correction between brands? Or do they all pretty much work at the same level? I'm not refering to multi-coatings, or any other physical differences.

The reason I ask is that the filter doesn't seem too bad at all in its construction and operation, but I begin to wonder if there are other things that would differentiate a generic filter from a name brand, other than construction quality. And I don't have any others to compare from.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated, as I will return this thing next week if it turns out that there are in fact differences in overall effects.

Thanks.

[sapearl]

I believe they all work on the same principles, reducing glare, increasing saturation and contrast. Approximately what did you pay for that filter? That would be somewhat of an indicator of the quality of glass and the effect that you could expect to get.

[jr_senator]

I would be, perhaps, concerned with low cost filters. The Tiffen you mention above ain't so good. The best are B+W and Heliopan.

[airbutchie]

I would personally stick to the top 3 brands... B+W, Heliopan, and Hoya... In no particular order, of course... Stick with those brands and you can't go wrong...

- airbutchie :D

[purelithium]

None of the replies have said the obvious: You get what you pay for. Cheap glass is cheap glass. You will see a higher amount of flare, you may find optical imperfections in the glass, like a small bubble. The coatings of the more expensive ones help reduce flare and reflection off of the edges of the filter, in addition to them being better quality glass overall.

You may find that the cheaper brands work well for you, and that's great!

[arg245]

Thanks you all for your responses. I'm all too aware of "getting what you pay for", and totally agree. However, as I sated above, I was caught between a rock and a hard place, needing a polarizer for this weekend, and they did not have what I was after in stock, therefore, I opted to try the "generic"

ALso, the construction of this filter seems on par with the other Hoyas I have. And yes, flare is a concern, but I haven't run into it yet, as I am very careful to shoot at the proper angles to avoid it.

I'm still wondering though - Are there differences in the AMOUNT of polarization correction, where the "name brands" would, for instance, have more correction than the generics?

By the way, I paid $62 for it. B&H has the Hoya MC for around the same price. In fact, there are differing levels of quality for the Hoyas, ranging from around $60 to well over $100, the diffences being in the level of coatings.

Thanks again.

[Jon]

No - polarization is polarization; basically the material blocks all light vibrating in any direction other than the one it's oriented to. It's either "on" or "off", not like color removal.

[arg245]

Got it! Thanks very much.

[sapearl]

Well, you may have a pretty decent filter then at $62 - I forget what thread size you were using, so at that price there should be a pretty good amount of quality. Now if you had said $25, that would have been a different story :rolleyes:

Thanks you all for your responses. I'm all too aware of "getting what you pay for", and totally agree. However, as I sated above, I was caught between a rock and a hard place, needing a polarizer for this weekend, and they did not have what I was after in stock, therefore, I opted to try the "generic"............By the way, I paid $62 for it. B&H has the Hoya MC for around the same price. In fact, there are differing levels of quality for the Hoyas, ranging from around $60 to well over $100, the diffences being in the level of coatings.

Thanks again.