Question about B+W 6 stop ND

I ordered a B+W 6 stop ND from Amazon (shipped from Amazon) a couple weeks ago. I opened it a few days ago to discover that the filter looks like it has little speckles all over the front of it. I tried cleaning it with lens cleaner but it won't come off. If I look through the filter from the back you can't see them and it doesn't appear to show up on the images. Only when looking at the front of it can you see them. Is this the "coating" on the filter? Both my B+W 10 stop and circular polarizer are clean from the front and back.

Pic of the box is attached. Tried to take a pic of the speckles but it's hard to see them on a cellphone pic.

You have a Canon 80D...why not shoot the photos of the speckles with that, and take a crop of the frame so it can be posted here at sufficient size with the speckles 'enlarged' in the tiny crop?!

Not sure I'll have time but will try. I can return it until the end of January so will likely just do that while I still can and order it from a reputable store instead of through Amazon. It just doesn't look right to me since my other two B+W's don't have speckles all over the glass.

No filters that I've ever purchased had come with speckles, and most of my filters are B+W. I don't think that's normal.

It looks like overspray from something

shane_c wrote in post #18543207
Not sure I'll have time but will try. I can return it until the end of January so will likely just do that while I still can and order it from a reputable store instead of through Amazon. It just doesn't look right to me since my other two B+W's don't have speckles all over the glass.

I've always found Amazon to quite reputable. Never had any problems with them.

I bought several B&W filters through them, no speckles. Just return it, they'll replace it.

Ordered a new filter from B&H Photo this morning and will return the other one back to Amazon for a refund.

shane_c wrote in post #18543851
Ordered a new filter from B&H Photo this morning and will return the other one back to Amazon for a refund.

New filter arrived today from B&H and the glass is clean and clear like my other B+W filters. Thankfully it's not full of unremoveable speckles like the one I returned to Amazon.

Glad to hear!

Since Amazon became a 'marketplace', it must be handled with care. I'd foresee little trouble with items sold 'by Amazon', but the ones sold by individual sellers are a whole different matter.

The one I originally purchased was sold and shipped by Amazon

Whoa! Well, I've seen changes for the worse in Amazon's own too; case in point, once upon a time some time ago, they used to pack the books in very nice thick cardboard, easy to open, book mailers and/or sturdy boxes (for larger books or many items)... fast forward to nowadays and the books come in bubble envelopes where they're liable to get bent or have their corners ruined. Shame on you Amazon!

shane_c wrote in post #18543207
Not sure I'll have time but will try. I can return it until the end of January so will likely just do that while I still can and order it from a reputable store instead of through Amazon. It just doesn't look right to me since my other two B+W's don't have speckles all over the glass.

Nothing 'disreputable' about Amazon imho. I very much doubt Amazon is the problem here.

Alveric wrote in post #18547551
Whoa! Well, I've seen changes for the worse in Amazon's own too; case in point, once upon a time some time ago, they used to pack the books in very nice thick cardboard, easy to open, book mailers and/or sturdy boxes (for larger books or many items)... fast forward to nowadays and the books come in bubble envelopes where they're liable to get bent or have their corners ruined. Shame on you Amazon!

I think Amazon is responding to a green lobby argument that it was seriously over-packaging a lot of its items. I'm not a green lobbyist but I do get the point of that argument. Maybe Amazon have over-adjusted a smidgen in the quoted example.

I think the OP has been unlucky in this case. He/she could have been equally unlucky with any other supplier. I thinks it's wrong to lay this problem at Amazon's door.

I have ordered lots of stuff over the years from Amazon without issue. This is the first time I've ever had to return anything. Whenever it's an option I select the item that is sold and shipped from Amazon as opposed to a 3rd party seller, even if I have to pay a few dollars more. I'm not blaming Amazon for the faulty product because I realize that any seller can have issues with the stock they receive. But since I had to order again and B&H was only about $2 more I decided to go that route for the replacement since I recently read online about fake B+W filters being sold through Amazon.

http://www.canonrumors​.com …ers-being-sold-on-amazon/