Best brands for filters?

I'm looking to order some filters -- specifically a couple of polarizers for two of my lenses. (I'm still trying to learn enough about filters to know what others I should get).

Anyway, can anyone tell me, say, the top five brands I should be looking for?

Thanks!

Great question !!... I've been shopping BH for years now, and all I do is check the filter posted below in the shopping cart suggestions from their website (probably the cheapest option), but now that I have an assortment of different brands, I am starting to wonder who is who, and what brand is 100% safe to go with.

The two brands I readily recognize are Tiffen and Hoya.

Hoya's are good, but from what I hear - they have a reputation for being particularly hard to clean.

Tough one. I don't know. I ended up buying Hoyas, but I hear B+W getting a lot of compliments and rave reviews here.

softball29 wrote in post #2527446
I'm looking to order some filters -- specifically a couple of polarizers for two of my lenses.... Thanks!

are you gonna use these all the time? like instead of a UV? cause if your only going to use once ever so often get one that fits your biggest lens and get a step up ring from your smallest lens to the big one

Nah, won't use them all the time. Not sure about the step up ring and how it works though?

softball29 wrote in post #2527446
Anyway, can anyone tell me, say, the top five brands I should be looking for?

Hoya Pro1 and B&W. Cheapest source is usually www.maxsaver.net. If you're going to end up buying lots of different sizes then in the long run it will be cheaper to use a drop in system such as Lee.

B+W MRC hands down.
Singh Ray seems to be good as well, but no personal experience.

B+W MRC are what I generally use - I prefer to have one brand for colour/performance consistency. My grads are Singh Ray. Pricey but good. I don't go the "buy one and step-up rings" route since then you need to change lenses and filters when you change lenses. There often isn't time.

brunester wrote in post #2527708
are you gonna use these all the time? like instead of a UV? cause if your only going to use once ever so often get one that fits your biggest lens and get a step up ring from your smallest lens to the big one

Thanks for the tip, but I'd rather have one for each of the two lenses I want them for in case I have both cameras and lenses going and want to go back and forth without unscreweing and screwing them back on!

I'm heading, as long as the weather stays halfway decent, to a photo shop about an hour from me Saturday to pick up some filters. Then I can try them out. A little worried I might get more than I need.

I think from my research, Tiffen is the way to go (well, what I've used for UV and my brother always used when he was a pro), but I'll see what the people at this shop have to say!

I use Hoya SHMC filters - from my experience they are as good as B+W filters, only a few dollars cheaper. I have one UV filter for every lens I own, I buy them on Ebay.

For the screw on type Heliopan or B+W are by far the best.
For drop in ND grads consider Lee, Singh Ray or Hitech

Tiffen's a step or two lower quality than Hoya SHMC, Heliopan or B+W.

I use B+W MRC by default, and Hoya Pro-1 Digital for the wide angle lenses, since they are thinner and make for less chance of vignetting. If you use a UV for protection, thinner is more important when you stack a C-POL with a UV.

Canon designs their lenses to allow for one filter of normal thickness. Using EF lenses on a cropped sensor camera lets you stack more filters before vignetting becomes an issue, so you shouldn't have much to worry about with your current kit.

Hoyas are hard to clean, but I have found ROR (Residual Oil Remover) to work very well. If you go after the Hoyas, get some ROR as well. It is hard to find, but B&H carries it.

Hope this helps.

Have Fun,

My preferences are Heliopan, B+W, and Singh Ray. Hoyas have had some issues over the years. They had a packaging problem a few years back where the filter cases would outgas, permanently fogging/streaking their filters over time. Not sure if or when that was ever addressed or fixed. I always look for brass fitted filters to avoid the similar metal binding problem and multicoatings for reduced flare