![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.pindelski.org\/Blog\/42mm_filters.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBottom drawer specials.<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n
I have long suspected that all lens filters originate from two places – B+W for anything which has to say ‘Made in Germany’ (Leitz, Zeiss, Schneider branding) and Hoya (everything else). You can pay up if it says Hasselblad or be cheap if it says Crapola. I believe it’s all labeling and marketing. A Cadillac\/Chevy sort of thing, if you get my drift. I’m a Crapola guy unless you can prove otherwise.<\/p>\n
Case in point. I needed a couple of 52mm filters for my old manual focus Nikkors. Ordinarily I avoid using filters as they introduce another variable into the optical path and provide a flare-attracting surface. But the 200mm has a retractable hood which leaves the front element exposed and the 20mm f\/3.5 has a very exposed front element, period. And I do not use lens caps, to speed access. So I dropped by Kaufmann’s Cameras on 25th Street in San Mateo while the boy was breaking bricks with his bare hands and impaling opponents with a Samurai sword at karate school down the road and asked for a couple from their secondhand drawer.<\/p>\n
$5 later I had two in my hot little hand and was hightailing it out of there, happy as can be. The asking price was actually $5 each but they took pity on me. Then I got me to wondering, as they say. $2.50 each? And one says ‘Quantaray’, the other ‘Prinz’ …. with $29 blown on my 40 year old 200mm Nikkor-Q<\/a>, one of these should feel right at home on that optic.<\/p>\n So I did the rational thing.<\/p>\n Stuck the D700 on a tripod, popped open the flash, pointed the thing at a bookcase and banged away – one naked (the lens, I had my jammies on), the first, the second and then, the supreme test, both the Crapolas stacked!<\/p>\n Nothing in the results suggests my theory about sourcing is wrong. These are 30x enlargements of the extreme lower right corner of the image:<\/p>\n No filter.<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n Quantaray filter.<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n Prinz filter.<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n Daring duo of Quantaray + Prinz filters.<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n OK, so you like buying your filters emblazoned Nikon or Leica or whatever. Hey, there’s one born every minute, too.<\/p>\n Proud Prinz rides again!<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n To see my photography book library, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The cheapskate lives. Bottom drawer specials. I have long suspected that all lens filters originate from two places – B+W for anything which has to say ‘Made in Germany’ (Leitz, Zeiss, Schneider branding) and Hoya (everything else). You can pay up if it says Hasselblad or be cheap if it says Crapola. I believe it’s … Continue reading Cheap filters<\/span> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.pindelski.org\/Blog\/52mmfilter_none.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.pindelski.org\/Blog\/52mmfilter_Quantaray.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.pindelski.org\/Blog\/52mmfilter_Prinz.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.pindelski.org\/Blog\/Prinz_on_Nikkor.jpg\")
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