Hoya or Tiffen UV filters

I am buying some new lenses for my camera, and i am gonna be getting

new UV filters as well. i was wondering if the Hoya multi-coated

and super multi-coated are worth the extra price over the Tiffen UV

filters. is there really a difference? i mainly shoot slides,

mostly velvia, and alot of scenic stuff like sunsets, mountains, and

all that jazz. thanks!

Personally, I do not use UV filters. Instead I use a b+W KR1.5 warming filter (skylight or 81A) as my normal everyday filter on all my lenses. When I am in the mountains, I use a KR 3.0 filter, equivalent to about a 81C. These filters, in my opinion, work better with slide filmslike Velvia especially for scenic photography like what you shoot. At sunrise and sunset, I usually remove the filter to prevent flare. Over the years I found that the b+W filters were better quality than the Hoya and Tiffen filters. However, you will get lots of different opinions on htis subject. Joe Smith

Hoya Multicoating is better optically and harder than standard coating. Many Tiffen filters are not coated at all. Coating reduces internal reflections, which reduce contrast and can lead to ghosting, and is a desirable option for landscapes.

The build quality of B+W filters is definitely superior to Hoya, which is in turn superior to Tiffen. You tend to get what you pay for.

 

B+W uses brass mounts, whereas Hoya uses aluminum. Brass is heavy, but highly resistant to corrosion fretting. B+W and Heliopan filters are slab-cut from optical glass and polished. Hoya doesn't say.

B+W MRC "Multi Resistant Coating" filters are head and shoulders better than any of the others. They are so well coated that it is often difficult to tell there's glass in them. They resist scratching much better than other multicoateds, and also do not smudge constantly when cleaned. Well worth the couple extra bucks. They are available in all colors, not just UV.

I'd say that B+W filters are superior, that Hoya are usually good enough to do the job and that I avoid Tiffen. Well, Tiffen has a few nice effect filters and the famed 812 warming filter, but their usual lack of coating means that they must be handled with care and that they'll give inferior results in some situations... Not having to guess which ones is one of the benefits of investing in relatively expensive B+W glass.

I tend to prefer the German Filters (I use Heilopan almost exclusively, with one B&W) with their Schott glass and brass rings, but I saw some tests somewhere and it turns out that the Hoya UV actually filters out more UV than any of the more expensive filters. <p>Skip Tiffen, you're spending all that money on a nice new sharp lens, dont go and slap some $20 POS on the front of it. With the exception of the previously mentioned Hoya UV, of course. <p> Todd Schoenbaum <br> <a href = "http://www.celluloidandsilver.com"> Celluloid and Silver</a>