(Filter Black & White ) Heliopan vs. B+W (Which Better)

[kamol_.]

between Heliopan and B+W (for Black & White Filter)

 

Which have high Quality, Which is WINNER ?????

 

Plese Vote Thank You

[william_henry_hurry]

B+W is the Winner, for sure

[lee_shively]

I don't think you would lose with either brand.

[Guest]

If they have your filter size, Nikon are good, too...

[kevin_baker___heidelberg_]

Between B&W, Heliopan, and Nikon I would buy by price.

The B&W are made in Bad Kreuznach and Heliopan are made in Southern Bavaria. I've had a few Germans tell me one is better than the other, but I doubt you would see it even with technical testing.

 

If I had to pick one, I would say Heliopan because I like the beer in southern Bavaria better than in the central part of Germany. Now that's scientific!

[erik_l.]

Kamol,

 

I personally use B+W, when I use filters at all.

 

However, I think that you can look at this in another way. The "quest" to find the best filter is almost like believing that using a Titanium golf ball will lower your golf score. Or using some sort of NASA designed micro-carbon-braided-thermo-insulated fishing strings will help you catch bigger fish. Neither of these things matter.

 

So do you see where I am going? Buy your filter based on your budget, and your desired effect, and then rub the name brand off of the filter. Your images will shine...I promise.

 

Erik.

[Guest]

Yes, just make sure whatever you get doesn't have your fingerprints all over it. That <I>will</I> make a difference.

[Aoresteen]

Tiffen works for me.

[marke_gilbert]

Ian,

<P>...sometimes for the better.

[al_kaplan1]

I've got 39mm Tiffen, Leitz and Hoya filters ranging in age from close to 50 years old to my most recent, about 20 years old. Many were bought used. I've never once had a customer remark "This photo stinks! It must be your crummy old filters that caused it!" See if your photo dealer has a used filter in the size and color you want, make sure it isn't badly scratched, and go take some pictures with it. Most photographers buy new filters, shoot a few test pictures, and then the filter sits unused for the next 25 years. Don't be the fool that takes the big financial hit on the new filter.

[don_karon1]

I've used Tiffen and Heliopan and cannot tell which is which by looking at the negatives. My advice: avoid the very inexpensive filters that may use poor quality glass. B+W or Heliopan would both be excellent choices I think.

[scott_k.]

Get the B+W MRC and don't look back.

[Richard Williams]

I think they have similar reputations for glass and mount quality, but it's worth mentioning that multicoating seems to be more readily available for B+W (=MRC). The standard Heliopan filters I've seen for sale are single coated on each surface = 'double coated' (multicoating is a special order).

[david_carson]

I like B+W MRC's. I'd either buy B+W or Heliopan, because they

are made of brass, which tends not to bind and 'freeze' on your

lens. Many o' Tiffen I had got stuck on my lenses, and had to be

coaxed off.

 

So, look for brass, and a multi-coating to cut down on any flare.

[al_kaplan1]

The easiest way to keep aluminum filter rings from sticking and binding on your lens is to lightly wax the threads. You can rub candle wax on them, then wipe off the excess or use a bit of paste shoe polish or car wax. In any case, wipe off any excess and let it dry. A more expensive solution is to get rid of all your light weight black Leica lenses. The aluminum filters don't tend to bind as readily in chrome on brass mounted lenses. It's mostly an aluminum to aluminum thing.

[robert_clark]

I love these discussions over such esoteric, unverifiable matters. Where else in the world can one endlessly fret over whether one is actually using the 'best' or whether, horror of horrors, it is only second best. Forget everything else in the world, lets focus down on filters. Personally I would always use B&W, because it sounds like a neat and reliable make of car that I would like to own; whereas Heliopan only sounds like the newest technology for frying eggs in - useful but nowhere near as glamorous.

[jay_.]

B+W MRC--not the regular ones--beat anything out there.

[richie chishty]

B+W MRC of course!

[lee_shively]

Al is about 2000% correct. I don't understand the filter fetish. I've got a collection of filters going back 30 years and none of them ever stood out as being that much better than any of the others. That goes for the expensive B&W, Heliopan, Nikon and Singh-Rays to the low priced Tiffens, Hoyas, Vivitars and Spiratones. The ONLY filter I've ever owned that went bad was a Nikon polarizer. It started delaminating after only 20 years. But the delamination is only at the edges and, I'll be dipped in shit, if it's still not totally usable. And I'm not too sure the multi-coated filters are that much of an improvement over regular filters. I have a few of the B&W UV MRC's and, well, they do just as well as the Tiffen's.

[wind.dk]

B+W is better for me than Heliopan, because I can get them in my local shop. I'll ask for Heliopan next time, maybe they have them as well.

 

And Nikons work fine as well.

[dave_lewis]

B+W MRC filters are excellent and what I use...but really any high quality filter will do the trick for you.

[al_kaplan1]

About 25 years ago I was shooting a lot of weddings, portraits, etc. with Hasselblad and theit tack sharp Zeiss lenses. It became the fashion, in those pre Photoshop days of yore, to do "special effects" in the camera. The tool of choice was a Cokin filter holder and Cokin filters. They claimed that their square filters, that only fit their holder, were "resin", but we all knew that meant plastic. Thousands of pro photogs were buying expensive Zeiss lens and shooting almost all their pictures with PLASTIC FILTERS! Probably still are!

[Spearhead]

Well as usual, there's nothing here to justify anyone's choice of one filter brand over another. Unless someone can prove that there's truly a difference between brands, it's just, as Phil Kneen might say, pointless wanking. And that means there is no "winner."