Need Help with Filters

[oceania]

For my 18-200mm lens I just bought a regular UV filter but I saw a "good" deal on Ebay where I purchased 9 filters for $12 for my Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 lens. They're all in good condition, no scratches.

The only thing is I don't know what the purpose of all the lenses are and I think some of them are the same type of lens but by a different manufacturer. I was hoping someone would be kind enough to help me or send me to a website that explains the difference (I haven't had much luck).

I have the following:

1. Hoya - Skylight (1B) - Japan
2. Millenia - Haze - China
3. Tiffen - 62M 85 - USA
4. Tiffen - 81A - USA
5. Hoya - Skylight (1A) - Japan (this one looks older compared to the others
6. Hoya - Skylight - Phillipines
7. Vivitar - Skylight (1A) - Japan
8. Tiffen - UV protector - USA
9. Hoya - UV - Phillipines
10. no name - CPC 1A - Japan

Basically what I will need to know is:

• Which ones to keep (I don't think I need all of them)
• When to use each one
• How to store/carry them without scratching them (there's no case)

Thanks for any help/info you can provide!

[Dizo]

Hello Oceania, Many of these filters look closely related...

The 4 "Skylight" filters (#1,5,6,7) are essentially UV filters that filter UV from the light coming into the lens as well as protect your lens from scratches, dust, saltwater and so on.

The 2 "UV" filters (#8,9) are again, nearly the same as skylight filters with different brand names and method of production.

The "Haze" filter (#2) is another UV/Skylight styled filter with a slightly different color to it and will block out a different chunk of the light as the other UV/Skylight ones, probably more of it to.

The two Tiffen filters (#3,4) are as follows.
81A - Balances daylight film for use with 3400ºK lamps.
62M 85 - This was the tough one, All i can find is a 85 series by Tiffen which is used to convert type A film to daylight. Nothing on the 62M though.

#10 is a Circular Polarizing filter which will block out some light, reduce reflections and of course protect your lens. Think of it as a polarized sunglass for your SLR's lens.

I would keep all of them, the only ones you realy dont need are the ones for Film camera's (IE; #3,4) and even with several UV/Skylight/Haze filters they all will provide a certain aspect to be gained or lost and you should play with these and see what gets the coolest affect in a certain scene. Carry as many as you can!

As for how to protect them I have used a few different methods. Primarily when i am not on trips and not counting ounces and grams i use a small Tupperware container to stack them in, fitting 5 or so in each. When i go on trips i sometimes just wrap them in tissues or use toilet paper. If you can, get some cheap microfiber fabric and sew small circular pouches to protect them as they are light and don't leave a residue of little fluffs on the lens like toilet paper does. They are made commercially but are costly and its far cheaper to just toss them in, or make small microfiber "gloves" for them.

Hope this helps,

[SmartWombat]

Tiffen, Hoya - I'd consider keeping.
As long as they are multicoated, Hoya would say SMC.

If it's for digital, then there's nothign those filters can do that you can't do with software.
Except for using a high quality UV filter as protection against damage to the front element.

Cheap filters, without anti-reflective multicoating, won't do much for your pictures in front of a high quality lens they'll just reduce the quality

[Anbesol]

Polarizers and Neutral densities still serve a purpose with digital though.

[Dizo]

Yes, Polarizers and ND's do still serve a purpose and i would keep them all. If you need to take pictures kayaking or something on the water with spray or in the mountains with snow you will want to be able to swap UV filter's instead of cleaning your lens, this lets you stay in the action and not have to put everything down to get rid of the spots.

[oceania]

Thanks for the replies!

Dizo I'm curious to know why you suggest to keep all 10 when some of them are exactly the same? I'm a novice and I don't see myself (at least at this time) knowing when to use which lens and I definitely don't want to carry them all around.


I'd like to ideally just keep one of each and give the rest of them away, I don't want to carry duplicate filters around when I know I won't use them.


This is for a digital SLR and my main reason for using a filter is to protect the lens itself, not for any effects. Based on this info can you suggest which ones to keep (out of practicality and use)?


I have no idea if these filters are multi-coated, would they all say "SMC on them"? If it's not a multi-coated filter will it degrade the picture quality?

I don't believe any of them are polarizers or ND filters though.

I'm still confused but a appreciate the help and responses

[Dizo]

Ok, To shrink what everyone has said down to what you are still confused about...

If all you want to do in protect, only use the UV filters which depending on the manufacturing method may degrade the quality. You will have to look at the pictures they take to find that out as i cant look at them myself.

I would carry at least 1 of each. I would carry the #8,1,2,10 (In order of how much light they block, not considering other attributes of the filters)

At the bare minimum i would carry the #8 and 10, keeping the #8 on the lens for protection and switching to the #10 if I wanted less glare from a lake or less shiny sky, more deep blue in it...

Essentially all the fancy jargon can be summed up into...
Polarised (Less glare, deeper colors, less light, protection)
UV (less glare, less light, protection)
ND (Less glare, deeper colors, less light all on half the screen, the other half with less glare, protection)

Just put a UV filter on the camera and take whichever other filter you seem to get nice results with, with you. I would personally keep the other 8 as you might use them later but if you want to, give them to others.

[Frog]

Perhaps you should do some research before you buy. These are most likely low quality filters, most of which will serve no purpose or if you do use them will be like putting soap on your lens.
Sell them and buy a good cpl filter and maybe some nd filters.
A good cpl will cost more than what you spent....look at hoya pro or B+W filters.

[oceania]

Ok, To shrink what everyone has said down to what you are still confused about...

If all you want to do in protect, only use the UV filters which depending on the manufacturing method may degrade the quality. You will have to look at the pictures they take to find that out as i cant look at them myself.

I would carry at least 1 of each. I would carry the #8,1,2,10 (In order of how much light they block, not considering other attributes of the filters)

At the bare minimum i would carry the #8 and 10, keeping the #8 on the lens for protection and switching to the #10 if I wanted less glare from a lake or less shiny sky, more deep blue in it...

Essentially all the fancy jargon can be summed up into...
Polarised (Less glare, deeper colors, less light, protection)
UV (less glare, less light, protection)
ND (Less glare, deeper colors, less light all on half the screen, the other half with less glare, protection)

Just put a UV filter on the camera and take whichever other filter you seem to get nice results with, with you. I would personally keep the other 8 as you might use them later but if you want to, give them to others.

Thanks Dizo, this was very helpful!

[Dizo]

No problems, Im just starting into the DSLR world myself, spent lots of time on regular film SLR's so the filters are nothing new to me. The forums have been very helpful to help me decide which DSLR is best for me and which features I need.

Glad i could help,

[byjamesderuvoDHQ]

Another advantage to the Skylights and ND filters are the insurance they provide against impact damage. I can't tell you how many lenses I have saved by trashing the filter since I kept them on all the time.

As for the other filters ... most effects filters can't be replicated pretty good in software like Photoshop. With the advantage that you have an "undo" button if you don't like how it comes out. I rarely use any anymore.