I felt I had to write these comments after reading all of the other reviews on this company's filters. Having been a working photographer for more years than I care to remember, my main reason for settling on B+W filters was/is their optical correction capabilities, as well as the "obvious to the touch" construction quality.
The brass rings never bind (often a problem with aluminium rings), so you'll never find yourself struggling & cursing while trying to remove it! Smooth as silk.
The primary function of any UV filter is to counteract the presence of haze, something mostly noticeable over long distance. Therefore, the only true benefit comes when shooting scenic panoramas with wide lenses, or the exact opposite; long telephoto work. In fact, telephoto/long zoom lenses are the ones that seem to benefit the most, be it with either film or digital. Don't get suckered into this "Designed for Digital" sales-pitch either. Some of my filters are years old, and function perfectly well on newer digital cameras. Even B+W themselves are guilty of this by having the nerve to place the very same type of filter in a silver ( brushed aluminium?) ring in lieu of the usual black one, stick the word DIGITAL on it, AND charge extra for it! Cheeky!
Many people I've met over the years have made the mistake of buying cheap, almost useless filters for high quality lenses, and for all the good they do, they might as well be shooting through a window pane! If you're going to buy a high quality optic, then do your research on filters, too. They are an absolutely essential part of the optical train. Among photographers, it's always been a bone of contention!
I personally haven't come across any other filters (apart from Heliopan: they use "Schott" glass; some of the finest in the world) that can cut through murky haze quite as effectively as B+W's. I'm no optical engineer, so I have no idea how the company has gone about it, I only know that it works extremely well. Crisp, well-defined images in situations where lesser lights may likely have failed.
In what is now going to seem like a contradiction, not all B+W filters are capable of this high level of correction. You'll notice that they often come in two, and sometimes three different labelings at vastly different prices, (something that some unscrupulous dealers have been known to take advantage of!) so watch what you're buying.
If it's going to be just a protection filter (no real advantage in B+W here), or used primarily for Macro work, then the plain or Single-coated ones will suffice. However, if your intention is to do landscapes, or a lot of Tele work, then the Multi-coated version is essential. Just look for the "#010 UV-Haze MRC (2C)" on the inner front of the ring.
You may have also noticed that B+W manufacture slim-mount filters (more costly) especially for wide-angle lenses. A point worth noting is that this particular type of filter has a wider-than-usual front, so comes supplied with its own slip-on Schneider lens cap (in this case, 95mm, on a 77mm filter), meaning that you cannot use the original one supplied with the lens. The only real drawback is the rather fiddly fitting of the filter if you're using a lens hood (advisable) as it must be attached AFTER fitting the hood. Not easy, I can tell you!
The standard models do very slightly vignette at the 16mm setting on my full frame digital body, so the wide-angle version (not the above-mentioned model) are the way to go if that is your set-up.
The Heliopan versions do have a slimmer ring admittedly, but for some strange reason, although their rings are also brass, they often tend to bind. Odd?
One note here for anyone with a large aperture, drop-in filter type lens.... B+W MRC filters in both 48mm & 52mm will slip in perfectly, unlike some others. The difference to the eye may be purely a figment of my imagination, but I still feel it is noticeable!
If you're also in the market for a Circular Polarizer, and you don't mind spending twice the usual price, then look no further than B+W's Kaesemann MRC model. It knocks the socks off anything out there by a mile!
(See my review on the 77mm version)
B+W (and Heliopan) are untouchable, and their graduated ND filters are also truly something else! B+W 77mm UVA (Ultra Violet) Haze MRC Filter #010
If you have quality glass, like the Canon L series, then you need quality filters. the B+W are made from ground optical glass, not a piece of plain glass like as you see in the tiffen and hoyas filters (even the expensive ones are still cheap grade glass). Only B+W and Heliopan put the time and $$ into making filters that are designed to be used with your quality lenses and not distort and reduce the optical quality of them. I have a Heliopan as well, and I prefer the B+W a little bit more as its a brass ring and not aluminum and thus does not bind up as easy, and thats important when you want to change filters quickly! If you use a cheap filter on a pro grade lens, you are wasting your money, on the lens and the filter as the filter just hurt your image quality, and thus you lowered the quality of your lens! In filters, like lenses, you get what you pay for!!!
I shoot in all kinda of weather conditions, from sunny and warm, to windy and cold or snowy, and I have never had any major issues with any of my B+W filters acting up! I prefer the MRC, but even their entry level one is ground glass, so you still get a great quality filter at that price point.
You need a UV filter on all your lenses, as it helps to protect your front element, as I have seen many lenses saved when bumped or dropped by the UV filter. If you are outdoors shooting or around kids or food at all, you have to have a UV filter no matter what! The B+W does not degrade your optical quality from a quality pro-series lens, like a Canon L Series, where a lower grade window glass filter would, like all the Tiffen, Hoys, etc. Even the Canon filters are not ground glass, and thus why I dont use them! Just be aware if you are using good filters, you can't blame a bad image or blurry shot on the glass or filter then, you will have to own up to actually taking a bad picture every once and a while... :) - Uv - Filter - Uv Filter - Lens Filter'
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