Re: Tiffen

Back to the future? Way n back in the 1960s when Tiffin (Oprical) Compam was in Roslyn Heights Long Island (N.Y.) they were known for an excellent line of filters that were preferred by many professional cinematographers. They also had a line that was targeted and marketed to professionals and advanced amateur photographers that were somewhat superior to their consumer products.

In the Army, I encountered their product again. They produced very high-quality areal photography filers made to conform to military specifications. I remember the markings on the rims with the Mil. Spec. Number and manufacturer's name and code- "Tiffen". They were made for the 10x10 and 8X8 k-Series areal cameras. We use the in conjunction wit specially spooled Aero -Ektachrome and those transparencies were sharp as surgical knives! The other supplier was Bausch and Lomb- the Tiffen products were better!

In the 1980s I purchased 4 Tiffen Seris IX filers for my 8x10 view camera lenses - some for converting tungstin balanced film to fr daylight and a couple of (FLD and FLB) filter for fluorescent illumination. Tack sharp- no distortion or loss of IQ!

Unlike many of my cohorts on this forum, I do not closely follow the manufacturers and distributors of photographic products. It seems that every day some "umbrella company" has absorbed my favorite brands and products. In the olden days, if I had an issue with any kind of professional gear, I could CALL the company and speak to a knowledgeable service rep or an actual engineer. Most issues were immediately resolved with a phone conversation. Nowadays, it's like reaching the C.I.A. or perhaps the K.G.B. It's like their telephone number are top-secret. You need to file a "complaint" online and half the time you find that your gear is considered at its "end of life" and is no longer serviced- even if you are willing to pay! If a phone number is published, you are connecting to "voice-mail-hell!

So, Tiffen is no longer in beautiful Nasseau County and has moved to Calafornia. They seem to distribute some great gear for cinematography and video Lowell lights, Steadicam, and some decent tripods. Filters- who knows? They still market them and have an impressive website. My guess is they are no longer produced domestically and of course, outsourced to somewhere in Asia. That can be good or bad!

Meanwhile, back here at UHH, y'all arguing over a "dead horse" and keep kicking the poor thing! That "test" the OP posted is meaningless to me (sorry about that- nothing personal). It does not prove anything concrete about the lens/filter combination in actual normal use, the test target is not a test target, there's no basc control as to vibration abatement, parallelity, etc, and the is no downloaded image to examine.

As I have previously stated, I am not an optical engineer or technician. Even if I were, I do not have the instrumentation to test lenses and filters under optical bench standards. I do know there are various ways to manufacture filters as to coloration. Some filters are laminated with some sort of colored membrane or gel, others are "dyed in the wool"l, so to speak. All I can recommend is from my own expereince. and encourage folks to apply common sense.

Nowdas, we do not require as many filters as were necessary during the film days. It is sensible to invest in time-honored brands with good reputations among serious users. Personally speaking, I haven't the time or patience to experiment with the so-called economy brands. There may be some good ones in there but I am not about to find out. I stick with B+W, Zeiss, Schneider, Sing-Ray, ad a few of my oldies but goodies from Tiffen without any issues. It makes absolutely no sense to invest in a multi-thousand-dollar lens and place an inferior filter in front of it!

As for protection filters- as they say, in the legal profession, "Govern yourself accordingly"! Only YOU know your own lens maintenance habits-good, bad indifferent, or absolutely terrible. If you work in rugged or hazardous conditions or habitually clean your lenses with a dirty-sweaty T-shirt- go get some filters! If you are OCD about your glass and become near apoplectic if you so much as see a speck of dust anywhere near your lenses and continuously clean them- get some filters! Lately, what with climate change, wildfires, and other forms of nasty air quality, perhaps filters are something you should think about in certain geographic areas.

Come on gang- knock off the filter altercations and argue about more important things like IA and post-processing!

Have you tried it? I had a camera with a "smallish" zoom fall from my car's floor to asphalt pavement...about 10 inches. The hood shattered into 3 large pieces and several smaller fragments. Lens hoods are made of very coarse-grained plastic and do not reliably protect lenses from physical damage. And yes, this was an OEM hood, not a cheap aftermarket one.

Filters can't be relied on to protect against lact damage, but they usually do protect against foreign material.

The original argument against UV filters was really simple. They are yellow. Not much, but not zero. I use clear glass filters except in a few places where I still