Circular Polarizing filter (Page 3): I'll add a couple of thoughts to this discussion. First, anything that goes between what you are photographing and the camera's sensor should be as...

scsdesphotography Loc: Southeastern Michigan

I'll add a couple of thoughts to this discussion. First, anything that goes between what you are photographing and the camera's sensor should be as high a quality as you can afford. Second, thin ring CPL's are a must for wide angle lenses, but not needed for longer primes or zooms. Third, flash cards, SSD's and RAM are not affected by magnetic fields. However they can be affected by EMF such as generated by cell phones or by static discharge. So, don't put flash cards in the same pocket as your cell and avoid touching the metal strips on the cards when handling them.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

As someone said above, that CPL test is going on seven years old. Lots has happened since then. I'm surprised no one else has done a comparison since 2009.

alandg46 Loc: Boerne, Texas

Most Pentax DA lens hoods come with a window on the bottom that has a snap on cover. Very, very handy.

DerBiermeister Loc: North of Richmond VA

scsdesphotography wrote:

I'll add a couple of thoughts to this discussion. ... (show quote)

I can't seem to find an info on what the Tiffen rings are made of? Brass seems to be the preferred metal by everyone here on the forum. How do you know what the metal is when they don't show that in the specs?

Gifted One Loc: S. E. Idaho

In all likelihood aluminum. Which is not bad. With out doubt brass is best!

J. R.

DerBiermeister wrote:

I can't seem to find an info on what the Tiffen rings are made of? Brass seems to be the preferred metal by everyone here on the forum. How do you know what the metal is when they don't show that in the specs?

DerBiermeister Loc: North of Richmond VA

Gifted One wrote:

In all likelihood aluminum. Which is not bad. With out doubt brass is best!

J. R.

I've just looked at dozens of Tiffen filters on the B&H website. From my own unscientific study, it appears that all of their filters under $12 have plastic rings. Then on up to about $40 there is a mixture of plastic and aluminum with the larger filters (say above 58 mm) being plastic. And then when you get above $40, everything is aluminum - even filters costing several hundred dollars. I didn't find one advertising brass.

CathyAnn Loc: Apache Junction, AZ

NorthPacific wrote:

A CP is absolutely needed especially for photos in... (show quote)

I just went to the Singh-Ray link and my jaw dropped! I'm gonna save up for one of those. Babies aren't the only ones who drool! :wink:

Gifted One Loc: S. E. Idaho

I have a Canon CPL 77mm and can not find what the build is. I do love it and did not get it at full retail.

J. R.

DerBiermeister wrote:

I've just looked at dozens of Tiffen filters on the B&H website. From my own unscientific study, it appears that all of their filters under $12 have plastic rings. Then on up to about $40 there is a mixture of plastic and aluminum with the larger filters (say above 58 mm) being plastic. And then when you get above $40, everything is aluminum - even filters costing several hundred dollars. I didn't find one advertising brass.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Gifted One wrote:

In all likelihood aluminum. Which is not bad. With out doubt brass is best!

J. R.

One of the properties of aluminum is that because it is soft it tends to 'sieize' so avoid tightening. A wee bit of graphite, like from a soft pencil, helps but is not fool proof. Sone aluminum rings are black anodized but after many uses the anodize wears off. Brass is harder and doesn't 'seize' so it is the better option.

Gifted One Loc: S. E. Idaho

Man I could not disagree more. Graphite, grease, WD40, Bear Fat etc. is just not a good thing. Careful tighting goes a long way.

John_F wrote:

One of the properties of aluminum is that because it is soft it tends to 'sieize' so avoid tightening. A wee bit of graphite, like from a soft pencil, helps but is not fool proof. Sone aluminum rings are black anodized but after many uses the anodize wears off. Brass is harder and doesn't 'seize' so it is the better option.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

mmeador wrote:

Never ever use WD40, it is not a lubricant and don't use a spray. I use fishing reel silicon grease but I think you can get silicon grease from a camera shop also. You will probably lose the tube before you could use it all.
Just wipe the nozzle of the tube with your finger, run that along the threads of your filter. All you need is a film.
If you took a lens apart you would find it filled with silicon grease, that is what makes the action so silky smooth.

WD40 works just great. However, I put masking tape on both sides of the filter glass to keep the WD40 from spraying on them. A few seconds of spraying, to make sure it really soaks in then wrap the filter in a cloth to absorb the excess. But, make sure some is left on the threads.

Peel off the tape and it's good to go. Don't leave the camera in a hot car as the WD-40 tends to outgas a bit.

Additionally, spraying some on the shutter blades of either lenses or *SLR cameras really gets that shutter working great. Again, take some masking tape and cover the sensor with it. And, if you live in humid climate, it'll keep thing from rusting.

Oh, and put a big dollop of anti seize compound in the tripod thread. That'll keep the tripod screw from seizing in the camera. Getting your camera stuck to your tripod is not treat, I'll tell you that.
--Bob
8-)

Madman Loc: Gulf Coast, Florida USA

I would suggest that you consider the Marumi EXUS CPL.

It only reduces light transmission by 1.3 stops, is oil and water resistant, has teflon coated threads and anti-static non-relective multi-coated anti-static coatings.

I leave mine on my wide angle zoom most of the time.

If the hood makes adjusting the filter difficult, just replace the hood with a rubber hood that attaches to the front (rotating) section of the filter.