Shutterbug Strasse

Re: Thank you. I did some more research...

207.54.141.62

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Thread:  Display  Email ] [ Shutterbug Strasse ] [ FAQ ]

UV and Skylight filters are NOT almost the same. Try taking a picture of snow with a Skylight and you will see a definite color tint. A UV filter cuts the bluishness from UV, because film renders UV as blue. The end of the visible spectrum is 400nM. But if you look at absoption curves for most UV filters, they don't have a lot of effect until you reach 350 nM. The UV between 350 and 400 nM is easily passed by most lenses, and will create a bluish cast. There are some UV filters that are effective at 400 nM, but they tend to impart a greenish cast to the pictures. Not good for skin tones! The Hoya UV(0) filters exhibit this color cast. Just place the filter on a sheet of very white paper under sunlight or a halogen lamp, and the tint is obvious.

You often see comments that multi-coated lenses don't pass UV. This is true if you are talking about wavelengths that are much shorter than 350 nM, but they pass the 350-400 nM range just fine.

I use both the Nikon L37c or the B+W 010 (UV) filters because they are still fairly effective at 400 nM and are less colored than most others. Good coatings and very well made.

If you want maximum effect on UV, then check out some of Tiffen's specialty filters. Some are very effective at 400 nM, but are noticeably colored.

A polarizing filter is also quite effective on UV haze even if it is not set to maximum effect.

Skylight filters are not terribly effective at 400 nM, and are lightly tinted to remove excess blue light, but not UV which images as blue. The 1A filters are a light tan color in the same family as the 81A but lighter still; while the 1B is slightly pinkish and IMHO is more attractive. I use one all the time in tropical environments to punch up the colors a bit. The Nikon L1Bc is very close to Hoya's Skylight 1B in color and I prefer it over the Hoya. If you can find a used one, Vivitar used to make a series of VMC (Vivitar Multi Coated) filters that were very good IF they were made in the USA. Later ones were Japanese (Hoya?) and aren't all that wonderful. But the USA version has a Skylight 1A that is close to a 1B, and a UV that is nearly colorless. They have thin rims and are well made and effectively coated.

I have found that the larger sizes of Hoya filters have the bright edge of a retaining ring visible to the lens, and have had suspicions that it may cause flare. Smaller sizes don't seem to suffer from this problem.


Follow Ups:



You can not post to an archived thread.

[
Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright Warning! Click for Details ]

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]