Monday, May 3, 2010

Cheap Filters Experiment

Today, I took delivery of a couple of UV filters, plus a Circular Polarising filter, plus a remote shutter release that I purchased on ebay for around $18 (AUD) in total.  At just a little over $4 each, the UV filters are cheaper than a Nikon lens cap, so if their optical quality is no good, I can use them as lens caps instead.  My daughter's Hoya equivalents were around $30 each 2 years ago. 

and yes - this photo was taken with one of the UV filters attached.

The Circular Polariser is a bit of a gamble, but at $4.80 compared with around $60 for the cheapest Hoya I could see, I figure it is worth a try (I can spare $5 by missing my morning coffee for a couple of days, but it will take me a while to get a 'spare' $60 together)  This way I have something I can play with, even if it isn't perfect, until I can afford/justify something optically better.

As for the remote - it's not much more than a battery and an infra-red LED - I can't really understand how Nikon can justify asking $40 for it in the first place - so I have no problem buying a cheap copy. Having said that, I had a scary moment when I first tried it out... I set the camera to react to the remote, stood back and pressed the button, and great news - it took a photo. I went to look at it, and found the camera had died... uh oh - what have I done!!! :-o Then I realised - the battery was low, and I guess that one more shot with the flash was enough to just tip it over the edge. I've now recharged the battery, and taken a few more shots with the remote (just to make sure...)

Since my daughter has Hoya UV and CPL filters, and I now have chinese cheapo versions from ebay, it will be an interesting test to see if there is any notable difference between them.  We'll run some comparison experiments and I'll get back to you with the results.

(Tuesday - First Impressions...)
the two UV filters attached to my lenses without any problem, but the thread on the CPL filter is a little tricky to get lined up straight - I may leave the UV filters on, and put the CPL over the top - I'd rather bugger one of their threads, than the thread on the lens itself.

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