Filter choice, B+W or Hoya?

[tinton14]

I'm currently looking for a filter to protect my 18-200mm kit lens since taking shots at night I've noticed reflection from lights on the images. I've been using the cheap filter that it came with when I got it, I looked back and see that it has been happening for quite a while when I was taking photos at night, use to think it was the tripod, but have upgraded to a stable tripod, so that rules that out. I've been looking around and found the Hoya and B+W 72mm filters both similar price and was wondering if anyone has used these and their opinions on these. Is there a difference between the quality of these two filters? What about cleaning these, I've seen some reviews of people complaining about the multi-coat being hard to clean on the Hoya filter. Any information on this would be very helpful. Thank you for all your help.

Here are the links for filters I'm looking at:
Amazon.com: Hoya HMC Haze UV(0) - Filter - UV - 72 mm: DBROTH

Amazon.com: B+W 72mm UVA (Ultra Violet) Haze Filter #010: Camera & Photo

[inkista]

I prefer Hoyas because I trash my filters regularly. B+Ws have better build quality, though.

But.

A better filter is not going to solve your flare issue (it will mitigate it, but ...). In that situation, I'd actually take any UV filter off the lens, and use a hood to shade the lens.

[Nicole]

Yep, I'd just recommend not using a filter at night because it can add reflections. So I totally agree with inkista.

[tinton14]

I've never thought about using a lens hood at night since the location had lights mostly behind me and the rest of the lights were from the buildings I was trying to take. I will definitely try taking the UV lens off then. I've read that the cheap filters will degrade the IQ, would the hoya/b+w do the same? Is there actually a difference between a $40/$100+ or a uv/skylight filters in the glass quality and how it would affect my images? I only own the cheap skylite uv filter so I don't really have anything to compare to. Thank you for your help.

[inkista]

Better multi-coated filters won't cause as much flare or lower the light transmission as much as super-cheap uncoated filters--I use them on all my lenses, because I'm a klutz and I shoot outside in dusty Southern California a lot. But it's still adding another piece of glass between the light and your lens. Whether or not you need one or should use one can be a matter of personal preference.

Some folks prefer keeping their front element pristine, and only risking a filter coating vs. the coating on the front element. Others say that if you pay $1000+ for a lens, why muck up that light transmission you paid so much for with a $40 filter? So, it depends.

Now, will you notice a difference between skylight and UV? Probably. Skylight filters are colored a slight pink/red. UV filters don't add a color cast.

[tinton14]

Here are two of the most obvious ones, first is with a flimsy tripod when I first got my camera and second was using a steady tripod a few months after.




I actually only had a problem with this building, I didn't notice this on the other buildings I was shooting at.

[tinton14]

I feel safer with a filter on since I've found fingerprints, water drops, dust on my filter after shooting outside. My current filter doesn't have any red/pink color to it, it only says "skylite mc uv" on it. So is B+W a better brand overall compared to Hoya?
inkista you mentioned the build quality of B+W being better, so why choose Hoya over it?

[kirbinster]

Bag the UV or Haze filter, just use the hood - you will get better images. For ND or CP filters I like B+W.

[tinton14]

Isn't UV and Haze included in one filter? or is it one or the other? How does this really affect my images? I've read something about UV not being needed for dslr because the sensor is suppose to take care of that? (not sure since I've been reading a lot on all these and some information to get blurred together) Thanks again for all the help.