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Why do photography filters cost so much?


5 years 3 months ago #627611 by Alfonso Camil
Seriously why?  I know I'm a rookie photographer and still learning.  So don't take this question the wrong way, I just don't know.  All I see is a tinted piece of glass with a brass ring with some threads on it.  

help me understand why these cost as much as they do? 

Thanks PT!  
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5 years 3 months ago #627645 by garyrhook
I'll start with: quality, precision equipment costs money. When you don't have that, things can go south very quickly. When it's critical, people can die.

Good work means you pay for it.

For a filter, quality metal that won't warp or bend, well-machined threads that let you put on and take off many times without trouble, glass that is consistent, both physically and (more importantly) optically. You want the image to come through without being affected by the glass: every light ray passes through without bending, without losing strength, without shifting frequency (i.e. color). You want the effect to be consistent across the entire piece of glass.

Or maybe you like artifacts? I don't.

All of the work to develop a filter (R&D) has to be recovered. The price of a filter isn't just the mechanical parts: it's the development that went into it. It's the overhead to run the business and pay the people that did the work. And all of it is based on the premise that a certain number of units will sell.

When I take all that into account, $120 for a good neutral density filter doesn't seem like so much money.

I could be wrong.
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5 years 3 months ago #627646 by Alfonso Camil
Ok, that makes a lot more sense now.  I was thinking, geez, it's a think piece of glass some brass and a logo.  But clearly there is a lot more to this than my perception.  Thanks for the clarity!
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5 years 3 months ago #627652 by KCook
Tiffen doesn't cost a lot and I'm not proud.

Kelly
Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/
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5 years 3 months ago #627715 by Shadowfixer1
Watch this.

www.betterphoto.com/?ramshots
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5 years 3 months ago #627744 by garyrhook

Alfonso Camil wrote: Ok, that makes a lot more sense now.  I was thinking, geez, it's a think piece of glass some brass and a logo.  But clearly there is a lot more to this than my perception.  Thanks for the clarity!


I wish I'd learned about all of that when I was much younger. Things are rarely as simple as they may seem.
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5 years 2 months ago #627758 by fmw
Tiny marketplace.  Low production quantities.
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5 years 2 months ago #627888 by Duncan K
It's all in the coating process and quality of glass.  
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5 years 2 months ago #627918 by Jared-Weaver
Quality filters are as precession engineered as the glass of any major brand lens. I've used low end and now professional filters and there is a noticable difference. Professional filters feel like an extension to your lens, working together to produce the image you had in mind when you made the decision to use the filter. A poor quality filter will work agaisnt you, dulling the sharpness, introducing extreme vignetteing, artifacts, warping, flare and introducing weird color casts that can't be warmed or cooled away. 

Some top brands are: 
Lee
Nisi
Singh-Ray 
Breakthrough Photography
Hoya
B+W 
I'm sure I missed a few others. 

Avoid: 
Cokin
Anything that comes in a large kit. 
Amazon Basics
Knockoff brands like Promaster. 
Photo Comments
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