Cheap filters - to be avoided?

[peterattheboro]

I'm after a CPL but can't afford the £50-£100 at the moment for one.

There are some knocking about on the bay for £10 or so. Will these actually work as well as the expensive ones or not at all?

 

[tibbsey]

I'm looking at a Hoya 58mm CPL for £22.46 on the Rainforest as I too can't splash out £50+ on a B+W or similar.
The reviews state that you should get the purple/blue boxed filter, which is Hoya's higher end filter afaik.

Hoya also do a green boxed CPL filter, which is normally re-branded as a Kenko CPL filter, not sure how good this is though.

 

[DB_SamX]

Paid £20 for a 52mm Hoya cp as well from the same place. Seems decent enough. (Not the pro range)

 

[D.P.]

I'm after a CPL but can't afford the £50-£100 at the moment for one.

There are some knocking about on the bay for £10 or so. Will these actually work as well as the expensive ones or not at all?

In short yes.

Crossed threads, color casts, softness, ghosting & flares, reduced contrast, poor build.

Hoya's pro 1-D stuff is apparently ok cheaper.

 

[brendan]

I would be wary of filtrers on ebay. Many are fake, especially hoya.

However it really depends on your lens what filter you should get. Personally on my 18-70 I just have a cheap jessops one, and on my 50mm f/1.4 I have a nice hoya one (not from the bay