Reviewed by
ugi , Intermediate

Price Paid
$15.00

Photography Experience
2-5 years

Summary
This is my first taste of posh filters, and now I can never go back! B+W is built like a jewel. Glass is perfect. I feel that fit and finish is even better than Heliopan. Must be that fancy gold lettering. Ooh la la!

Strengths
build quality

Weaknesses
heavy

Similar Products Used
Hoya, Heliopan, Kenko

Reviewed by
William B , Intermediate , from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada.

Price Paid
$29.00 at B&H - N.Y.C

Photography Experience
11-20 years , Other

Summary
The most beautiful pieces of glass I have ever seen. And they are solid as a rock. I have four ND filters, and a ND.6 (soft) Grad, and they are the most cherished filters in my entire collection. Gotta hand it to B+W in Germany; they (in my opinion) make the finest filters in the world. And you will pay a lot for them. When I can afford it, I buy B+W. All other times (which is mostly) I buy Tiffen. They make terriffic filters too!

Strengths
-Quality of glass (German - Schott) is absolutely heavenly.
-Outer ring (solid brass, painted black) solid as a rock. Apparantly solid brass rings do not "jam" nearly as much as some light-weight aluminum ones(?).

Weaknesses
-Price. You will pay up to 2 to 3 times as much for them mostly. But boy, are they worth it.
-Special "no-groove" outside retaining rings. Prevents one from doing basic filter repairs with a spanner wrench.
-Weight. Solid brass = heavy.

Similar Products Used
Many Tiffen and B+W filters.

Customer Service
N/A

Reviewed by
sieracki001 , Intermediate , from Irving TX

Price Paid
$42.00 at B&H

Photography Experience
2-5 years , Outdoor

Summary
I own a 72mm B&W #103 (ND .9) neutral density filter. I use it in conjunction with my MCON 35 macro lens for the Olympus E 20 digital camera. As with all B&W filters I have, this filter is quite superb. The threads are well machined to prevent cross threading. This is something the 'cheap' filter manufacturers tend to ignore. As in most things you get what you pay for. The glass is of course superb.

Strengths
Brass mounts and finely machined threads make life easy.

Weaknesses
Some would say price but I do not.

Similar Products Used
Tiffen and Hoya filters. No comparision.

Customer Service
Not needed.

Reviewed by
Richard Saylor , Expert , from Richard

Photography Experience
21+ years , Outdoor

Summary
I sometimes have the Leica M6 loaded with ISO 800 film for low light photography. I need ND filters to give me a wider range of f-stops for daylight use of this film, since my top shutter speed is 1/1000. The B+W filters apparently do what they are supposed to do, without any obvious altering of colors.

Strengths
A (uniform) ND filter is not supposed to do anything except reduce the amount of light hitting the film, having the same effect as if the film speed were reduced. The B+W filters seem to accomplish this quite well.

Weaknesses
None.

Similar Products Used
Leitz color filters for B/W.

Customer Service
N/A