Who said photography is all about a good DSLR? It goes beyond that! One of the essentials that can help you improve your photography is a lens filter. These filters can help in achieving crisp quality shots that everyone loves. Photographers generally invest in lens filters to help alter the light passing through the lens and add colours or other effects to the image. These filters also protect the lenses against damage. A lens filter is a transparent glass that can be attached to the front of a lens.
Several brands offer a range of filters in different thread sizes, from UV filters to ND filters. However, two of the most popular brands among photographers to get quality lenses is Tiffen and Hoya. To find out which one is better and if there is any other brand offering better lens filters, keep reading this blog post on Hoya vs Tiffen filters.
Tiffen vs Hoya
Tiffen Filters
Overall Range: Tiffen has captured the North American and European markets as it is widely available everywhere. The brand offers a range of lenses in different thread sizes, so no matter which camera you are using, you will be able to find a filter for it.
Design and Quality: All these lens filters have a thin and low-profile frame, making them extremely lightweight. One can easily mount and unmount this filter. As it takes less space, it is pretty portable and easy to use.
Tiffen offers a complete range of polarizers, starting from warm polarizers to low-light ones. Most of these lenses have front threads that can be easily mounted on the lenses. In addition, Tiffen filters have metal threads which are preferable to plastic threads. The glass used in these filters is of good quality; however, brands like Globe use German Schott glass, which is best in class for such filters.
Performance: Tiffen filters deliver a good performance and depending upon the type of filter you choose, you might see some variation in the quality. Cpl filters are more robust and come with premium quality glass and additional locks for the control interface. In addition, their premium range lens filters perform better than the general ones, so if you are planning to invest in good filters, make sure to check out their range.
Tiffen filters are an excellent option for someone who wants to start with entry-level lenses at affordable prices.
Hoya Filters
Overall range: Hoya filters also offer a wide range of size and variants to choose from. The brand is predominant in many parts of the world, and its accessibility and marketing are among the top reasons this brand is preferred more over other filter brands. One can get a lens filter for any camera, and their unique coating technology used in making these filters, make Hota stand out from the rest.
Design and Quality: Hoya filters are designed to thread them to the lens easily. Their frames also have small profiles like Tiffen filters. Filters offered by Hoya are robust, and one can easily take them on and off as required. The lens filters have metal threads and are lightweight. Premium lens filters come with a sixteen layer coating technology, and like Tiffen, Hoya also uses Japanese glasses for making their filters.
Performance: Hoya offers a gradual twisting system for control interface on their premium Cpl lens filters. It also provides specialist filters which include fog and skylight filters. Compared to Tiffen, Hoya has managed to branch out in many niches, which gives it an upper hand.
Best Lens Filter Brand
Although Hoya and Tiffen filters are a hit among photographers due to their extensive range and easy availability, there are other lens filter brands that you can consider. Brands like B+W, Minolta, Nikon and Globe are some of the best lens filter brands out there. These brands have launched an innovative range of filters which gives them an edge over other brands. In terms of quality, overall performance or design, these three brands are also the top-rated options considered by professional photographers. To get more details about these brands, check out their ranges and see if you find something suitable.
Concluding Remarks
If you particularly want to opt for either Tiffen or Hoya, we recommend you go ahead with Hoya filters as it has some better features than the Tiffen filters. Both these brands are affordable and offer a decent range; however, if you are looking forward to trying something even better than these two options, we would suggest Globe filter ranges. The Globe filters are well-made, premium quality, and excellent performance.