Quality of filter - what to look for?

[yappiez]

Hi guys,
Bought a cpl filter recently by kenko pro1 digital..
I noticed that the surface of the lens does not seem to be mirror smooth.. It actually seem to be uneven fairly consistently all over.

I thought since filters needs to allow maximum light thur without altering their original path, they need to be glass or mirror liked smooth...

I am wondering if I was sold a faulty piece. To be fair, I went thur their entire stock of tokina cpl and all of them does not look flawless.. All have spots which was unable to be clean off with the soft cloth. After which they showed the kenko one in a very old case and sold it to me 60$ off the tagged price.

I hope I am not taken for a ride. Hopefully someone with more experience and share some tips on what to look for so consumers can make the right choices.

 

[user12343]

yes, to my understanding, even B+W CPL filters have this wavy texture when viewed at an angle. as long as it does not affect the image, then it should be ok.

Another consideration is the ease of cleaning when stained/soiled with water, salt spray or finger smudges. Good filters have this extra coating that allows easy cleaning with just microfiber cloth (the one that comes free with prescription spectacles work fine; make sure you wash & dry thoroughly with laundry detergent) without the smudges/dirt pushed around to another spot.

 

[yappiez]

Yes yes.. What I see is like wavy pattern in a single direction over the entire surface of the filter.... If it was meant to be there then my worries are unfounded.. Thanks for ur inputs.

 

[yappiez]

For those tokina ones, I doubt they are suppose to have spots tho... I am still shock cos I went thur about 4 pcs and the salesman went thur another 5 or 6.. All seem to be the same...

 

[daredevil123]

Which shop did you shop at?

My kenko pro-1D CPL looks pretty smooth to me....

 

[XavierShoot]

Which shop did you shop at?

My kenko pro-1D CPL looks pretty smooth to me....

my kenko pro-1D CPL looks quite even too