Anyone tell if this B&W c-pol is genuine?

[Cuh5]

I bought this B+W polarising filter during my travels. At the time I didn't even know who B+W were and assumed I was getting a cheapo filter.

I didn't keep the packaging, but I recall that the hologram looked "basic".
It cost $30 (bargained from $40) and was bought in a proper looking camera shop in Phnom Pehn, the capital of Cambodia. The shop was selling a lot of Nikon and Canon gear, and looked more decent than most camera shops here in London!

The filter weighs 30g (suggesting it's aluminium?), but I've read that Asian market B&W filters are aluminium.

The turning mechanism feels very good quality.

The last image shows the retaining ring has a split in it. It has two of these actually.

 

[Steve Smith]

Does it working without adversely affecting image quality? Surely that's all that matters.


Steve.

 

[Cuh5]

Does it working without adversely affecting image quality? Surely that's all that matters.
Steve.

If I look thru it at a computer monitor it appears to work, making the monitor look black or white depending on the rotation. But out in the field, on a sunny day, at 90 degrees to the sun, no matter what I try it will only slightly reduce reflections from water surfaces.

 

[Canon Bob]

I've just looked through all my B+W's (about 20 of them) and they all have the legend "Made in Germany" and not simply "Germany" like yours. I also have some "slim" C-Pol's and the titling is inside the rim as there isn't space outside for the lettering.

That's not definitive but just based on my collection.

Bob

 

[MartynK]

You do come across variances in some products, depending when they were manufactured and for which market, so it's difficult to say. I agree with Steve though, if you're satisfied with the results, it's good to go.

If you really want to know, you could take a couple of photographs of it, and mail them to the manufacturer with a full description, and see what they say?