Fake Kenko UV filter from ebay - How to spot one.

[RichardRamshaw]

Hi All

I recently bought a Kenko UV filter from eBay and spent some time making sure I got a real one, looked for the right pictures of the packaging etc, but the cheaky buggers sent me a cheap knock off instead. After complaining I got the real one today. For all of you out there here are some photos and ways of spotting the fake ones. This could also be applied to many other manufacturers of filters as the principals are the same.

I've also put in a couple of shots taken with the camera though the filters and there is a marked difference between the real and fake ones so make sure you do your homework!!

Real Box

Fake Box

Fairly easy to see the difference, most obvious thing was that the fake box did not have any info on it, no website, product code, bar code, marketing blurb etc.

Filters Themselves - Real on the bottom, fake on the top

The real one has better sharper printing, a slightly matt finish and when screwing it onto the lens it's much smoother.

And here's the "Worst case scenario" photo taken of a light against a dark celing, this clearly shows an issue with the fake filter.

Photo taken with real filter:

Not too bad for a non-multicoted filter.

Photo taken with fake filter:

A few more lens flare double images here!

Photo taken without any filter, just for comparison.

I hope this proves usefull for people out there and yes even though it looks just like a bit of glass there is a noticeable difference, even at the cheap end of the spectrum.

 

[wontolla]

Quite a diference there! A usefull post for the forum.
Of course the real difference is in price, if the fake is sold as the real Mcoy, then the seller could be charged with theft and selling counterfeit goods.

 

[skiwhiz]

should name and shame plus did you report them

 

[Yardbent]

Hi All

I recently bought a Kenko UV filter from eBay and spent some time making sure I got a real one, ........................

And here's the "Worst case scenario" photo taken of a light against a dark celing, this clearly shows an issue with the fake filter.

Photo taken with real filter:.....Not too bad for a non-multicoated filter....

but why buy a ''non-multi-coated '' filter in the first place..:shake:

admittedly for my film lenses - but Hoya HMC UV [c] filters are not expensive

I buy Hoya Pro-1 Digital MC Protector filters for my digital camera

 

[HoppyUK]

There are a lot of fake filters around, and some of them 'look' very good. I was checking the other day and found on-line prices for allegedly the same Hoya Pro-1 polariser varying between £34 and £105 Too good to be true...

Without a careful side by side flare comparison shot as above, the only way to be sure is to buy from a seller that is supplied by the official importer. That doesn't mean other sources aren't genuine, but there's just no way of knowing.

 

[Jackwow]

I suppose the lesson is don't buy from Ebay, after all the main reason for doing so is to buy stuff cheap and cheap stuff often isn't good stuff!

 

[wontolla]

I suppose the lesson is don't buy from Ebay, after all the main reason for doing so is to buy stuff cheap and cheap stuff often isn't good stuff!

Not everything is fake on Ebay! Just have to use your loaf and do your homework. Buyer beware!

 

[wchadders]

Never considered such a thing would go on, thanks for bringing to my attention.

 

[Brightstone]

i bought a 67mm Hoya MC UV filter from the Ebay about 2 years ago. the packing was rough, and the print of front cover was in such a poor quality. i did not even bother trying it, and contact the seller to return it. eventually i got the full refund, but paid for the return postage. i bought a 55mm Hoya HMC UV from my local LCE for 14.99, i think it's not a bad price, plus HMC. i remembered i paid 10 quits for that 67mm filter.

 

[insertusernamehere]

I have to admit I didn't consider the fact anyone would bother selling fake filters which are cheap enough in the first place!!
Very good thread thank you!

 

[Al de Man]

I bought a fake Sandisk Extreme card off eBay. I had it confirmed by Sandisk but they weren't interested in taking it any further and as a result, neither were eBay.

 

[RichardRamshaw]

but why buy a ''non-multi-coated '' filter in the first place..:shake:

I bought the non MC filter as I'm a 'cheap' slr photographer. The lens it's going on is a canon 50mm f1.8 prime and it only cost me $100 (£60) delivered from ebay so putting a $50+ filter on it just to protect it seemed a little silly. If the conditions merit then I'll just remove the filter.

These days it's cheap and easy to get into the low end of SLR photography and you get a massive improvement over a point and shoot. To get "the next level" of image quality then costs thousands on lenses and bodies, if I had this money to spend on my hobby then I'd probably also look at getting MC filters to protect them. As it is I get 90% of the quality improvement over my point and shoot but have only spent $800 in total on a camera and 3 lenses. There are a lot of people like me out there and for us the non MC fits the bill for price vs performance. I understand if I were really into it or did any kind of photography for a living then it would be very different as I may need some of the 90% to 100% image quality offered by L series lenses MC filters and the like, but I just can't justify that for my, not very serious, hobby.

 

[HoppyUK]

I bought the non MC filter as I'm a 'cheap' slr photographer. The lens it's going on is a canon 50mm f1.8 prime and it only cost me $100 (£60) delivered from ebay so putting a $50+ filter on it just to protect it seemed a little silly. If the conditions merit then I'll just remove the filter.

These days it's cheap and easy to get into the low end of SLR photography and you get a massive improvement over a point and shoot. To get "the next level" of image quality then costs thousands on lenses and bodies, if I had this money to spend on my hobby then I'd probably also look at getting MC filters to protect them. As it is I get 90% of the quality improvement over my point and shoot but have only spent $800 in total on a camera and 3 lenses. There are a lot of people like me out there and for us the non MC fits the bill for price vs performance. I understand if I were really into it or did any kind of photography for a living then it would be very different as I may need some of the 90% to 100% image quality offered by L series lenses MC filters and the like, but I just can't justify that for my, not very serious, hobby.

Then why not save even more money and not use a filter at all? You can see what they do in the images above, even the best ones... :shrug:

 

[trencheel303]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm also led to believe that expensive multi-coated filters shouldn't reflect light very much, whereas cheap knockoffs are like mirrors. Also if you look through many cheap ones you can actually tell you are looking through a piece of glass, whereas with expensive ones it often looks like there is no glass in it. When I opened my Hoya HD UV filter I thought it had no glass in it lol...