Heliopan Filters

IanC

IanC

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Ian
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I have an 82mm Heliopan polfilter slim SH-PMC circular polariser ES82 (the slim version). It is so smooth and just feels such high quality. The effect is so even. This lens is used exclusivey on my Sigma 20mm f1.8 EX DG. I have a 77mm Hoya pro1 digital which I bought for the 24-70 and it is not as good.

If you hold the Heliopan and rotate it in front of the MBP screen the effect is stronger from one extreme to the other and one effect that you can see is where the screen eventually goes black and you can see lots of white specs of dust. The Hoya just does not go that far. At the other end they are as clear.

They are not cheap but I would certainly buy another.
 
I went and upgraded my Heliopans to B+W, not sure that was worth it!

As Darran rightly stated; they're excellent filters, very well constructed and feel like they're made of tank armour :shrug:.
 
Wail said:
I went and upgraded my Heliopans to B+W, not sure that was worth it!

As Darran rightly stated; they're excellent filters, very well constructed and feel like they're made of tank armour :shrug:.
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Wail is the expert here, I bought the lens and filter off him. Glad he bought the Heliopan :thumbs:

Wish I had bought a Heliopan for the 24-70 !
 
:)

If anything, I've picked up 99.99% of all my tips from this TP forum; this place has made me penniless and broke; but a somewhat better at photography in return :annoyed:


Darran,

Why not do what I did, sell the Hoya and go for Heliopan ;)

I went from Hoya => Nikon => Marumi => Heliopan => B+W .. what an expensive learning curve it's been :shake:
 
I have a Heliopan 105mm Polariser... but not filters. The CPL is superb, in both construction, quality and results. You certainly know where you're money's gone. It's heavy!
 
Wail said:
:)

If anything, I've picked up 99.99% of all my tips from this TP forum; this place has made me penniless and broke; but a somewhat better at photography in return :annoyed:


Darran,

Why not do what I did, sell the Hoya and go for Heliopan ;)

I went from Hoya => Nikon => Marumi => Heliopan => B+W .. what an expensive learning curve it's been :shake:
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I think a 77-82mm filter adapter might be cheaper then I could use the Heliopan and the Hoya ND filter I bought for the 20mm :)

I am really looking forward to giving the Sigma a decent outing this spring/summer/autumn for some landscapes etc. I don't think I have really made the most out of it yet!
 
Heliopan are made in West Germany, which explains their high price. It doesn't make them any better.

I think the top end Hoyas are the best filters you can get - Hoya HD and also Pro-1.
 
HoppyUK said:
Heliopan are made in West Germany, which explains their high price. It doesn't make them any better.

I think the top end Hoyas are the best filters you can get - Hoya HD and also Pro-1.
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I have both and prefer the heliopan!
 
cowasaki said:
I have both and prefer the heliopan!
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Heliopan has all those nice evocative associations with Schott glass and Zeiss lenses (also very expensive) but when it comes to what you get for your money, Hoya usually wins IMHO.

Eg Hoya HD polariser - it only reduces the light by 1.2 stops, as opposed to 1.7-2.0 stops of most others. It's made from hardened glass, it has the most extensive multi-coating that is more scratch resistant and has that new kind of 'Teflon' finish that keeps them both cleaner and also easier to clean when they get dirty.

BTW, the new Zeiss lenses available for Nikon and Canon etc are made by Cosina, using Hoya glass ;)
 
I'm looking for a 105mm Circ Pol at the minute but don't think Hoya makes em that big..................pity as they sound V Good
 
classcams said:
Please enlighten us, as to why you prefer the Heliopan
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I already posted about why I think the Heliopan is better. My reasons are my reasons and they are right because I am talking about what I prefer not which is best or better. I own one of the HOYA pro1 filters but lots of other Hoya filters, have nothing to do with either company and so it is a valid opinion.
 
cowasaki said:
I already posted about why I think the Heliopan is better. My reasons are my reasons and they are right because I am talking about what I prefer not which is best or better. I own one of the HOYA pro1 filters but lots of other Hoya filters, have nothing to do with either company and so it is a valid opinion.
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And that is absolutely right :thumbs: Nobody can possibly argue that Heliopan are anything less than very good quality.

Bottom line is does it do the job, and do you like using it. With top quality equipment like this the final desision is very often subjective, and if it works for you then go with it :)
 
HoppyUK said:
Heliopan has all those nice evocative associations with Schott glass and Zeiss lenses (also very expensive) but when it comes to what you get for your money, Hoya usually wins IMHO.

Eg Hoya HD polariser - it only reduces the light by 1.2 stops, as opposed to 1.7-2.0 stops of most others. It's made from hardened glass, it has the most extensive multi-coating that is more scratch resistant and has that new kind of 'Teflon' finish that keeps them both cleaner and also easier to clean when they get dirty.

BTW, the new Zeiss lenses available for Nikon and Canon etc are made by Cosina, using Hoya glass ;)
Click to expand...

All though when I was in UK, I would have loved the idea of Hoya, having 1.2 stops reduced, vs. the Heliopan which cuts close to 2 stops. For my use, I am more than happy to get a 3 stop or even a 4 stop if I could!

Only this morning, at dawn, I was out shooting and I've had to compensate for the sun by putting in manually -2EV and even then bracketing a bit more to get a further -0.7EV! There really is something like too much sun :cool: (that's not a cool similie).

Then there is the issue of cleaning; I was surprised to read that Hoya are easier to clean, but that makes sense since the ones you are talking about are very recently made I believe. From experience, the Hoya were the worst to clean, followed by Nikon, while Marumi were the best of the lot :shrug:

There is another reason to favour the Heliopan & B+W over the others, and that's if you go with the Kasemann range of Circular Polarisers, these are far better sealed and made of brass. The better sealing means less possibility of condensation forming between the two layers. The brass ring means far less likely to get jammed to the lens.

Then there are a couple of reasons why I prefer the Heliopan over the B+W; 1) it is less known, and hence doesn't get me that "snobby" look; 2) it has the incremental markers on the bezel which makes it easy to remember what angel I used.

Now, and in all fairness, I don't know much about Hoyas' new iteration, but by the sound of it they may be competing well.


On your last sentence, about Cosina, does that apply to all Cosina lenses, since they also make the Voigtlander too? If that's the case, then let me just say that they make some of the sexiest and amazing bit of glass. I used the 20mm exclusively this morning, and what a piece of art that is.
 
Wail said:
All though when I was in UK, I would have loved the idea of Hoya, having 1.2 stops reduced, vs. the Heliopan which cuts close to 2 stops. For my use, I am more than happy to get a 3 stop or even a 4 stop if I could!

Only this morning, at dawn, I was out shooting and I've had to compensate for the sun by putting in manually -2EV and even then bracketing a bit more to get a further -0.7EV! There really is something like too much sun :cool: (that's not a cool similie).

Then there is the issue of cleaning; I was surprised to read that Hoya are easier to clean, but that makes sense since the ones you are talking about are very recently made I believe. From experience, the Hoya were the worst to clean, followed by Nikon, while Marumi were the best of the lot :shrug:

There is another reason to favour the Heliopan & B+W over the others, and that's if you go with the Kasemann range of Circular Polarisers, these are far better sealed and made of brass. The better sealing means less possibility of condensation forming between the two layers. The brass ring means far less likely to get jammed to the lens.

Then there are a couple of reasons why I prefer the Heliopan over the B+W; 1) it is less known, and hence doesn't get me that "snobby" look; 2) it has the incremental markers on the bezel which makes it easy to remember what angel I used.

Now, and in all fairness, I don't know much about Hoyas' new iteration, but by the sound of it they may be competing well.


On your last sentence, about Cosina, does that apply to all Cosina lenses, since they also make the Voigtlander too? If that's the case, then let me just say that they make some of the sexiest and amazing bit of glass. I used the 20mm exclusively this morning, and what a piece of art that is.
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All interesting and valid comments :) Different things are of different value to different people, and long may it remain so. Now wouldn't it be wonderful if someone could make a combined ND/polarising/graduated filter? Fitting three filters at once is just not the best way of doing things, but something like that could actually be possible and practical - I'd buy one.

Cosina bought the Voigtlander name some time ago (I don't think a Voigtlander factory exists anywhere now) and have a long history of making lenses for Zeiss. They manufacture some lovely and very high quality gear, as you say.
 
Get the Multi-Coated version; I believe they make them in Slim Kasemann too.
 
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