[LRflex] Re: Off-topic question...

Philippe asked:


How much is a front element?
About CAD$330 including taxes & return shipping. I felt the price very fair and the service was incredible ... 8 days, of which only one was spent at Olympus. The rest of the time was for the post, both ways. By comparison, I accidentally dropped my 80~200/f4 Vario on the ice, last winter, bending an internal ring. The repair was $365+ taxes+ shipping and took 8 months to be returned.
BTW, the quality of work done by both Olympus and Kindermann (Leica) - both in Toronto, 5000 km away - was absolutely superb.
In any case filters on the market that are manufactured today by renowned makers such as Sigma must of needs be way better than any produced 50 years ago even those sold then by Leica ... Opinion of course
I suspect you're right. The only comment I can add is that when I started photography, in the early 1960's, Tiffen was considered "junk" ... definitely at the bottom of the heap, for quality. I see in the review, at: http://www.lenstip.com/113.1-article-UV_filters_test_Introduction.html, that Tiffen has not appreciably improved, over the years.
As noted in the review: "The Tiffen filter was particularly unfortunate in our testing. It costs almost as much as the winner ? the Hoya HMC ? and it performs a bit worse than a clean piece of regular window glass!" That being said, while rating the Tiffen, they gave it just 3.5 out of a possible 40 points, and still said: "Final result: 16th place in the overall ranking and a good rating". So, if 3.5 out of 40 is "a good rating" ... what must one be like, to get a poor rating?
My point is not to complain about their testing methods, or results. They seem to have made a fine effort. However, all tests/reviews are, to a degree, subjective, and results with a different lens than the one they chose, may vary.
My buddy, who owns the SIGMA filters he recommended to me, is very happy with his (on Canon glass). I will try them and report back. 

Cheers!

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