Tiffen 72HTSFX3 72MM Digital HT Soft FX 3 Titanium Filter

With This Kit, You Can't Go Wrong...Will Fit Any 72mm Wide Lense...


Further Insight   February 21, 2007
Shawn M. Wynne (Duluth, MN)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful

This is one of the best bargains that i've seen, "essentially" you get 3 filters for the price of one. The image quality with these filters is great, the 812 (warming) filter is by far a favorite giving back the color richness that flash photography so often washes out, that is unless you have the patience for constantly tweaking your flash power. Aside from the 812 the UV protector is basically a clear protective filter. While it obviously has advantages over clear glass, I tend not to think of it as any different. This too is a great filter which I use about half the time because it doesn't affect color hues or change f stop values too greatly while it takes the worry out of carrying the camera around ready for any candid shots that may occur. Finally included is the circular polarizer. This filter adjusts the amount of uv light entering the camera by spinning the filter to the direction the uv rays are entering (or turning the thingy till things look better). This lens is great for sunny days and will take surface glare off lakes and glass making them transparent again. It also makes colors more crisp in general when photographing buildings and other large "reflective" man-made things. So things sound great so far, but now to why I only give this item 4 stars. While Tiffen is known to be one of the best at photo and video filters, they have quality control issues that do no live up to thier reputation. In my case the 812 filter arrived with a discoloration in the glass. While it was didn't hurt image quality, with the flaw being towards the edge of the filter, I none the less didn't want to find a situation in which the flaw would diminish quality. Seeing as it was not amazon's fault my first e-mail went to Tiffen for a replacement which they said they would gladly do, but only after I send them the filter and they recieve it would they ship my replacement (not an option in my circumstances). Instead Amazon's wonderful customer service shown through again, and within 3 days they had replaced the entire set. The second set arrivided without flaw but since my other two filters were in perfect condition I traded just the 812. I havn't had any other issues and i'm very satisfied with my filters. The only other word of warning would be to that of the circular polorizer. While I recieved 2 that were flawless occassionally I have read in reviews customers have received ones that were assembled backwards making the lens useless. A quick way to check to see if your CP is working correctly is to hold it, thread facing yourself, and look at an LCD monitor or TV and spin it until the picture dissapears(obviously working correctly). I still wouldn't pass up this deal knowing what I do now, chances are everything will show up perfectly but none the less if you're concerned order it before you need it and check everything over carefully. Amazon is always the best for returns and will often ship a replacement the next day with overnight shipping.


And a little further insight...
I was recently doing some black and white film photography, and decided to use my 812 warming filter as a protective lens as I was carrying 3 lenses with me. Just thought that I would mention that using this filter will produce a "White" sky in some outdoor photographs. The shots were taken with a gradient blue sky to which the entirety showed up white, even on bracketed sets, that should have shown something in one of the series. While itself was a interesting effect for some shots, it mostly just caused me frustration in the darkroom. I just wanted to add this as fair warning. I discovered this on accident, so I don't know if it applies to all sky conditions as I didn't do a lot B&W sky shots, I might test it using Photoshop later as I see they have the 812s effect built in. Anyways, good luck and have fun photoing.


UV Filter for lens protection   October 24, 2006
Helen H. Waldrop (Orlando, FL United States)
21 out of 22 found this review helpful

Tiffen has been in the filter business for as long as I can remember and they make a good product for the money. Their typical filter has better quality glass than most camera store off brand filters. Not nearly as good as a Nikon or Canon branded filter some of which are built by Tiffen but to a better specification using better coatings. All that said, if you are just looking for basic UV function or lens protection from the this filter it is just fine as long as you don't have an ultra wide angle zoom or ulta wide angle lens as this filter does vignette on my Nikon 12-24mm lens. There is a newer filter made especially for ultra wide angle lenses that has a reduced ring sidewall thickness. It is naturally priced at double the price of this filter (go figure huh?).