Does it make any difference between a lens if the front end is 58mm or 67mm for example the 24-85mm vs. the 28-105mm ..and also the 28-105mm which I beleive has 72mm filter diameter....so what is the difference besides filter sizes?....

-- Tristan (tristan288@hotmail.com), May 09, 2002

Answers

The 28-105 takes 58mm filters.

Does it make any difference? Only in what size filter you use. The best solution (and cheapest) is to buy filters in the largest size you will use and adapt them to smaller diameter lenses with step rings. For instance, buy 77mm filters and get step rings for 58-77, 67-77, 72-77, etc.

I use 77mm filters because that is the largest size Canon uses on it's largest lenses with filter threads. You may someday buy one of these lenses and then find you cannot use the smaller filters.

-- Lee (Leemarthakiri@sport.rr.com), May 09, 2002.

Note that one drawback of buying huge filters is that they won't fit on smaller lenses using step rings if the smaller lens has a hood installed. I can fit a 58mm filter onto a lens designed for 52mm filters when there's a hood on the lens, but not a 72mm filter.

-- NK Guy (tela@tela.bc.ca), May 09, 2002.

Has anybody ever tried putting a 72mm filter onto a 24-85 or 70-200 f/4 whilst simultaneously fitting a hood? I have a 20-35 2.8L and would like to complement it with the hooded 70-200 4L without having to buy all the filters again.

-- Ming Kuo (mtkuo@hotmail.com), May 10, 2002.

Beware that the front element size is NOT the same as the filter size. Some of my lenses have enough space between the front element and the filter mount to put the manufacturer and the name of the lens, and country of manufacture!

Also, beware that when you use a filter, the front surface of the filter is less sheltered than the front element of the lens by itself. Using a hood is recommended, but if you use a step-up filter adapter, you will need to find an alternative type of hood (e.g. screw-up rubber hood).

Unless you are a filter-fanatic, it would make sense to get a few commonly-used filters (e.g. CPOL, 81A) for each of your lenses, and only buy one large filter to use infrequently on multiple lenses, using step-up or step-down adapters.

By extension, it would make a lot of sense to investigate a filter system like Cokin or Lee.

-- Julian Loke (elan7e-owner@yahoogroups.com), May 11, 2002.

I took some time looking at lenses and figured most I'd be buying had 58mm filter thread. Makes life easy.

I may at some point have the cash to buy a several thousand dollar lens which requires 77mm threads but if I do I'll probably also be able to buy some extra filters. Until then I'm not going to spend extra cash on huge filters I don't need on the off chance I someday may. That seems to be a false economy to me.

I only use a few filters anyway so buying extras isn't a big deal.

-- Marcus (Citizensmith@lanset.com), May 13, 2002.