>here's what i want to point out: have you ever thought about the
>pricing difference between "original" nikon filters and those of other
>quality manufacturers? has anybody made experiences with the latter that
>make the difference seem reasonable? has anybody even ever compared the two?
The laws of supply and demand apply even to the camera market. Also, Nikon
filters compared to others have the wider front end which will not cause
vignetting with wide angle lenses.
>i just can't see why a nikon polarizer should be worth a single cent more
>than a B&W one.
Product differentiation. Quality of glass. Coating. Build quality. Ease
of use.
FWIW, an infamous French publication rated the B+W filter 5 stars for
optical quality and build quality/handling and had neutral color balance
while Nikon only received 4 stars each and had slightly magenta color
balance. (P.S. Thanks, Jose Perico!) So go ahead and buy the B+W filter.
>to make a long story short, here's a pricing example from my last week's
>shopping experience:
>
>- - B&W circ polarizer, 72mm, DM 189,- (USD 112,-; EUR 96,50)
>- - same thing named "nikon", 72mm, DM 349,- (USD 206,50; EUR 178,-)
This is from my post on rec.photo.equipment.35mm from September 12, 1998:
Price example (B&H prices)
72mm filter size
Tiffen standard 67.50
Heliopan 99.95
B+W multi coated, $172.20
Hoya multicoated 99.95
Hoya super multicoated 119.95
Nikon 124.95
Prices may have changed. Note that I did not include Heliopan, which is
more than $200.
You are from Germany. B+W is also in Germany, so prices are cheaper there.
Also, Nikon Germany or whatever distributor is marking up the Nikon
prices. So Nikon prices are higher in Germany than in the U.S. At the
same time, the U.S. distributor is marking up the prices so that the B+W
prices are higher in the U.S. than in Germany.
Since I live in Japan, I don't have to worry about that kind of stuff. I
buy my Nikon equipment here in YEN, which is how it is originally priced.
But, exchange rates play a big part. For example, the F100 is selling for
171,000 yen. Suggested retail price is 190,000 yen. Since the exchange
rate is around 115/$, the camera is actually _more expensive_ here than in
other countries. But when the dollar hit 145 yen, people were e-mailing me
weekly to find out Nikon Japan prices which were suddenly much cheaper.
Good luck in your filter quest. I asked the same question and came up with
the answer. I have a Nikon lens, not Sigma, Tamron, etc. So I put a Nikon
filter on it. It was a no brainer. Which is why I will end my long post
regarding Nikon filters here.
Cheers,
Matt
