On Mon, 8 Jul 2002 00:50:36 -0400, "That Annoying Twit..."
wrote:

[...]
>It really is ashame because up until recently the filters released by Tiffen
>where ranked among the best you could buy. Versus now it's well maybe it
>will be okay... I am not asking for the super high B+W or Nikon levels of
>filter quality, just average to good quality. Hoyas and Tiffens are both
>supposed to be a reliable good mid range filter.
[...]

For as long as I can remember, I avoided Tiffen
filters 'cuz:
- they tend to "self-fog" in a couple of months,
giving unintended diffusion effects until cleaned.
- they are often uncoated many-layer sandwiches
instead of coated single-layer dyed glass.
- they come in really thick rims, which often
vignette on wide-angle lenses.
For as long as I can remember, Hoya has (mostly - I
avoid the plastic-rimmed versions) produced
high-quality filters in good rims at reasonable
prices. I do avoid their hard-to-clean multi-coated
filters, though, and use Hoya single-coated filters
along with my Nikkor filters...