In article <4ds8d5$ech@agate.berkeley.edu>, beorn@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU says...

>Bob Neuman in <4dkjdd$po0@newsstand.cit.cornell.edu>:
>- Ah, but you haven't been looking here and/or rec.photo.misc long,
>- then?;-). I would avoid, if possible, Tiffen (they have a tendency
>- to acquire [cleanable] haze, and poor rim design - though they have
>- a wide range of filter types available); [ ... ]

>I just saw a "hints" sheet from the people at Really Right Stuff. They
>attribute fogging on "inexpensive brand" filters to "outgassing" of the
>filter box (they note that this doesn't seem to be a problem with Nikon
>boxes). They recommend filter stackers, which is what I've been using
>for a while.

I find Tiffens seem to fog even in the Nikon boxes - it is a mystery.

>- There is some justification in getting a good
>- achromat for the close-up lens (Nikkor or Canon)

>Hurm.. I'm a Nikon user, I never thought of checking out Canon for
>close-up lenses. B&H says $CALL for all diameters ...
>What diopter range does Canon have in achomats?

Dunno.

>And while I'm asking, is there a practical limit to the focal-length >when using even good close-up lenses?

I haven't found any - the Nikkor 6T works well enough on 300mm lenses,
at least.

>- [ ... ] and a Nikkor
>- polarizer if you use wide-angles (the Nikkor glass is larger than
>- the mounting thread size to avoid vignette - though using polarizers
>- on wide-angles is iffy because of the unevenness of polarization
>- over a wide angle of view).

>A note on the Nikon polarizers: on the 28-85 lens, the instructions
>that come with the polarizer indicates that the polarizer will
>vignette at 28mm (and probably between 28 and 35). But then, this
>lens vignettes at 28mm without any filter (with the Nikon circ. pol.,
>I probably have to stop down even further). Bit the tiffen cir. >polarizer "vignettes" (I should say "clips") at all apertures at 28mm.

I never found the 28-85mm Nikkor to vignette at any focal-length
without a shade and filter, or with the correct shade and filter.

>Also, the front thread of the Nikon polarizers is not a standard >diameter. I think for the 62mm, the front is 73, and for the 77mm
>it's 83 (a rough guess). This makes it impossible to use with a
>filter stacker (at least I've found nothing so far). The normal
>boxes these polarizers come in are pretty bulky.

They fit nicely in some Vivitar filter boxes, which are deep enough,
and just big enough to hold the Nikkor polarizers.

>These polarizers also make using the standard lens hood for your lens >very awkward (practically, but not provably, impossible),
>and you end up wanting to get custom screw-in hoods for about USD
>35-45 each. ("ch-ching"...)

I skip the hoods, and use the soft Nikon caps for the view camera
lenses to cap the lenses with polarizers on for carrying.

>- I use filters with and without multicoating, and the only difference
>- I have seen is that multicoated filters seem to resist scratching
>- better, but are much harder to clean than the alternative.
>
>I thought multi-coated filters would reduce problems with stray light
>reflections (but then a lens hood blocks stray light, right? and a
>hood is much cheaper).

Photography is full of mythology (though not so much as audio!).
I stand by my statement about multi-coating above.
Hope This Helps