Heliopan vs. B+W?

[edhohoho]

I am interested in a high quality 62mm UV filter for a lens and was wondering which brand of filter, Heliopan or B+W, is considered best.

I understand that both use Schott glass and brass mounting rings, but I have read that some people feel Heliopan is slightly better due to almost completely non-reflective coating and even less prone to flaring. Heliopan also has a higher number of coatings and is supposedly scratch resistant. However, I may be mistaken, but I thought I also read that Heliopan filters tended to smear when cleaning the surface.

Also, does Leica rebrand Heliopan or B+W filters for their own sales? And I think B+W filters are available in chrome rings, but what about Heliopan?

The easiest choice would be B+W since they seem to be most readily available online and they are less expensive than Heliopan. Any advice would be most appreciated.

[David Goldfarb]

Heliopan's best coating is slightly better than B+W's, I gather, but probably more important is the fact that Heliopan filters come standard in thin rings now, which are good for wide lenses. Also B+W identifies the filter on the retaining ring, visible from the front of the filter, which is handy if you like filter wallets, while Heliopan engraves the filter type on the side of the ring, which is better if you like stacking caps.

[sepiareverb]

I'm a B+W user, they clean easily and I've not scratched one yet. Contax filters are available in Chrome (used these days), never saw anyone else with chrome rings these days.

[KoNickon]

Hoya HMCs are out of the question? I think they're as good or better than Heliopans or B+Ws, and a lot cheaper. Brass is nice but not critical.

An alternative in 62mm is a Nikon filter, also multicoated.

[peter_n]

I use B+W filters on my lenses. Get the MRC F-Pro versions. Extremely well made and very hard surface. The Heliopan filters are good but their US distributor HP Marketing is a weird company. Hoya is also good but a soft surface compared to the B+W MRC so the Hoya lasts nowhere near as long.

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