Two defective circular polarizers from Amazon

August 29, 2019, 06:57 PM

4MUL8R

You'd think a nice circular polarizer from a highly respected German company would be simple to buy. Not on Amazon. First one came, no factory seal, and scratched. OK, still have time before the big trip. Amazon, can you replace? Sure...excellent customer service. Second one came, took to Vegas, installed, and wouldn't you know it...it would not turn smoothly. Couldn't even turn it CCW. Only CW. And it had a noticeable hitch in its gitalong. Then, I took pictures with it. Vignetting in the corners, taking off a few thousand pixels of image as you have to crop those dark corners out. Geez.

Back it goes. I'm going to stick with Japanese filters from now on. Seriously.

August 29, 2019, 07:00 PM

sigfreund

Despite their being a rather special use product, any possibility they were counterfeits?

Vignetting, though, would be an issue with the basic design (thickness) of the filter mount, or the lens—no? I have a noncircular polarizer by B&W and its mount is pretty thick.

August 29, 2019, 07:34 PM

BurtonRW

Why aren’t you ordering your camera gear from B&H? They carry Hoya and B&W. Don’t know where you are in VA, but standard UPS Ground (usually free) gets to me (near Annapolis) in two days or less, depending on what time of day I order.

Also - the gold standard in customer service. Makes Amazon look amateur by comparison.

Really.

-Rob

August 30, 2019, 08:04 AM

Perception

To echo the others, Amazon has a huge counterfeit problem right now. You might try ordering from a reputable dealer before you write them off completely.

"The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford, "it is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them. They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards."
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard, then the wrong lizard might get in."

August 30, 2019, 08:26 PM

229DAK

quote:
Originally posted by BurtonRW:
Why aren’t you ordering your camera gear from B&H?

^^^^^ BIG +1 here.

_________________________________________________________________________
“A man’s treatment of a dog is no indication of the man’s nature, but his treatment of a cat is. It is the crucial test. None but the humane treat a cat well.”
-- Mark Twain, 1902

August 30, 2019, 10:26 PM

Scooter123

quote:
Originally posted by BurtonRW:
Why aren’t you ordering your camera gear from B&H? They carry Hoya and B&W. Don’t know where you are in VA, but standard UPS Ground (usually free) gets to me (near Annapolis) in two days or less, depending on what time of day I order.

Also - the gold standard in customer service. Makes Amazon look amateur by comparison.

Really.

-Rob

I'll second this opinion for B&H. Made my first purchase from them back in 1982-3 ish and have never had a bad, or even mediocre, purchase experience since that purchase. BTW, the purchase was a 4 x 5 inch Toyo monorail and still have it and purchased a new large format scanner this year so I can start shooting film with it again.

September 02, 2019, 02:53 PM

4MUL8R

I checked two filters from the german company I had on hand. Both had factory seals, cut by me.

Maybe these from Amazon were counterfeit. Both had 3D hologram stickers, but I sent both back with explanation.

Thanks for the encouragement to use B&H. Have been a customer for years. Just so used to the convenience of Amazon.

Ordered a Hoya filter today. Already shipped. Will stick with B&H as much as possible.

September 02, 2019, 03:58 PM

Pipe Smoker

Indeed. The “B+W” circular polarizer that I bought from B&H several years ago is perfect. It’s the only accessory that I have, or need, for my Sony RX-10 with bolted-on 24-200mm zoom. Not counting a tripod and compact camera case that holds only the camera and the polarizer in a small front pouch. Lightweight photography!