CAVision Filters any good?
 

Hey dudes, I'm looking to buy a starter set of filters for my shiny new matte box. Are Cavision filters worth while or would you go with another brand.

Go with another brand!!! Run away from Cavision as fast as you can!!!

Dan Weber

Daniel, can you explain why please?

Webb,

About 6 years ago I bought a Cavision Mattebox, wide angle convertor and several filters.

They quality of the materials and construction of the items purchased was horrible. I returned them back to Canada where the company is based. I lost over $200 in shipping costs and import taxes that I had to pay.

I know some people are attracted by their low costs, but you will be much happier if you go with a company like Centrury Optics, Tiffen, B&H, Chroziel, etc.

I am sure that someone will respond with a message saying that they are very happy with their Cavision purchase, but I wasn't and I just want to save someone from the waste of time and money that I went through.

Just my opinion,

Dan Weber

Cavision OK by me
 

I got a set of Cavision filters- the set with a black mist, an ND grad, a sky blue grad, a sunset grad, and a polarizer, and think they're great. I use the black mist all the time. I bought mine fairly recently, so perhaps the materials have improved over time; who knows.

Just my two cents-
+Steve

I use Tiffen and have been very happy ith them.

Thanks for the explanation Daniel.

I recently bought a Chrosziel mattebox, but I went for the CAVision filter kit since it seemed to be a pretty good bang for the buck. I haven't had time to get out and test them all out, so that's why I was asking. I also bought a few Tiffen Filters (ND and low-contrast), so I will compare the quality of image using each filter to see if there is a noticible difference. Thanks.

Hey Webb,

Sorry, I know this is an old post, but do you have information you could share about your experiences with the Cavision filters vs. the Tiffen?

Any info. will be greatly appreciated.

The tiffens should be much better.

Buying Cavision filters is very hit and miss. I did several tests with mine, a while back and the results were shocking. For example, when I tested the Cavision polarizer it seemed fine on wide shots but I could not get a focus at all on close ups. The glass is cheap and a waste of money in my opinion. Not to mention that all the filters seemed to be different sizes- some too big, so you had to force the filter into the holder and others too small, so much so that when you turned the filter upside down and slightly shook it, the filter would simply fall out of the holder.

Save your money until you can afford Tiffen. You'll be glad you did.

Tiffen MAYBE not top of the heap...
 

Schneider has some advantages of Tiffen. Their Tru Pol is reputed to be better than Tiffen's polarizer, and a polarizer is my most-used filter I have alos heard that Schneider uses better glass and that Tiffen doesn't use coatings, Schneider does. Prices are similar. Can anyone verifty or debunk what I heard or read about glass quality and coatings?

I'm about to purchase a set of ND filters. Here are the prices I'm looking at:

Schneider = 175.33
Tiffen = 174.95
Cavision = 46.95

Now, let me say I've been extremely satisfied with the Schneider's I bought for my video camera a few years ago. But, that's partly because the amount of money they cost. How could I not be happy with them? They cost me two grand at the time. But, I just don't have that kind of expendable cash anymore.

As I'm moving on to a film camera I need to have ND's for exposure control. If these Cavision filters do what they're supposed to do, I see little reason to buy American anymore. Of course, there will always be room for innovative companies like Tiffen and Schneider that offer a wider variety of diffusion and color fx. But, for basic exposure control, these Cavision filters are probably tough competition.

I'll let you know what I think of them when they arrive.

I have a set of Cavision filters and I think the ND filters and polarizer do a fine job. However, I'm not impressed with the Cavision grad filters. The gradation edge doesn't seem to transition as smooth as it could.
I also have one of their "Soft Focus" filters that I use on occasion. It seems to diffuse about as much as a Promist 1.

As far as starter kits go I think Schneider has the best option:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

You get the ND .9, Black Frost, and Tru-Polarizer for under $400.

The only filter I've ever owned was a ring-mounted Tiffen Polarizer for my HD100 and was very happy with it. If they offered a kit with an ND and a Polarizer I might consider it.

By the way, Tim do you know how the ND2 on the HD100 camera body compares with the .9? Are they the same amount of light blocking?

I've always thought the Cavision matte boxes were horrid, but I bought their 5 filter 4x4 set, and after unpacking just now, I have to say I'm very pleasantly surprised.

I'll be shooting in the desert here for 4 days this week, and using them a bunch. I'll try to make sure to check in here with my experience.

Even if they do wind up having shortcomings, man, for the money...

You think? Seemed more like a 2 to me. Either way, I bet I only use it once or twice, ever, because it's just too strong. I labeled mine "Dear Penthouse" on the pouch.

Nate, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. It occured to me that the more professional filters such as Tiffen and Schneider might cost so much more because they're meant to handle much greater resolutions (35mm film) than HD video. Maybe the Cavisions are good up to a point of resolution... Just a thought.

Also, have you ever handled the Cavision 5x5 mattebox?
http://www.cavision.com/matteboxes/5x5mb/MB5086H2.htm
It looks decent, but you never know until you get your hands on it. Let me know if you have. Thanks.

Cavision offers the same thing for 1/3 of that. I see no difference in the quality.

One thing I've heard (possibly in this thread) was that Cavision doesn't always cut their filters to exact size so they could be tight in the holder worse, fall out. Have you seen this, Brian? Also, did you by any chance to comparison tests? I'd be curious to see if you have.

It does make for a tough call when their price is so much less. I just don't want to find a quality issue down now or down the road and paying more is worth that... Hmm....

Hey Nate, anything new on that? I'm also considering getting one of the Cavision kits to complete my Tiffen set. For the price it's really tempting. It would be great to hear your findings about the quality, specially in comparison to the more expensive brands like Tiffen and Schneider.

I can't find anything wrong so far with the filters I've bought. I've had months to look at the material I shot in the desert with the 350 (on a razor sharp Pana 17" monitor via HD-SDI), and I detect no softness or other issues whatsoever.

At this point, the only downsides I can see to their filters are the fact that they're not something you'd go boasting about while shooting for somebody else, and the fact that they've only got the very basics covered in their selection. Oh, the SoftFX filter they have is way, way too heavy as well.

But to get a collection started, they seem like a fine way to go.

What does your set include? Is this the set you have and tried?
http://www.cavision.com/filters/4x4.htm
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

Do you find the graduated filters to be go in their graduation? I believe Tim mentioned they were a little abrupt.

How is there any advantage to a more expensive polarizer than the Cavision?

Thanks.

I have just got the cavision 5x5 hard shade matte box....it is very good. So much better made than the 4x4 one i have of theirs. Its mostly metal...really solid, heavy...very impressed!!

Phil, will the 4x4 filters work in the 5x5 mattebox or do you have to buy all 5x5? What are you using? I love the swing-away-ability about it. How does it attach to your 35mm lenses (the Nikons)?

Hi Chad

With the universal filter holder it takes 5x5, 4x4 and 4x5.65

Its really too big and heavy with the swing away for 35mm adaptor work, its really for big wide angle lenses...Redrocks new matte box looks the perfect one for adaptors...when it comes out!

And a little over a year later the Red Rock matte box is only a few days away... Finally.... :-P

Anyone care to weigh in on the Cavision filters any more? I'm finally buying a few of my own now. Also I'm interested in the difference/preference in Scheider vs. Tiffen polarizers. I've used the Scheider Tru-Pol and it seems decent but didn't jump out at me... Could have been the conditions.

HD video requires water-white optical glass which a few manufacturers offer. Resin filters (CaVision, Lee, Cokin, etc) are not HD optical quality.

We have made a low cost filter kit with the budget concious HD user in mind:

http://www.schneideroptics.com/Ecomm....aspx?CID=1431

Now you can buy Schneider quality at a reasonable price.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

The Schneider True-Pol features and extinction ratio of 374; 12 times that of the nearest competitor. This means that you can more effectively polarize light in less than idea conditions. Less than ideal conditions would be anything where the light source (the sun) is off 90 degrees from the optical axis. Any polarizer will do just fine at high noon with the camera pointed horizontally. Anything else will create less than effective polarization. Not all polarizers are perfect and any product no matter how good it is has limitations.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

Ryan, can you do custom bundles? Here's what I need:
- Tru-Pol Linear Polarizer
- ND.9 solid
- ND.9 Medium/hard edge grad
- maybe a Black frost 1/2

The combo you highlighted looks great but doesn't have quite what I need and buying the separate is more expensive. Also is it true that Linear polarizers offer more polarization? The one Schneider Tru-Pol I was using was circular (which came with another bundle).

Anyone know anything about RedRock's new filters? Such as where they came from and how good they are? I'm not interested in the set because it's not enough ND and the pola is circular but it'd be good to know.
http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c....c=2&category=4

Chad,

We only make these in this kit and these specific types. Everything else is regular Schneider branding and prices. You can pick and choose from the Century kit and just get the ones in the kit that interest you. Each list price $129.00 USD.

Linear polarizers have the same effectiveness that circular polarizers do. Circular polarizers simply have a 1/4 wave plate retarder that prevents cross-polarization in 35mm motion picture and 35mm still cameras created by the video tap and/or focusing prism. Video cameras do not have this feature unless they are really old tube cameras or some early Sony models from the 1980's. I suspect you aren't shooting these so go with the linear polarizer and save some cash.

If the standard Schneider 4x4s are too much for your budget, then go with the Century 4x4s in the types you do want and make the call on the others. Either way, you get what you pay for. A low cost monitor or battery won't show up in your final shot, but a low cost critical element (filter/lens/tripod) will.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

I've been trying to convince people of this for years and I'm glad you've backed me up by explaining that a RGB splitting prism does not require a circular polarizer. I've always used linear polarizers on 3-chip CCD video cameras with wonderful results.

Sorry I missed this a year and a half ago. ND1 (1/4 - 2 stops) is equal to N.6 and ND2 (1/16 - 4 stops) is equal to N1.2

It sounds an interesting deal. I would like to go with quality optics so a bit cautious about the CaVision filters.

My question though, is these only come as 4X4... For widescreen, shouldn't I be needing the 4X5.65 (or panavision size) filters?

Anyone know the real difference here with the extra 1.65" ?

Chris

You don't need the 4x5.56 filters for widescreen but it all depends on how wide your widest lens is or the diameter of the lens.

A note to all about Cavision filters: I rolled the dice last year on their new lineup of 4x5.56's (an ND1.2 and a Grad .9). The quality was HORRIBLE. The ND grad looked more like a purple party color than ND. It literally was that off-color. It could have been a cool color effect but it was anything but neutral.

The straight ND was significantly better but still had a VERY strong purple cast to it. It would be something that'd be very hard to time out in post and was thus completely unacceptable. I sent them both back immediately for a full refund from Adorama.com. Go with Schneider and you won't regret it. Buying quality gear only hurts once. The other stuff keeps hurting.

Well said.

circular or linear polarizer with mini35 / JVC adapter ?
 

Tim, have you any info on this specific camera set-up and pola filters ?

Thanks Chad