Quote Originally Posted by George Slusher


They can sell it more cheaply for two reasons:


1. They have lower overhead costs (especially labor).


2. You may be looking at the "alloy" ring filter, instead of the brass ring. (The alloy ring filter is $34.67, the brass ring is $40.37--both "special" prices.)


I have dealt with this company several times when they were using "hvstar.net" for the site. They also sell on eBay under "besteastern," but you'll pay a little bit more on eBay: they raise their prices to accommodate the eBay fees. I've had very good results with them. I got just what I ordered and reasonably quickly, given the vagaries of international mail.


(Just as a matter of interest, where are you that it will cost so much to ship from B&H?)


You might also consider the Hoya HMC or Super HMC or the Kenko Digital Pro1 filters. (Kenko filters are made by the same company that makes Hoya Filters --THK, for Tokina Hoya Kenko. They have the advantage of being thinner (rings) than B+W filters and, in some reviews I've read, they perform better than B+W. Whether the "thinness" means anything will depend upon what lens you're mounting this on. If it is a super-wide-angle lens, it MIGHT benefit from the thinner filter ring (less vignetting, for example).





Hi George,





Thanks for your post.





1) What is the way of payment you recommend when working with Asia? Is it safe to pay with Credit Card?





2) As far as alloy and brass concerned these are the typical marketing tricks. The cost of few grams of brass or alloy in the filter price is near to nothing.


Labor costs (if we speak about the workers, not the top managers with their multi-million bonuses) should not be significant unless each filter requires a lot of manual labor. I think those filters manufactured on automated lines by hundreds of thousands or millions monthly. I think, there is 1 (in Asia) to 3 (in Europe) $ per filter of labor costs.





Alex.