[JohnX]

Lens caps and hoods.

You'll need to buy 77mm caps, and, if you use a lens hood you'll find that because of its much larger size a 77mm hood won't be very effective, if at all, on, say, a 49mm lens.

[photoptimist]

Advantages:
* one set of filters to buy and carry
* less vignetting on UWA/WA lenses than a stack of smaller filters.

Disadvantages:
* precludes a lens hood (more flare and less contrast in images)
* can block illumination from pop-up and smaller hotshoe flashes
* more wear-and-tear on the lens' filter threads
* looks funny to outsiders (or looks impressive to outsiders)

[stevebrot]

Hmm...What kinda weirdness?

Way huge on a small lens, that kind of weird. The larger glass may also result more stray light and hood use would be a pain.


Steve

[stevebrot]

I have had problem with the snap on caps coming off so I get filter stack caps

Interesting! I have never heard them called that. When I was first getting started in photography (late '60s), they were simply screw-on lens caps. A few of my vintage lenses came so equipped.


Steve

[stevebrot]

Disadvantages:
* precludes a lens hood (more flare and less contrast in images)
* can block illumination from pop-up and smaller hotshoe flashes
* more wear-and-tear on the lens' filter threads
* looks funny to outsiders (or looks impressive to outsiders)

One might also add cost...77mm filters fetch a premium price.


Steve

[aslyfox]

Interesting! I have never heard them called that. When I was first getting started in photography (late '60s), they were simply screw-on lens caps. A few of my vintage lenses came so equipped.


Steve

there are screw in lens caps as well

the product I use are the metal " lens filter cap stacks " which you are able to separate and put screw in filters in between a female cap and a male cap in order to protect your filters in storage

[Ontarian50]

I've always considered that there is possibly a negative optical effect of using very oversized filters on a smaller lens - but I'll admit I've never done any testing to back up my theories.

However, if you envision your large filter mounted in a large step ring, a lot of the glass is sitting right in front of shiny black metal (most step rings are shiny anodized black). Some light must penetrate the filter and reflect off the black metal and bounce back towards the filter ... and possibly reflect back towards the lens.

Do you really end up with a ghost image of your step ring? Surely a good hood will help, but not on an ultrawide lens, of course.

Again, this effect may be entirely imaginary, or theoretical, and I've never tried it myself, as I usually carry filters close to the size of the lenses I have. But belief in the theoretical or imaginary has never stopped photographers worrying about such things .... especially when filters are involved.

[Gary H Perth]

I have the older version of the Sigma 10-20mm, and it takes 77mm filters, while having its own bayonet lens hood. So operationally no dramas at all - I picked up a CPL for $40AUD secondhand and a UV for $25. The lens hood and lens cap can be used as though no filter on the lens.

The only problems are the usual CPL-on-UWA that Bruce mentioned - various colour casts across the image, especially at the wide end and generally when the sky is in the picture.

Should all be fine Bruce. I also have a grad ND4-to-clear (i.e. half colour with a smooth gradation) that helps me to get better control of brightness when the exposure is dominated by a light sky. This often works better than a CPL to avoid washed out highlights as there is no purple in the corners as the CPL causes. The half colour is actually a 72mm bought for the 16-85mm, and one step down in diameter does not vignette enough to matter.