Good Rings

[SteveE]

Mucking around with this stuff, you rapidly discover you need lots of step rings, stack caps, etc. Some of the threads on some of the ones I have bought on Amazon and E-Bay are um ... poor. A few would make good files. Rings that I have from back in the day have butter smooth threads. Nowadays, I generally try to get Tiffen rings wherever I can, but that is not always possible. Sensei Pro seems fairly good. However even the "good" rings these days seem a little gritty when screwing them on, and the bad ones feel like they have sand in them. This can't be good for the plastic filter threads on modern lenses.

 

What can people recommend for good step rings and stack caps?

 

Steve

[Cadmium]

Steve, I usually get my step up/down rings from jruss71731 on eBay, they have Sonia brand mostly, which work fine for me, but whoever has what I need.

 

Except for the infamous and hard to find step up ring for the El-Nikkor which has special 34.5x0.5 threads,

those you can get from rafcamera on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com....5x0.5&_sacat=0

Raf makes a lot of hard to find and unusual items, and they can make special items if you ask I think.

 

End caps, I have bought some from Camera-Filters.com:

http://www.camera-fi...index&cPath=477

I like those.

 

I am sure you can get just about anything from China for less, but at least consider the shipping time difference if there is any.

 

Also, I like Kood, another good place to find these kinds of things.

https://www.koodinte...-rings-29-c.asp

 

I don't think any of these items I have mentioned are anything special, just what I have used.

 

Hope that helps.

[dabateman]

I haven't had that issue with the cheapest of Chinese step rings from china. I have had a couple not delivered though. But at $0.89 each, not a big loss.

 

If you order 5, they seem to come faster.

 

I typically just add the ring to the lens, keep it there. I have fixed at making all my lenses either 52mm or 72mm. Which ever is best. Then screw on that filter type.

So I am not changing rings. I also have a stack of Chinese 52mm and 72mm plastic snap caps.

 

For my 25mm filters I use the Raf 25mm to 52mm adapter, as it has both male and female 52mm threads with center 25mm. So all usually works.

 

But yes I do have a lot of 37mm to 52mm stepup rings and 46mm to 52mm stepup rings on my M43rds lenses.

[Cadmium]

I have never seen any filter rings, filter, step up/down, etc. made of brass, other than B+W and such.

It would be great to find some brass versions. If anyone knows of any let us know.

 

Also, with some filter rings, the retaining ring is made of some kind of black plastic to save money, hard to see in photos,

but those plastic rings tend to crack and break over time, an when unscrewing.

 

[Andrea B.]

At this point I've begun to consider step rings expendable and not permanent. They start out being ok, but don't seem to hold up well over time. They get gritty (or start out gritty as Steve mentions) or slightly out-of-round. Even when a particular ring is dedicated to a particular lens, it still gets some wear-and-tear from filter exchange. So it seems I am always ordering some new step rings.

 

The B+W brand of steppers is the best I've ever used for standard sizes. They do seem to last. And they have that butter-smooth quality. But you certainly do pay more for them. It's probably worth it to get a couple of B+W for your "good" lenses though. I have a nice B+W on my UV-Nikkor and on the UAT.

 

I also have some of the Raf rings in those hard to find sizes. They are also quite good, made from brass or something else.

 

I have a lot of FotoDiox rings which are good, somewhat under B+W quality I suppose but also less expensive than B+W. The benefit of Fotodiox over Ebay is that Fotodiox has a permanent storefront so you always have a place to go with some level of customer service. Ebay can be so hit or miss on quality and service. B & H carries good generic rings although the generic ring manufacturer they offer does change over time.