I've looked into the ones from Haida and Nisi which are both suitable, though they're quite pricey for me currently - does anybody know of any cheaper possible alternatives? I understand there's the 160mm specifically made for use with this lens, though obtaining filters for it is difficult and limited. I'm hoping for something which may be cheaper than both Haida and Nisi, and still suitable for the 14mm lens. Thanks!

  • This question, asked later, is basically a rehash of an earlier question asked by the same user and should be closed as a duplicate to that one, rather than the other way around. – Michael C Jun 7 '18 at 2:52

Overview of Filters

Most lenses have circular threads for attaching a filter to the front. As can be seen here in this Canon 16-35 f/2.8, one would need a circular filter size of 82mm in order to screw a filter onto the front of the lens.

enter image description here

Now, let's say you have another lens you like to use with a 77mm filter size. Obviously, if you bought 82mm circular filters, they'd be too big for your 77mm size lens. What do you do?

A very traditional and strongly encouraged option is to get what is called a "step-up ring" for the smaller lens. This is a simple ring that has a 77mm sized thread on one size, and an 82mm (in your case) sized ring on the other - thus allowing you to use your larger circular filters on your smaller lens. Here's on example:

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There are some drawbacks to doing this that are covered on this site. But, it gets a lot of bang for your buck.

Another Option: Filter Systems. Systems are designed to use square or rectangular filters, such as 100mmX100mm or 150mmX150mm. The filter holder attaches by way of the front threads and yes, one normally uses a step-up ring to bridge the gap between whatever the lens size is to what the filter system size is. For example, this Formatt-Hitech 100mm system attaches at 82mm - so any lens wanting to attach would need to use an X-82mm step-up ring where X is the filter size of the lens:

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Filter systems come with some pros and cons compared to circular filters and this too, has been covered on this site.

Why you need Something Special

Let's take a look at the front of your Samyang:

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Take a look at that front element! The lens has a very protruding front element and I'm betting it would be impossible to have wrapped it in plastic so as to provide front filter threads without vignetting or straight-up cropping the image. The built in hood is there as well.

What this Means: Neither normal circular filters or a regular filter system will work with your lens. Why? Because there's nothing to attach them to - there are no front threads on your lens.

So, to use filters with your lens, you have two options:

Option 1: Buy a specialty filter holder. NiSi and Haida have offerings, and I'm surprised these even exist. Why am I surprised? Because the relative market share of people looking for filters for this one lens has got to be very small. Unfortunately, this means that you need a piece of specialty hardware - which means $$. It is what it is - there's no way around this.

The good news here though, is that you will need another, regular filter system for use on other lenses - but the 150mmX150mm filters will work between both filter holders - so at least you get more use there.

Option 2: Sell the 14mm Samyang. Yea, I know, not the best option. But, to avoid having to use specialty filter holders, get a lens that has front filter threads. I don't think you'll get as wide as 14mm going this route - but it is an option.

My own thoughts on your situation: Just like one should never skimp on good tires for their car, one should also never skimp on glass. This includes filters. Unfortunately, your 14mm lens is so wide, that you need 150mm filters to cover it. (I personally use a 100mm system, but I only ever go as wide as 16mm - and even there, the system I use vignettes hard)

150mm is bigger than 100mm. This means more glass. This means higher cost per filter.

That's the tough pill you need to swallow if you want to start adding filters to your lens. And unfortunately, if you're wanting to do daytime long-exposures (and trust me, I feel you on this one) it's the cost of getting the shot. You can't do daytime LE without some big ND's - and big ND's cost, especially the 150mm ones.

So, Haida or NiSi? I have no experience with either but the Haida seems to be constructed in parts while the NiSi appears to be constructed as a single unit. This alone would lead me to paying more for the NiSi. You want the filter holder to be solid - it would be a terribly heartache if you tilted the lens down, set up a LE, and then failed to catch the filters as they tumbled off your lens and onto the ground.

The holder is the only thing keeping your sizable investment in filters attached to the lens. IMO, this is not the time to skimp for cheaper or badly made parts.

  • thank you for the information. So any filters I want to use would need to be 150mmx150mm, correct? I couldn't use anything smaller for my Samyang otherwise it wouldn't cover it entirely? – Manpreet Singh Jun 5 '18 at 17:11
  • I see. I'll definitely look into some reviews and such. I imagine a NiSi or something similar would be better, due to more availability of filters I'm assuming? And am I safe in assuming the following filter holder wouldn't fit my 14mm Samyang, seeing as it's designed for the Canon mentioned? amazon.co.uk/NiSi-Professional-Aviation-Aluminium-Square/dp/… it has to be specific to the 14mm Samyang, yes? – Manpreet Singh Jun 5 '18 at 17:50
  • very good points, thank you. I've found one from NiSi for £100 - the cheapest I can find - would it be sufficient for my lens? It isn't marketed for my lens specifically, but it says it does cover 14-24mm. amazon.co.uk/NiSi-System-14-24mm-Aviation-grade-Aluminium/dp/… – Manpreet Singh Jun 6 '18 at 11:00
  • @ManpreetSingh - I've updated my answer to, hopefully, explain to all of your questions. If you want to get filters for the 14mm Samyang - you will be making a sizable investment. Period. Sorry mate, but that's just the way it is. – Hueco Jun 6 '18 at 16:18
  • 1
    Most similar lenses usually offer a Rear Filter slot, where the mount has a slot for a small filter to be added. This has the benefit of being much smaller (the size of the exit opening). However, your lens does not, presumably to reduce the cost? Not sure, but rarely do you see filters on fisheye lenses, due to severe curvature of the primary lens. – cmason Jun 6 '18 at 16:56

Point of origin for this answer was the answer to another question that was recently closed as a duplicate of this one (which was, at the time the answer was written, marked as the question to which this question was, at that time, closed as a duplicate.)

This filter holder on ebay

Will this suffice for use with this lens? And which adaptor ring would I need to buy for it? Thank you, and apologies if any of this comes across as confusing - I'm very new to filters and what-not. I posted on another account yesterday and received some very useful tips, but had to remove it as it was a duplicate account causing me login issues. Thanks, guys!

No. The Lee 100mm filter system will not work on your lens. It is not wide enough to cover the lens' field of view at the distance the filter must be placed in front of the lens due to the lens' built in hood.

If you are using a crop body camera (APS-C or smaller sensor), then the 150mm filters will suffice. If you are using a full frame camera you may or may not get a bit of vignetting when using a 150mm filter system adapted to fit just in front of the lens' built in hood.

Lee does make an adapter ring for your lens that allows their 150mm holder to be used with your lens. You may need an additional piece or two between the adapter ring and the filter holder. (I don't use the Lee system for any 'special case' lenses such as your wide angle lens with a built in hood.)

For more about how the Lee system works with lenses such as your Samyang 14mm and some of the disadvantages and idiosyncrecies it has, please see this article by Paul Reiffer.

You are probably better off (and cheaper) going with a one piece holder designed specifically for your lens offered by Nisi or even cheaper with a modular design that is specifically designed for your lens by Haida.

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Nisi holder

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Haida holder

You could also try to find a Samyang SFH-14 holder specifically made for that lens that requires special sized filters.

Back in 2014 Samyang introduced the SFH-14 filter holder specifically made for their 14mm lenses. Cokin made three special filters that fit the holder, which uses an odd size larger than 100mm "standard" square filters and slightly smaller than 150mm filters: 161 x 139 x 3 mm.

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The filters were:

  • ND8 (three stop) neutral density
  • ND4 (two stop) neutral density
  • Half Blue (two stop) blue graduated neutral density

Due to the limited availability of suitable filters, it seems to have never really caught on. Four years later in 2018 a few of the holders can still be found for sale, but good luck finding the 161mm filters to fit it! They're sometimes marketed as 'Samyang 160 filters'.

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When using filter holders with a lens such as the Samyang 14mm series of lenses, one must be careful to avoid scratching the filters with the front of the built-in lens hood on the lens. Multi-piece modular systems tend to have more issues with light leaks that one-piece holders custom made for a specific lens do. The advantage of using a 150mm holder is that there are many more options in terms of what kind of filters are available in that size.
