Do filters have universal threads?

[Colin O'Regan]

By this I mean will a 77mm filter fit on all makes of lenses that are 77mm?
I'm shopping for a filter for a new lens I purchased and made a bid on one at an auction site. I noticed later on that filters were being advertised for specific makes and models of lenses. I would hate to spend good money for a Nikon filter when I'm building a Canon system.

Any thoughts or comments?

Colin

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Colin,

A google threw up this on Wikipedia.

For the record, my 58mm (diameter) filter box says its pitch is 0.75.

In short, I don't believe this is something you need worry about; (Nik v Can).

The rest of the page has some good examples of polarisers in action on sky, water, glass and veggie-tation. In fact it covers all manner of filters.

So you might want to start at the top of the page

Cheers,

[Colin Southern]

I'm not aware of any potential issues - even the Canon 500D closeup adaptor fits both Nikon & Canon, so sounds like (for once) they didn't go in different directions "just for the hell of it".

... now, if we could just get voltages and "sides of the road" standardised we'd really be making progress!

[Colin O'Regan]

Awesome! Thanks Dave and Colin. I kind of thought they were the same but a quick Google search didn't help me out much. I also tried to sneak in a PM to Colin Southern thinking it was not a worthy post. Of course, he would have none of it.

Thanks again,
Colin

[Colin Southern]

I also tried to sneak in a PM to Colin Southern thinking it was not a worthy post. Of course, he would have none of it.

Don't worry - you're not the first!

No biggie of course, but the more we can keep in the public arena, the more it helps everyone (including future members who join up because they find answers like this via the search engines).

[rpcrowe]

Filter sizes are universal. Any 77mm filter will fit any 77mm lens and so on. However; there is one slight caveat. When using an ultra wide lens, you often need a thin mount filter in order to prevent vignetting at the widest focal lengths. Unless you specifically need a thin mounting, stick with a standard mount because they are a lot less expensive.

[NigelT]

In my experience all filter threads are indeed universal.

Although I have generally always had canon cameras, I have used other makes as well and found my filters fitted if the thread was right diam.

Using such things as cokin, for various lens diameters calls for stepped rings which are also available for general filters allowing mis-matched filers to be used on smaller diam' lens rings (not the other way round of course as that would show in the lens.