This is part of a larger series; I’d recommend that everyone read the overview first.
I’ve covered my JYC filter before, but with my fixed criteria, I’ll give it a more detailed look. The JYC filters(yes, I bought more than one) were ultra-cheap filters I found on Ebay. They passed my three point test for ultra-cheap Ebay items:
1- Do they look like what they’re supposed to be? YES
2- Did I get tetanus from touching them? NO
3- Would I burn the house down if I tried to use it? NO
As they passed that test, I can’t be upset with them. However, how do they stack up to other, more expensive, filters?
I am reviewing every filter based on seven criteria.
1- How is the packaging design(0% of total score)?
2: How is the protective case size & durability(5% of total score)?
3- Do the reflections off the glass look off-colour(5% of the total score)?
4- Does it block UV light for my full-spectrum camera(35% of total score)?
5: Does it block any light for my full spectrum camera(10% of total score)?
6: does it block any UV fluorescence from a black light(35% of total score)?
7: How reasonable is the price(10% of the total score)?
1- Packaging: 0 out of 5.
The filters came wrapped in a thin bubble wrap, taped between two pieces of blank cardboard. It’s not the most appealing packaging design…unless they’re designing the package ironically, in which case my score goes up to 5 out of 5.
2- Protective case: 1 out of 5.
Bubble wrap is not the best case for a thin filter. The cardboard is biodegradable, though.
3- Discoloured Reflections off the glass: 0 out of 5.
Now it looks like there is is faint off-colour green reflection in the bottom left of the camera:
That is a mistake on my part- what looks like a reflection is an ornament in the yard.
4- Blocking UV light from entering my camera: 1 out of 5.
I already reviewed this, so I’m not too let down, but it blocks nothing in the short wavelengths, and almost nothing in the near UV range.
I’m going to keep repeating this for every review, but just because it is slightly darker in full UV doesn’t mean it has a blocking filter. It just means that glass absorbs a little UV light.
4- Blocking other wavelengths: 0 out of 5.
It does seem to reflect a bit more glare than other filters, but I think that only means the glass is poorer quality. If you’re looking for a crystal clear filter, that might be a problem, but I’m only looking for UV blocking, so I already know it fails. It is clear enough through the naked eye that I’m not even giving it that point.
Infrared is clear as well- I don’t really have any expectations that it would be otherwise.
6: Blocking UV florescence: 1 out of 5.
That hurts. It doesn’t really hurt that my JYC lens doesn’t block any UV light, it hurts that in these tests, it performs about the same as a lens that costs ten times as much. I don’t expect it to work as well as my unknown brand of lens, but I thought it would work worse than other filters.
It might be slightly worse than Hoya, but not enough to matter. I trusted Hoya, and feel let down. I had only bemused contempt for JYC, and it has lived up to that!
7- Price: 5 out of 5.
I bought mine for $1.89 CDN with free shipping. I see they are selling for over two dollars now, so I made a good investment. Does it work, no, but the prices don’t lie.
Except yes, they do. I just said that the prices were lies three paragraphs ago. I was talking about other filters. That doesn’t apply to JYC, as it works about as well as a $1.89 camera filter should work.
Conclusion:
Final Score: Twenty five percent!
It fails on every test, but I don’t hate this filter. I didn’t expect much, and it does have some uses. I mentioned before that it blocks so little UV light that I can use it to protect my UV pass lenses, and I do.
However, in the process of writing these reviews, I’ve started using it for a second purpose- as a control to other tests, especially for the black light tests. I will probably use it in future reviews as a control rather than the Schott BG40 lens, as it sets a very, very low bar for the other filters to beat.
So, despite failing every single test, JYC gets a very respectable 5th place!
Parallel Views 