Canon Camera Lens Filter Rings and Holders

Canon Camera Lens Filter Rings and Holders

For anyone who owns an interchangeable-lens camera system, the chances are virtually guaranteed that lens filter thread diameters will differ and the more lenses owned the more diverse the filter thread diameters can become.

Canon camera lens filter thread diameters

In Canon EF Zoom, EF Prime, EF-S and EF-M Mount lenses, filter thread diameters range from 43, 52 and 55mm through 58mm to 67, 72, 77 and 82mm. Above and beyond attaching a skylight or UV filter as a lens protector, this range of filter threads presents an obvious problem when using costly creative filters.

Step-up filter rings for Canon lenses

The most cost-efficient, easy and practical solution to varying lens filter thread diameters is to use step-up lens filter rings. These have male threads on one side to fit into the filter thread on the lens and on the other side they have a larger female thread within which a larger filter can be screwed.

Calculating which step up rings to use

With the aim of using one filter across a variety of lens diameters, use a filter that matches the largest lens filter thread diameter and then buy step-up rings to match the filter to the smaller lens filter thread diameters. For example, if three lenses have filter threads of 55mm, 58mm and 62mm, use a 62mm filter with 55mm to 62mm /58mm to 62mm step-up rings to make the filter compatible with the smaller lens filter thread diameters.

Step-down filter rings for Canon lenses

Step-down filter rings are far less common than step-up rings and are used when lenses and filters designed for larger format cameras are used on smaller format ones. Step-down filter rings shouldn't be used to attach smaller filters to larger lenses which will incur vignetting, ghosting and image clipping.

Gel filter holders for Canon lenses

Gel filters are thinner and more fragile than glass filters but incur the least amount of image degradation and are preferred by many photographers. Gel filters are square or rectangular for which there are specially designed filter holders available that, like step-up filter rings, screw into lens filter threads.