Personally I'd skip that hand tighten half turn after contact-at least if it gives a looser result than tightening as hard as you can by hand. You won't be over tightening it. If I ever think my hand strength is getting weaker, I very may well go to the school of hand tighten as hard as I can plus an eighth turn with a wrench.
I'd also suggest to drive it a day then crawl under it again and tighten it some more by hand if you can.
Although many shops install these filters too tightly, I've had a few alarming examples of filters which were much too loose when I removed them from service.