Customer Reviews

HOYA 72mm Circular Polarizing Filter

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The GOOD:
The pictures I took with this filter came out wonderful. Amazing results on clouds, sky, water. It is true, the fish under water that you barely see will come out perfectly clear on your pictures.
Price is very good. If you have never tried a polarizing filter, like me, an small investment will show how good this filter is.
The filter is very slim and it doesn't affect the picture border with wide angle lens. I was using an 18-200mm lens.

The BAD:
The only disadvantage I found is that sometimes is very difficult to take the filter out. Because the filter is very slim, and the inner ring is not grooved, your fingers just slide over.
I tried not to tight the filter, but a couple of times it dropped on my hand while rotating the outer ring.
I was tempted to apply a couple of drops of epoxy on the border of the inner ring but at the end I bought a more expensive model, same brand, but with grooved inner ring. I wish someone has told me about the importance of the groove on the inner ring.

You may not receive what you think you ordered - I didn't. The picture that accompanies this item says "Super" on the side of the filter ring. Hoya filters marked "Super" are multi-coated. The filter I received did not say "Super" on the ring and it has no coatings. This is a plain glass filter without any AR coating on any of the four surfaces. It turns out the picture is obsolete - Hoya no longer makes a filter marked "Super" but they do have several varieties of coated filters, this just isn't one of them. Like any four surface uncoated filter, this filter has around 80% transmission vs. 98% for a well coated filter, and is prone to adding ghosting when aimed near the sun (unlike coated filters). Polarization characteristics are excellent however. Build quality is marginal - the filter I received was made in the Philippines, the good Hoyas come from Japan. Hoya makes great filters (most of the time)- but the reason most of us are willing to spend the money on a Hoya is because of the great coatings - there is not much point in buying an uncoated Hoya. Best Buy sells an uncoated 72mm circular polarizer for $15 - I suspect its just as good. Spend the $100 for a Hoya HMC or go to Best Buy and live with the light loss and added reflections.

I have owned Hoya filters for years, so I had no qualms about this polarizing filter, even though there are far more expensive filters you can buy.

I was concerned that a polarizing filter may not work as well on the newer dSLR cameras as they did on the old film cameras, but that does not seem to be a problem. A cool bonus: This 72 mm filter also fits our new Canon XH-A1 HD video camera. Two birds with one filter!

The glass is not coated, so you should consider getting an inexpensive UV filter as protection from scratches, etc.

I am very pleased with this product. I have a very nice nikon 18-200mm lens and when I use this polarizer my lens stays sharp. Photos I have taken at the lake and the waterfall look really great...you can see through to the bottom and glare is cut.....great buy for the money!!

I've purchased Hoya filters in the past and was very satisfied. I didn't realize until the filter arrived that it was multicoated and had serious reflection problems. Also, the filter had the Hoya name but was made by Tokina. I am familiar with Tokina lenses but didn't realize they had glas making capbilities. Did they buy Hoya filters? I strongly recommend anyone buying a Hoya polarizing filter buy only one that has the HMC (Hoya Multicoated)labeling. Multicoated polaring filters are a must as one of their primary purposes is to reduce reflections.

I bought this filter after searching through all of the possible options on amazon (many of them being much more expensive), and so far have been very satisfied. In my 10+ years of experience with film/digital SLR's, I've always had a good experience with Hoya glass, and this is no exception.

I've got a sigma 18-200 lens, and the filter fits very snuggly.

It's Hoya, so the glass is good. The filter polarizes the light first, allowing you to control saturation, then re-scatters it, allowing autofocus sensors on the newer cameras to work. It looks the same as an old linear polarizers to the human eye, but autofocus sensors work with polarization tricks, so they need scattered light. The glass is not coated.

Had a cheaper Tiffen polarizer from a previous 35mm camera that does a much better job that this supposedly upgraded filter. Only a slight difference when used, and not worth the money. One major complaint is the filter
does not have a serrated rim which makes it extremely difficult to grab on tight enough to remove it from the camera lens.

Great performance as expected from Hoya at an outstanding price. Filter effectively removes glare and provides a nice contrast to landscaping shops. A must for any outdoor photographer.

Take care not to over-tighten. Without groves filter can be difficult to remove from lens.

In general a nice inexpensive polarizer. Got some very nice pictures on a sunny day in the Swiss Alps.

However, the ring is quite thick. This led to some vignetting when I had my Nikon VR18-200 in the 18-35mm range in some shots.

Note that unlike the HMC UV filter I have from Hoya, which is made in Japan, this less expensive filter is made in the Philippines. Definitely not the same quality.