Hoya 52mm Circular Polarizing Glass Filter - B52CRPLGB

by Hoya

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B00006HOAN
• Item model number: 0554
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #24 in Camera & Photo > Accessories > Filters > Polarizing Filters
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Manufacturer Description

Light rays which are reflected by any surface become polarized and polarizing filters are used to select which light rays enter your camera lens. Circular polarizing filters have the same effect, but it is important that you choose the correct version for your camera. They allow you to remove unwanted reflections from non-metallic surfaces such as water, glass, etc. They also enable colors to become more saturated and appear clearer, with better contrast. This effect is often used to increase the contrast and saturation in blue skies and white clouds. Hoya's polarizing filters do not affect the overall color balance of a shot.

How to select the correct polarizing filter:
Many of today's cameras use semi-silvered mirrors or prisms to split the light entering the viewfinder in order to calculate exposure and focusing distance. PL (linear polarizing) filters can sometimes interact with these items to give unpredictable exposure or focusing. So we recommend that you choose a PL-CIR filter unless you have a manual focus camera which has no beam splitter.

Product Description

Light rays which are reflected by any surface become polarised and polarising filters are used to select which light rays enter your camara lens. They allow you to remove unwanted reflections from non-metallic surfaces such as water, glass etc. They also saturate colors and increase contrast. Polarizers come in two variations but have the same effect. Linear polarizers work with older camera meters; Circurlar polarizers are designed for today's newer split-beam metering systems used in auto focus cameras. Check your camera's manual.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

112 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be careful with choosing series, September 2, 2009

By 

Egor Aralov (Omsk, Russia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hoya 52mm Circular Polarizing Glass Filter - B52CRPLGB (Electronics)

I've bought hoya's cir-pol 52mm filter for $15 and was little bit disappointed after opening package. The item was made in Philippines instead of Japan and apparently didn't have any coatings. But for the price it works very good and it still stands on one of my lenses. Then I've contacted to the seller and the manager explained me the difference between hoya series:
Green (~$15) - made in Philippines. No multicoating. It's what I've ordered.
Standard (~$35) - the same as Green but made in Japan
HMC (~$60) - three layers of multicoating. made in Japan.
HMC Super (~$75) - seven layers of multicoating. made in Japan.
Also there are Pro1 and HD series (with 12 layers of multicoating) for ~$100-150 but I don't see any need to buy them exepting if one is a professional photographer with very expensive lenses.
After learning that I've ordered an extra-thin Super HMC filter from Adorama. It works better than Green, and not only about flare - it gives darker sky (once I even could get almost black color of sky). Also it's made more sturdy. Thin design helps to avoid vignetting on my wide-angle lens. It doesn't have bayonet on its front side but it comes with special rubber cap which I like very much.

85 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exactly what it says it is, December 25, 2006

By 

Anonymous - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hoya 52mm Circular Polarizing Glass Filter - B52CRPLGB (Electronics)

This is a proper polarizing filter. It has a marking line on the forward (rotating) half of the filter, so you can keep track of the angle. Rotating the forward half is what changes the shadows reflecting off of the subject. It is also a true circular polarizing filter (I verified this myself). This is necessary for use with the autofocus systems of SLRs and Bayer filters over the sensors of DSLRs.

104 of 120 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Does the job, but will slow down your lens ..., July 1, 2007

By 

Bryan J. Smith (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hoya 52mm Circular Polarizing Glass Filter - B52CRPLGB (Electronics)

The 52mm circular polarizing filter is the size for inexpensive the Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 "kit" and DA 50-200mm f/4.0-5.6 telezoom lenses for the Pentax dSLR cameras, like the entry-level $400 K100D and expert $800 K10D. For those that don't know (new to SLR), you need a "circular" polarizing filter on auto-focus lenses, as a "linear" polarizing filter will prevent autofocus from working. Adding this filter does bring out the rich colors of the sky and water without breaking the bank. Such lenses are not fast (higher f-stop), so be aware that the additional f-stops this filter will add (it's not the most transparent) will limit your capabilities.

E.g., with the filter off the DA 50-200mm at its full 200mm zoom and f/5.6-6.3, I could get a 1/1000th shutter which was good enough to shoot F-15/18/22s at 400 knots in overcast. However, putting this filter on brought my shutter down to 1/350th or less, and I couldn't capture aircraft unless they were moving very slowly.

But if you're trying to capture such motion and want a better filter, you're already spending more money for a faster lens as well. If not, then this is the filter you want, at the right price. I give it four (4) stars because it is a great value for still or slower motion photography when you have inexpensive lenses where speed is not your consideration, but cost is. Again, remember, you need "circular" polarizing filters for auto-focus lenses, or auto-focus will not work (such as with "linear" ones).