Customer Reviews

Hoya 52mm Circular Polarizing Glass Filter - B52CRPLGB

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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).

Spending $14 bucks for this quality Hoya polarizer was a no brainer. My roomate has a Hoya HMC filter for his 18-55mm D50 Kit Lens that costed him $90. The difference in quality and function is extremely minute to the naked eye. I see no reason to purchase a filter than is $75 dollars more unless you are shooting professional photography, where optical quality is of the upmost importance. For me, the Hoya 52MM Circular Polarizing Filter on my 50mm prime and 18-55mm works fantastic. The contrast is amazing, the colors are vibrant, the skies are blue and there are no surface reflections if used properly. Its a bargain for $14 bucks, just get it.

There are better circular polarizers out there, and there are worse ones. But for a 52mm thread, you are probably considering this for your canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, which is under $100. So why spend another $100 on a circular polarizer? This one works great and hasn't degraded my pictures as far as i can tell. When filming blue skies or green grass, the filter really brings out those colors. It's not one of those filters you will use all the time, but it definitely has its uses, and is good to have in your collection.

The quality on this lens is not too bad. a lens cap easily fits on the end of the filter, and the circular ring turns smoothly. Sometimes with these filters, there will be a small amount of haze on the glass when you first get it. Using some mild soap diluted in water with a mircofiber cloth should remove it. Be careful on the edges because sometimes the grease used to lubricate the ring can sometimes get on the lens and smear it. It can be easily cleaned off, but do not use harsh chemicals as they may effect the coating of the lens (I'm not 100% sure but I don't want to find out).

For the price, this is a great circular polarizer and I highly recommend it in the 52mm size.

The glass for this polarizer worked great. The only problem was that the retaining ring that holds the spinning glass element to the screw mount for the lens popped after only a handful of uses, rendering it useless. I initially liked this one better than the sunpak filterrs because it was thinner, but the construction seemed to be cheap. I may have just gotten a dud, but a product shouldn't fail after being used only a handful of times.

This filter is a great value for my purposes and I have no negative comments. I'm an amateur who tries to find additional uses for equipment. Since my Pentax K100D dSLR's lowest ISO setting is 200, I have used this filter as a neutral density filter (about 2-stops).

BTW... if you also have a 52mm LINEAR polarizing filter, you can attach it in front of the circular polarizing filter to create a variable neutral density filter for making long exposures in bright light. Rotating the linear filter will effectively vary the combo from a 3 to 4-stop neutral density setting to a very dense setting. Note that at darker settings, a bluish cast may be added.

I ordered this after the first polarizing filter I ordered was a linear filter (they didn't mention this on the other listing).

While it works fine and has provided some good photos, when it came time to remove this filter from the lens more than once I was unable to remove it. The reason for this is the outer adjustment ring is the same diameter as the knurled body. When you try and grip the filter and remove, the adjustment ring spins, but the filter threads will not budge. It required LARGE pliers to grip and remove. Other filters I have used (different brands) have a slightly larger thread diameter ring section, so you can actually grip the filter and remove it.

For the price, this polarizing filter is a great alternative to a UV filter when you are shooting blue skies, water, or glass/shiny things that have a lot of glare, as I explain below.

Generally, I have found the threading on this filter to be very smooth for use with my Nikon 35mm f/1.8 and 55-200VR lenses, both 52mm for filters. Also, I found the price of this filter quite reasonable compared to similar polarizing filters.

Outdoors/Blue Skies - Generally, I have been able to capture more vibrant colors, and it really makes my blue skies a deeper shade of blue while cutting down on glare from various sources. I have experimented by taking similar pictures using this filter vs. the Hoya UV filter, and I can confirm that the polarizing filter does make a visible difference, which I personally prefer.

Water/Glare - At my in-laws' lake house last weekend, I took a few pictures of people sitting on the dock, and of the kids swimming (with life jackets!) in the lake. Unfortunately, I wasn't there during sunrise/sunset to get any "real" photog shots. But, the pictures of the kids in the water in the middle of the afternoon turned out great. My conclusion is that this filter allowed me to get some great shots without any distracting light/overexposed areas due to the glare coming off the water. The filter cuts that glare out.

Glass/Reflections - a couple weeks ago, I went to the zoo and took a few pictures through glass. In some cases, due to the angle and the lighting, I wasn't able to get a shot. But in other cases, where my sister's point and shoot could not focus past the glass without getting a reflection of the crowd and whatever else was on our side of the glass, with the polarizing lens my camera was able to "see through" the glass and focus solely on the animal, and it was nearly impossible to tell that I had taken the shot through glass (as if I could get that close to a gorilla without something between us.)

Lastly, I should note that I have not noticed as huge drop off in light when using this filter. Some reviews of filters talk about a large drop off in light, which can be due to various coatings applied and the fact that it is a polaring filter. Keep in mind - a polarizing filter, because it does filter out "non-polarized" light, will make your pictures slightly darker, requiring you (or your camera, if you use Auto) to adjust your f stop, shutter speed, ISO, or exposure compensation accordingly. I have hardly noticed this, but want to mention in case you wanted to use this in applications where light is scarce.

In sum, this filter does everything that I expected a polarizing filter to do, based on my limited knowledge of photography and filters. I haven't compared it to other polarizing filters, but if you are wondernig whether this filter will make any difference, I hope I have explained how it makes some difference.

It works as a polarizer no doubt. Fits right on my 50mm lens.
But it creates a wierd greenish flare when I am taking pictures of any light source (e.g. lamps, sunlight).
But sometimes flares are cool. I would recommend spending more money on a multicoated circular polarizer, or not buying any at all.