Hoya CPL filters

[twix]

Hi everyone,
I plan to invest more time in Landscape photography and like to get me for that reason a CPL filter from HOYA for my Tamron lens. I found a few on ebay the only think I am not shure about is that some cost like 30 bucks and other are around 80 bucks, they are all from Singapure or South Korea and are all includet free postage.
Have I to watch out for aftermarket filters with the same name or should they all be originale HOYA filters? I mean it is almost 50$ difference in the price. If I can safe 50 $ it would be great I am just worried that the cheaper ones are not real HOYA filters! Could that be possible?
Cheers Klaus!

[ROA44]

Hi Klaus, are you sure a CPL filter is what your after for landscapes or are you inquiring about neutral density filters for reducing glare from eg an overly bright sky CPL's will help to reduce reflection but others can steer you more correctly as I don't use them that often.

Also check the AP site Advertisers as you can get some quite good prices through them.

Cheers and good hunting.

[twix]

Thanks for your replay ROA44.
Well i read in the moment quiet a lot about landscape photography and two filters come up and that are CPL filters and GND filters and so i thought i will start to get me a CPL first. They way I understand it it helps also with seascapes and when you shoot pics in the snow and when are there lakes involved. A good GND cost a bit more and so
I thought I might get them later on!
Cheers Klaus!

[arthurking83]

cpl filters reduce glare. ND filters don't!

In fact, ND filters(cheaply bought) could actually increase the amount of flare/glare in the scene.

Price of filters is usually indicative of quality, in both construction and rendering ability.

Also(you don't say) size of filter also dictates price and price ranges.

That is, a 55mm super high quality CPL(from either Hoya or other brands) is much cheaper than their 77mm or 82mm versions,
The price difference in the cheaper end ranges is usually much smaller between the 55mm versions and the larger versions.

eg. cheap 55 vs 77 mm filters may be something like $20 vs $40.
Whereas the high quality price variations between sizes could be more like $70(55mm) vs $200(77mm)!!


Another brand/model to look for would be the Kenko Zeta range of CPLs too.
I recently got myself one of them in 82mm mount and so far quite impressed by it's quality.
Haven't done any real testing so far, but it's at least comparable to the Pro-1 Hoya I have too. Also, it was a lot cheaper for a given size and that they are both the top line models in each respective manufacturer's range.

[Boo53]

CPL filters are a necessity in landscape work.

Good CPL's are well worth what you pay for them, cheap ones can be problematic.

Most of my lenses are in the 72-77mm size, so not cheap, and I have sourced them from the internet and generally Hoya at that, but the quality of some is far less than it should be and makes me wonder if they are seconds or imitations.

I've gone back to getting mine from reputable camera stores like Michaels, Digital Camera Warehouse, etc;

For me its a pretty long drive to get there, as we live in the bush, so add that to the cost of the filter, but well worth it when I can see it before I buy

[arthurking83]

I'll try to briefly relate some of my experiences with Hoyas, All were bought at real shops too:

they usually7 come in green or purple or grey/black packaging. prices vary according to quality and sizes.

I can't remember which is which exactly as I've thrown one out, but I think the green are the cheapest quality. (don't take this as gospel as I can't remember)

the quality issue is not related to IQ, but to construction. Hoya seem to use some type of grease on some of their CPLs which I think is not needed.

This greasy stuff can flow onto the lens if you try to clean them sometimes. The effect is a streaky film on the glass.
Trying to clean it off just moves it about so you end up trying harder to clean it.
Eventually what can happen is that the retaining ring works loose and the glass falls out :D

Seriously: this happened way to often with one particular CPL, and I'm sure it's the green packed version.
But I got a purple packed version as well, for another lens, so I may have confused the two.

in the end I threw the falling apart type out.
But I still have the other one.
They were different sizes and having thrown the packaging out, I can't remember which was which.

The smaller one I got, is for my macro lens.
This one has held up OK in terms of build, and overall gives OK IQ, except at macro level.
So for any real close up, I have to decide if a slight loss of IQ is better than a total loss of tone capture in the image.
In general the issue is reds with strong reflected light on them.
This is about the only time I use the CPL on the macro. it's usually off the lens.

Anyhow .. my advice is to avoid the green/purple versions of Hoya .. just in case.

For my other lenses I generally use a CPL with(mainly UWA, or my new 24-70) .. I generally leave the CPL .. ON!
IQ degradation is minimal, if any at all. (I can't see it anyhow).
I usually only take it off, if more light is needed and hence the CPL is most likelly redundant for that scene.

But I also have other version(from yesteryear) which work brilliantly, as wel as recently acquired CPLs.

Hoyas newer Pro series is good, and bulid is unquestionable .. just damned expensive(from the shops).

I also have an old linear pol from a long time ago, and it still works perfectly after 20 years of use :th3:

But my current fave is definitely the Kenko Zeta CPL. I had to get a new one for my 82mm 24-70, and so far in almost constant use on the lens, it's proven to be 'invisible' in the sense that I can'[t see any IQ issues, it's solid as the Pro1, and much cheaper than I remember a similarly sized Hoya Pro series too.

note that if you look really hard, you may find a slight colour tint difference between different COL models. That is about the only difference I've seen between my higher quality CPLs.
This difference is so minimal, you can only (just) see it, when comparing images directly!
You will see more colour variations just from the WB settings in your camera, then from these lenses .. and the small differences are easily corrected with a WB tweak anyhow.

My comparison between the Zeta and my other CPLs has been brief and non scientific .. I can't easily mount each filter to any one lens as I don't have all the necessary adapters.
For my tests, I just hand held the CPLs in front of the macro lens to see how each one actually works.

To be honest it was time and effort wasted for a good cause!
Why? .. because it proved that if the filter was of a high reputable quality .. the differences were inconsequential.

hope that helped in some way.

[Mary Anne]

I bought a Hoya cpl filter from ebay last week for my new 4/3 camera only 62mm so $31 against over $100 I paid here for the 77mm, size makes a difference
My favourite store here sells one brand even cheaper 77mm $40 on sale for $20 I dont know that brand so I buy one on ebay I do know..

[twix]

Thank you al for your input guys :th3: !
And thank you Arthur for an other option and your input. I will use the filter for my Tamron 17 - 50 2.8 and because i will use this lens properbly for a long time I think I will then go with the kenko or the hoya pro series. thanks for your help!
Cheers klaus!

[arthurking83]

Tammy uses 67mm, so the higher quality versions won't cost the earth like a 77/82mm will.

[twix]

Umm,
no Arthur it says on the lens 72 diameter so I reckon they mean the thread dia. but I will check out before I order :th3:!

[arthurking83]

Ah! ..... maybe you have an updated version of the VC version of the Tammy 17-50?

I have the older original version which uses 67mm filters.

[twix]

That is alright Arthur but you answerd my main question, that was is there a quality difference between the cheaper and the more expencive Hoya filters!
At least now I know to what i have to watch out for :th3:, thanks!