55 mm UV(C) Digital HMC Screw-in Filter, Black

This filter is a solid piece of gear to keep on a lens. The glass is clear and multicoated, so it doesn’t affect image quality—no noticeable loss of sharpness or color. It’s great for cutting haze outdoors, but mostly I use it as protection, keeping dust, fingerprints, and scratches off the lens itself. The 72mm threading fit perfectly and screwed on smoothly without sticking. It’s slim enough that it doesn’t cause vignetting, even on wide-angle shots. The coating also makes it easier to clean compared to cheaper filters that smudge easily. A reliable, well-made filter that does its job without compromise—both as protection and for image clarity.

Must admit to having been a fan of Hoya's line of HMC multi-coated filters for decades. This happened when I first saw a demonstration of these solid glass filters with their multi-coated surfaces that has been applied to both sides of the glass element many years ago, and never have I been let down by their products over the years. Their claim of over 97% light transmission has been tested and proven many times over the years, and with a good lens, is how a UV filter like this offers additional contrast and true color fidelity. This Hoya 40.5mm UV HMC Lens Filter is the perfect one for my Nikon P7700 Digital Camera with its Nikkor ED Glass Lens 7.1x optical zoom lens. A camera lens is only as good as its weakest link, which is often the filter itself, and this multi-coated filter is the perfect match for the excellent optical qualities of this lens. The 40.5mm filter size isn't the most common to be found today, but luckily due to a resurgence of smaller, more compact digital cameras for enthusiasts and pros, the offerings are growing. This filter has a pure matte black metal frame that helps to cut down on additional extraneous light reflections, and is slightly ridged at the front end to aid in removal when needed. Its thin-frame design is excellent for those times when you might want to use a lens shade or 'stack' a circular polarizer on front. It goes without saying that it's also a good lens protector, and that can be quite important if you've ever lost a lens cap in the field. The filter comes packaged in a hinged plastic case with a foam plastic insert to keep the filter surface from being rubbed in transit. For the Nikon purist, there's also the Nikon 40.5mm Screw-on NC Filter which is available here, and it will certainly protect the front lens element of the P7700 along with those Nikon 1 Digital Camera lenses that have a 40.5mm filter thread. Either the Nikon or the Hoya HMC filter won't affect the color hues (visible light spectrum), and the multi-colored glass of these filters is designed to reduce flare as well. As a long-time user of both the Hoya and Nikon filters, this user can attest to that with thousands of images from over the years. Weighing all of its qualities, the Hoya 40.5mm UV HMC Lens Filter was the perfect choice for the new Nikon P7700, and with its fast f/2.0 aperture, it's not just good for protection, but also offers excellent speed, optical performance, and dollar performance for the investment. This one is a 5-star product, and highly recommended. 11/10/2012

Quality lens and not outrageously priced

I'll preface this review with this: I don't have experience with expensive UV filters. I've never deemed it necessary to purchase one, but might sometime in the future. I've been using SLR cameras for 10 years, taken 4 photography classes in school, and consider myself to be technically astute. That being said, I've had no issues with this filter. I have a combination of Tiffen and Hoya UV filters, and don't notice any difference in image clarity or color. I've had no trouble with halos or other reflections, and am able to take very nice photos through this. The bottom line is this: Buy a filter so that you scratch a $20-$50 piece of glass instead of your lens. This one is on the lower end of the price range, but it works fine. If you want to test it, set up a tripod and put the camera on manual settings aiming at something that will not change. Take a photo with the filter on, then one with it off, and see if there's a difference. I'm willing to bet that the images will look the same, unless you're shooting on expensive glass (even then, might be the same).

Very good quality

Ultimately, this kind of filter is a protector so you don't have to fiddle so much with lens caps. Keep that in mind when you decide. I don't see the point in buying a Coach purse make when it comes to a UV filter, when it's really there to take the hit when you are scrambling to get a shot. Be picky about a polarizer, or neutral density filter, or shooting ultrawide. The goal is to have decent glass with a good coating so you aren't degrading the optics you paid good money for, but at a price where you don't cry when you smash it on a rock. It's there to sacrifice itself to protect your objective. This is about the sweet spot. I go with a UV because it does help a little to flatten the spectrum when at high altitude, but really it doesn't matter. I've put it through it's paces. It does the job without degrading your optics. If you are still on the fence, I have the expensive brands for different specific applications, and what you get is a thinner mount, both in height and inner diameter of the mount, but at the expense of durability. This one is thick enough to hold a lens cap without being a chonker, like many of the generics are. I'm pretty critical and the optical quality with the HMC line is on par with the luxury stuff, if not better. As well, I've had too many floppy filter mounts (bad because it deflects the light path) and failures in the field with B+W (imagine tiny threads spontaneously giving out) to pay the extra money anymore except for some very specific applications. My thinking might be a little different if this were a polarizer, but to be honest, I'm probably going to go with a Hoya polarizer because they are good and I don't have to be all precious and dear about using it. The only negative is that you can't walk around being Leica Man. If you want the aura of being Leica Man, to look like a great photographer without the budgetary or practical concerns of an actual working photographer, yeah, get the B+W, or even track down the Leica. Bring lots of cash and keep your camera protected in its Italian leather case at all times.

As a published professional photographer my take on the benefits adding a glass filter to any lens that has a threaded filter ring is overwhelmingly positive. To me, it is far too easy to easy to do something harmful to the surface of a camera lens, whether it be a fingerprint, dust, raindrops or an unfortunate physical contact with a hard surface. Adding a removable piece of glass offers a tremendous amount of protection against all of the above and, if necessary, can be replaced whereas the front surface of your lens cannot. I try to avoid cleaning the primary surface of my lenses any more than absolutely necessary to avoid microscopic scratches in the coatings ... I would much rather clean a clear filter. For my pro and semi-pro gear I use Nikon Neutral Color glass (not a UV filter). They are expensive and it makes no difference what brand camera they are used on, the Nikon filters are regarded as among the best made. I don't know why true clear Neutral Color filters cost so much more, probably because they are considered a specialty item. The reason I don't choose UV filters is I don't want anything affecting my images except what I choose to induce. I am not against UV filters, I believe they have a very minimal and subtle effect which is acceptable to almost all general photography. What is more important than whether it is UV or clear is whether it is multicoated and whether the right choice of frame (slim or standard) is made for the lens it is being used on. I recently acquired a Sony DSC-HX300/B 20 MP Digital Camera with 50x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom bridge camera for family/fun events and was going to be buying a UV filter soon. Today, after owning the camera for only a couple of weeks, I accidentally banged the lens (lightly) against the edge of a piece of plastic sporting equipment. It left a mark on the lens and my heart sank thinking I had chipped the lens or at the very least, damaged the lens coating. Fortunately I did neither, a lens cloth took the smudge out. Within 5 minutes I had ordered this filter, which to my favor just had a nice reduction in price. I chose the Hoya because I respect the brand name (they are known for high-end medical imaging products) and that it is multicoated and has a slim frame (important because the camera zooms to a very wide angle. The lens fits perfectly on the HX300 and in several side-by-side tests with and without the filter mounted, there is no degradation of image quality. I took some landscape shots with potential sun flare, some flower macros and some night shots with wicked bad street lights that could have caused severe problems with non-coated or badly-coated filters and on this particular camera I had absolutely no negative results.

Perfect for FX DSLRs: no image degradation whatsoever with this filter in use with any of my Nikons: Z8, Z9, D6, D850, etc... all good even at the highest focal lengths. Good protection for lenses in the field.