Is this filter low end?

I bought this Hoya 67mm CPL because it was inexpensive. I just started using it and have noticed that it put's a smokey haze on all the pictures and also the colors don't ever change. Is it pretty much bottom of the barrel when it comes to cpl's? It might even be a cheap chinese knockoff. I am at work and do not have the pics i took available right now.

Looking at Hoya's site, the packaging doesn't look like the one pictured above, which might not mean anything.

Are you orienting it to the sun? That would cause the colors to stay pretty much the same. Even then, it shouldn't add any haze.

THe packaging looks right but knockoffs are so had to spot these days. When you say "inexpensive", do you mean that the filter is priced correctly compared to other sites selling the same filter and that it is just Hoya's cheapest, or you found this Hoya selling for way less, like 1/2 the price from other reputable locations? If it's the latter, the odds of it being a knock-off goes way up.

A CLP will not change colors but the will reduce glare in certain situations which will let the colors look more intense. As to the haze thing, that should not happen. Can you post a sample with and without?

filter was 20 bucks.

the colors were not enhanced at all, sun was behind me at my 6 o'clock postion maybe. I haven't even checked it on water to see if it will remove reflections. The 77mm hoya slim cpl i have for my 12-24 is incredible. Great colors, no reflections when around water. Rotates freely lol

You can always put it in front of a pair of polarized sun glasses and rotate them. You should see them go almost black in one orientation.

2005GLI wrote in post #18620344
Is this filter low end?

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2005GLI wrote in post #18621016
filter was 20 bucks.

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I think you answered your own question.


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When the sun is at 6 o'clock position any polarizer will have almost no effect.

The maximum polarizing effect is when the sun is at right angles to your line of sight.

2005GLI wrote in post #18621016
filter was 20 bucks.

the colors were not enhanced at all, sun was behind me at my 6 o'clock postion maybe. I haven't even checked it on water to see if it will remove reflections. The 77mm hoya slim cpl i have for my 12-24 is incredible. Great colors, no reflections when around water. Rotates freely lol

Polarizers have their maximum effect on darkening sky when at 90 DEGREES to the sun...with sun directly behind you, the filter only serves to remove reflections off surfaces and to overall cut light transmission by about 1EV.

'Hoya Digital' filters should have a reasonable quality multicoating (transmits 97%).

What is the Hoya logo like on the edge of the filter? If the 'H' doesn't look like the one on the packaging (i.e. it's a regular 'H') then it's a fake.

Narwhal wrote in post #18621154
When the sun is at 6 o'clock position any polarizer will have almost no effect.

This ^^^

The polarizing effect can be achieved cheaply and easily. The cheap part of a filter is its other coatings.

2005GLI, do one of the tests mentioned.

I'll take a look in the am and see.

will do.

Hoya playing a bad marketing game with their customers now.
It's hard to know what they are meaning: a bottle glass or something usable.
If you want to have a confidence, it's a good idea to choose BW, Zeiss, Schneider, or Schott.
The only quality they have is a top.

I'm reminded of "Limbo Rock" (recorded by Chubby Checker). The song popularized the phrase "How low can you go?"

If you bought it online from anyone apart from the leading camera suppliers then you can almost guarantee that it is a fake.