Hoya HD3 49mm UV Protector Filter - Re-Certified for 100MP+ Cameras with Ultra-Hard Nano Coating UV Filter - Stain Resistant, Smudge and Waterproof UV Lens Filter with Aluminum Frame

After reading Ken Rockwell's review of the Nikon Zf mirrorless camera and his recommendation to also purchase a Hoya HD3 Professional UV Lens Filter, I purchased both. The Hoya HD3 is a sturdy, well-made lens filter that provides extra protection against finger prints, smudges, moisture and minor scratches. It also seems to stay cleaner than my other lens filters. As a result I've purchased Hoya HD3's for all of the new "Z" lenses that I've bought for my new Zf camera and I'm pleased with all of them. Hoya HD3's cost more than other filters, but they appear to be definitely worth it... especially for $1,000+ Nikkor and Voigtlander lenses I highly recommend Hoya HD3 lens filter for your valuable - and not so valuable - lenses.

High quality glass and threads. Used it on an assignment in Everglades with an 18-135mm zoom. No distortion no vignetting.

Made in Japan. Engineered in Japan. It doesn't get any better than that.

The earlier HD series from Hoya were remarkable. The HD3 more so. I have not tested impact resistance (not unless someone wants to buy me a sample to try😜) but I've have enough experience with a couple of othe HD filters to confirm they resist scratches, fingerprints and dust to a greater degree than an other I've used. If it were just optics Nikon or B+W are just as good. The fingerprint and dust resistance is hard to accept until you have used one of these for a while - stuff just doesn't stick!Modern digital cameras do not need UV filters so completely clear would do just as well. I use these on lenses that are going to be carried about all day without a lens cap. The goal is to prevent contamination of the front lens element. I'm pretty careful so impact protection is a low risk issue -- dust and grime is a bigger concern for me.These filters are not cheap so you want to make a mental evaluation that tractors in the cost of the lens being protected against the cost of the protective filter and the risk of damage.

I plan to use two filters at the front end of my Canon binoculars. The Canon optics filter an unspecified amount of UV, but since they concentrate whatever comes into the front lens I take a belt-and-suspenders approach.The two filters I tested are listed in the headline. Both filters are double-threaded and neither noticably blocks visible light.Using a UV meter, I first took a reading of a bright part of the sky, which comes in at 2190 micro-Watt / cm^2. Next I place the filter over the meter, trying to keep it steady. I did this three times for each filter.The Hoya is a bit more expensive, but it blocks 12x as much UV as the B+W filter (55 vs. 660 micro-W/cm^2). So for my purpose the Hoya filter seems much preferable.

I've taken several "lab" photos with my Nikon D850 and zoomed in on photographed microtext with and without the Hoya HD3 filter. I cant tell a difference. No optical degradation that I could detect zoomed 800% on a 45Mpixel image. Exactly what you want for lens protection! Per the coatings...I dunno. I have several less expensive filters and they never seem to be a static magnet like these are. So while they may harden the glass and provide excellent optical results, they do tend to attract dust more than any other filter I've tried. Is that a deal breaker? No - I have since purchased several more of them. Highly recommended!

Image quality is good, it works well but the most important thing is you can not clean the dust on the lens, this is biggest problem!

Wish it’s thinner rim but it’s decent.