Home > Consumer Reviews > Hoya 72mm UV (Ultra Violet) Multi Coated Glass Filter

The Super HMC UV filter is distinguished by the optical coating on both sides of the glass. This is a high quality filter and worthly of high end lenses. I have them on both an 80-200mm f/2.8 and a 17-55mm f/2.8 Nikon lenses. No demonstrable reduction to the image quality is visible on images taken with either lens. In my sports photography work, I am typically right on the court very close to the action and having the glass of a $1,000 lens exposed is too much of a gamble for me. The only downside of this lens is that it's a bit difficult to clean as streaks seem to stick to it if the lens cleaning cloth (microfiber)isn't wet enough with cleaning fluid. However, I've found that if I flip the cloth to a dry spot right and swirl from the center outward to the edge, away go the streaks. The price ($39) through the Amazon affiliated dealers is excellent.

You spent a lot of money for the lens on your SLR or DSLR. The glass in that lens is multi-coated to prevent unwanted reflections from ruining your pictures. You can see the coating as a color, maybe green or blue, when you look at the front element of your lens in certain light.

Now, you want to add a filter, probably a UV, to protect the front glass element of your lens. This is not the time to skimp by buying the cheapest filter you can find, because that cheap filter is not likely to have an effective multi-coating of its own, and you could be adding a piece of glass to your lens which will actually degrade your photos with unwanted reflections.

Hoya has several price levels of filters, and I have never had problems with any of their multi-coated products. The Pro 1 and this "Super multi-coated" both seem to be exactly what any serious photographer wants on the front of the lens.

Looking through it with the naked eye reveals no distortions or imperfections. This is a genuine multi-coated UV filter (test this by looking at a reflection of a light source on its surface: a perfect reflection indicates no coating, a dim reflection indicates a single coating, and a green reflection indicates multiple coatings). Multiple coatings yield greater light transmission through the glass, and less glare, but (and this affects all multi-coated filters from all companies) also pick up dust, fingerprints, and condensation very easily (just holding it on the metal ring with your fingers causes condensation from your perspiration).

I bought this as a protective filter for my Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-S. It will probably never come off unless I scratch it. It is optically clear and I cannot tell in any photos that the filter affects the picture quality at all.

I gave this product 4 stars because it works, it is multicoated on both sides of the lens, and it is inexpensive. However, the orange coating comes off really easily. Coating both sides of the lens is crucial to eliminate glare and reflection on the inside of the lens. It also allows more light to travel through the lens which results in less haze and better picture quality.

I have compared the quality of the shot with and without the filter. The filter does seem to reduce some of the glare making the sky slightly bluer and getting rid of some of the glare. It will also decrease some of the light coming into the lens but the kit lens is so fast it doesn't really hurt performance (even indoors or low light situations). I think the glare reduction as well as the protection it offers to the lens makes this a great buy. I paid over $19 for mine last month and now the price has dropped a bit.

I keep the UV filter on my lens at all times (unless I break out the Polarizer filter). I do not like the prospect of getting my main lens dusty or dirty.