If you don’t mind the faff of screwing in and unscrewing filters for every shot, this is a high-performance neutral density filter kit – giving you a choice of ND strengths to choose from.
Pros
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Affordable ND filter kit
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Results are superb
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Build quality is excellent
Cons
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Fiddly to use, particularly with DSLRs
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Hoya is a legendary name in filters, but has always focused on the circular screw-in style. This is good for UV and protection filters that you might leave attached to your lens most or all of the time, and works well for circular polarizers, but it isn’t so convenient for shooting with high-power ND filters.
The problem is that when shooting with a DSLR, six-stop and ten-stop filters give you
a very dark or almost black viewfinder image, so you’re shooting blind. It’s therefore easiest to frame the shot, set the focus distance and work out the exposure, before simply slotting a square filter into the holder and taking your shot. Repeatedly screwing in and unscrewing a filter is more time-consuming. For lenses
in which the front element rotates during focusing, you also risk changing the focus distance while screwing the filter into place.
(Image credit: Future)
That said, it’s perfectly possible to shoot with high-power ND filters in place on mirrorless cameras or when using Live View, and also to adjust focusing, where the brightness of the preview image is automatically boosted.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with the quality of these Hoya ProND filters, which are available separately or as a three-piece kit with ND8, ND64 and ND1000 filters. The optical glass filter material has a metallic coating on the front and back, which aims for an even reduction throughout the entire light spectrum and into the infrared region.
The ProND filter kit can be found in these thread sizes: 49mm, 52mm, 55mm, 58mm, 62mm, 67mm, 72mm, 77mm, or 82mm.
No filters: 1/30sec exposure (Image credit: Future)
‘ACCU-ND’ coating technology seeks to deliver a completely neutral color balance. The circular frames are made from matte black anodized aluminum, which is both sturdy and avoids any unwanted reflections.
Although they’re relatively fiddly to use, the image quality delivered by these Hoya filters is excellent, the ND1000 give less color cast than filters we have tested from LEE, Cokin and SRB.
Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners!
His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related.
In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.
