Hoya 52mm II (HMC UV / Circular Polarizer / ND8) 3 Digital Filter Set with Pouch

Hoya UV (C) filter - heat-resistant, high-Transparency glass
The HOYA UV (C) filter uses the highest quality heat-resistant tempered glass, which creates a smooth, clear image. This filter cuts out all range of UV rays to give an astounding sharpness and clarity without the least affect on color balance. Constant use for lens protection is recommended. These popular filters are renowned for their ability to minimize reflection on filter surfaces which reduces flare and ghosting. With an average light transmission of over 97%, the HOYA HMC filters are engineered to enhance the performance of today's multi-coated lenses.

Hoya Circular Polarizer
Light rays which are reflected by any surface become polarised and polarising filters are used to select which light rays enter your camara lens. PL (Linear Polarising) and PL-CIR (Circular Polarising) filters have the same effect, but it is important that you choose the correct version for your camera. They allow you to remove unwanted reflections from non-metallic surfaces such as water, glass etc. They also enable colors to become more saturated and appear clearer, with better contrast. This effect is often used to increase the contrast and saturation in blue skies and white clouds. HOYA's polarising filters do not affect the overall color balance of a shot.

How to select the correct Polarising filter: Many of today's cameras use semi-silvered mirrors or prisms to split the light entering the viewfinder in order to calculate exposure and focusing distance. PL (Linear Polarising) filters can sometimes interact with these items to give unpredictable exposure or focusing. So we recommend that you choose a PL-CIR (Circular Polarizer) filter unless you have a manual focus camera which has no beam splitter.

Hoya NDx8 filter - for wider apertures or longer exposures
In conditions of extreme light intensity, such as sunshine on snowy mountains or on the beach, or when using a camcorder, ND (Neutral Density) filters are recommended as essential. Neutral Density filters are often ignored by photographers, but they have several uses and offer the possibility to achieve otherwise unachievable results. ND filters appear grey and reduce the amount of light reaching the film, they have no affect on color balance.

They have four main uses:

1) To enable slow shutter speeds to be used, especially with fast films, to record movement in subjects such as waterfalls, clouds, cars, seas etc.

2) To decrease depth of field by allowing wider apertures to be used, which helps separate subjects from their background.

3) To decrease the effective ISO of high speed film (ie: above ISO400) and allow it to be used outdoors in blight situations.

4) To allow cine and video cameras (which have fixed shutter speeds) to film subjects such as snow, sand or other bright scenes which would normally cause over-exposure.