Japan CPL Filters Marumi vs Hoya vs Kenko vs Tokina


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nyfkenny

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Mar 22, 2009
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Which one is a value for money and good filter that you will recommend? Any help is appreciated. If i'm not wrong Kenko, Hoya and Tokina are all from the same manufacture?

P.S Is it better to buy a big filter and use step up ring so that you can save money?
 

don't know about manufacturers. out of all these, marumi and hoya and kenko seem pretty on par in terms of quality and name, buth hoya is probably the most common.

i myself have not seen a tokina before, so couldn't say for sure.

big sized filters normally cost exponentially more, so i'd say probably not. along with the hassle of having to screw on the step up ring, and the having to fiddle around, in the long run, i'd suggest not. buy individually. in fact, just think of which lens you might use that needs a cpl. for example, if you have a portrait lens, e.g. 85mm f/1.2, then the chances you might need a CPL on it, are frankly, probably a lot lower than a typical landscape type of lens, e.g. 12-24.
 

Flip the Hoya packaging and you'll notice that it will mention "Made by Tokina Pte Ltd".

Question: Is Tokina the OEM manufacturer for the CPL filters for Hoya? And the quality the same?

FYI: You may find Tokina CPL filters at Cathay Photo.
 

i also wondering if their normal grade filters are on par (not multicoated or hd)
 

What I heard is that Hoya filters are contract manufactured by Tokina using Hoya glass. But the tokina CPL I see so far are not the high end types, and are usually uncoated. So they should equate to the low end Hoya CPL. A little less known fact is that Tokina is either part of Kenko or Hoya. The relationship is quite messy and mysterious. Hoya is public, Kenko and Tokina are private. Who owns who is up for grabs. But they share technology and resources and even managers. You can consider them to be in the same "Kiretsu" (conglomerate). By the way, Tokina uses Hoya glass in all their lenses.

Kenko and Hoya are of the same company (I think). Kenko is branded for the Japanese market and Hoya for the international market. This is by admission of Hoya USA which I read but no longer have the link. They are practically the same, that is why you see similar model names. Hoya Pro1D = Kenko Pro1D. Hoya HD = Kenko Zeta.

If you want a comparison, here is a test of all CPL filters (Kenko Zeta and Hoya HD not in this test):
http://www.lenstip.com/115.1-article-Polarizing_filters_test.html

Marumi is not readily available in SG. Mass sales have the low end versions for sale. But the high end Marumi (DHG and Super DHG) are tested to be exceptionally good, as good as B+W MRC KSM Slim. See the test by lenstip.com, linked above.

Personally, for my better lenses, I use Kenko Pro1D clear protector. For CPL I have a tokina 52mm (for my cheapo lenses), a Kenko Pro1D 72mm CPL. I am currently trying to get my hands on a Marumi Super DHG 67mm CPL (on special order).
 

Last edited:
Found the article...
http://www.tokinalens.com/products/tokina/tokina-02.html

Through a close collaboration with Hoya Corporation, the world’s largest optical glass manufacturer, Tokina has succeeded in producing high quality precision molded all glass elements with a greater aspherical shape than any other lens manufacturer. This technique is unparalleled in its technological sophistication and precision.
 

P.S Is it better to buy a big filter and use step up ring so that you can save money?

As for using big filters and using step up rings, all I can say is that once you use step up rings, you cannot use the original lens hood. If you have a lot of lenses, for CPL it makes sense, since I usually take down the hood to use a CPL. If is up to you though. But speed is also affected, if you have quite a number of lenses with different filter sizes and you like to switch lenses a lot. It can become a hassle.
 

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