How to Use a Hoya Filter

Protecing a major investment in a camera lens is common sense.

Filters are used on camera lenses to provide a variety of different effects. The most basic task of a simple UV filter is to protect the more expensive camera lens glass from scratches or dings. A Hoya lens filter that costs a few dollars can be easily thrown away after being scratched, but a lens that may have cost several hundred dollars cannot be easily or inexpensively fixed.

Instructions

1. Know the right filter size for your lens. It is usually marked on the side of the lens at the front where the filter is attached. To add the filter to the lens simply screw it into the manufacturer-provided mount on the lens front.

2. Decide the effect that you want to accomplish with a Hoya lens. They come in three general styles.

3. Reduce the UV glare with a Hoya Skylight 1B. This helps correct the color balance so that your camera sees a truer color and eliminates reflections from water, windows and other reflective objects. The UV filters come in various strengths for precision filtering.

4. Add or subtract colors to your photos with a colored filter. Various colors enhance the camera's ability to contrast the shades in black and white photos and to correct the colors from different light sources to ensure a more realistic photo.

5. Create special effects with any one of a number of special-effect filters. For example, a gradient red filter can turn an ordinary sunset into a spectacular one with a dramatic, red sky. A center spot filter blurs everything except the center of the picture, and a starburst filter can add two, three or even more flares to a candle or other point-source of light.

References

• Hoya Filters: Products
• Digital Photography School; Introduction to Filters for DSLRs; Darren Rowse; 2007
• The Digital SLR Guide: What Digital SLR Lens Filter Do You Need?