Hoya Fusion Antistatic C-PL Filter 95 mm

First off the plastic filter case in the product description has been replaced by a rather nice soft pouch with a magnetic catch (see photo), the lining is very smooth and free from all the frangible fibres that seem to plague cheaper filter pouches. Like a lot of good quality 95mm filters this is rather chunky but feels very solid. It is a good 8-10mm thick so I would not recommend placing it over the standard protection filter that Sigma produce for the 150-600mm Contemporary lens for example as you are likely to experience vignetting at the 150mm end.This filter has replaced a Polaroid branded C-PL filter on a Sigma 150-600mm C lens, the old filter was a fraction the price but ultimately proved to be well below par optically. The old filter had much the same quality 'feel' but was a disaster shooting through it, many shots were out of focus on a recent birding day in some very bright conditions. This prompted me to bite the bullet and get this filter, I chose Hoya based on long experience from shooting film, it's a name I have come to trust, the eye watering price put me off initially but the cheap option didn't do very well.By contrast using the Hoya on a similar long hot day birding over the cliffs around Amlwch it has done it's job as a polariser in terms of bringing out colours and suppressing reflections and has also been colour neutral (where it matters) and most importantly has not reduced the overall optical acuity of the lens that it was being used on. Although it's a bit chunky it's no heavier than the Sigma Protector I usually use or the cheapo C-PL it replaced. I shoot with the Canon EOS R and didn't note a difference in overall balance using this filter on the Sigma 150-600 freehand.In summary I have learned the hard way with filters that it's not just a question of 'does it fit my lens?' but will it also compliment the performance of my lens or at the very least not degrade it, this filter scores on both points. From experience there is nothing more annoying than spending a day out shooting wildlife and finding that shots that should not be out of focus are more than a little bit soft. I've bought budget filters that fit but often soften the focus of the lens and have thrown them out as a result., there are no such issues this this filter and it will be staying in my kit bag.It fits well, does it's job as a polariser and maintains focus, OK it's nearly 9x the price of the budget filter but well worth it after a day out on the cliffs and seeing those nice careful shots that should be in focus as sharp as you were expecting them to be without the filter in place.

Ideal for a Nikkor 200-500 lens and does all it should. Far too expensive.