Originally Posted by
arthurking83
Hoya filters all seem to have varying degrees of build quality to them.
I have three different versions, and some are better than others, and those 'others' .. you really wouldn't waste your time with ever again.
The polarising glass is quite ok, but the finish of the ring(s) themselves are quite dreadful.
Some of the cheaper Hoya CPLs seem to be put together using a small amount of grease between the main filter ring(which attaches to the lens) and the rotating glass housing ring which is the part that turns(so that you can rotate the polarising glass).
This small film of grease can be what's causing the film you whatever that you see on the glass.
Best fluid(that I've found) to clean this film off the filter is Eclipse fluid.
Normally you get this Eclipse fluid to clean dust off your camera's sensor, and a drop or two on an old microfibre cleaning cloth will also help to remove this streaking film from your CPL too.
Was the Hoya filter packaging purple? grey? green? black? ... I'm pretty sure that my problem filter is the purple packaged one.
This is the same one that also comes apart more easily than the other types.
Like I said tho the filter works quite well, when compared to the other types.. it polarises and flares up as badly as the others do, but the actual mechanics of it are the worst of the lot.
I pulled mine apart for the last time a long time ago, and cleaned out all the greasy stuff. The grease is between the fixed ring and the rotating ring, which I assume is there to imbue a feeling of higher than reality quality.. it used to rotate smoothly. I suspect that if the filter gets a bit warm/hot, or has simply been sitting in the sun for a while.. this greasy stuff creeps.
And then when you wipe the filter with the cleaning cloth, as you wipe at the very edge of the glass you're inadvertently smearing this greasy stuff around as well.
it's not grease as you initially assume it to be, but it is greasy.
I've only seen it on this particular model of Hoya, and my other versions aren't afflicted with the same problem.
In the end I just wasted lots of pec pads and some eclipse fluid on it.. pulled it apart, and kept cleaning the two parts until the pec pads stopped cleaning off the black stuff off the metal rims of the filter.
Put it back together and never had an issue with that filter ever again.
Don't be afraid to use Eclipse fluid on the filter either ... I've been using it now for 6 years on my filters(glass filters only!!.. not plastic filters) and they don't seem to have been affected in any way at all.
If you do try Eclipse as a cleaning agent, generally you always place the drops onto the cleaning medium(cloth or pecpad).
But on my problematic greasy CPL on the first cleaning attempt I did place the fluid on the filter itself and a few more than two drops as well, as I wanted it to make it's way into the edges of the filter ring to seep into the nooks and crevices, where the annoying lubricant stuff was hiding.
If you don't already have a sensor cleaning set such as the Copperhill type, do yourself a favour and get one.
Get plenty of pecpads too, as they come in very handy for cleaning problem filters as well as other stuff like lenses and camera review screens, etc ....
And be weary of using your micro fibre cloth for too long too .... this could also be part of the problem in that it traps unwanted foreign contaminants and has the ability to re disperse them across onto other gear. Because you are physically handling the cleaning cloth with your hands, there is also the possibility that you have contaminants on your hands which are transferred to the microfibre cloth which are in turn wiped onto the lens/filter/whatever ...
Of course you will know if this is soiled cleaning cloth is a problem, as all your gear will have this 'film' over any glass surfaces as well.