When I got my Hoya NXT Plus CPL for my 50mm lens (58mm thread), I was ecstatic. It was the best filter I had purchased in my life. On that day, I decided to invest in really good filters for my lenses. Unfortunately, as time passed, that filter ended up with a lot of tiny scratches on it. With the little use I made of the NXT Plus to justify the scratches made me think that this was not yet a pro grade filter. The scratches did not stop me from buying more Hoya and other pro quality filters. I bought a (pro) Tiffen warming filter, a Hoya PROND64 filter, a (Nisi) GND16 and a (Kase) Reverse GND filter for my 77mm (thread) lens; I also bought two (pro) warming Hoya filters for my 58mm (thread) lens.

The photos I have been taking with my Nikkor wide angle lens (77mm thread) have been surprising me. The quality of the image and how clear they have turned out has made me very proud to be the photographer who has executed that image. The photos have included one or more of the filters listed above, all were pro grade filters.

But not everything is roses in the world of my 58mm and 77mm (thread) lenses. My NXT Plus CPL has scratches on it, as mentioned above, and the CPL filter I have for the 77mm lens is unfortunately a Gobe filter. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great filter when you have not tried pro filters yet, but since I have started using pro grade filters, I have shied away from using my Gobe CPL.

Having thought thoroughly about all of this for a while, I decided (and have executed already) this weekend that I would buy Hoya pro grade, scratch resistant HD (high definition) CPL filters for both of the lenses aforementioned. Can’t wait for them to arrive so I can try them out.