HOYA Fusion Antistatic Filters Review

Features and Handling
Performance
Verdict

The engineers at HOYA have been developing a new coating for HOYA filters which basically acts like a force field around filters to repel dust. The new hardened, antistatic top-layer is also water repellent, stain and scratch resistant, and cleans easily. 

The new coating is available on the circular polarising, UV and protector filters found in the FUSION Antistatic range which HOYA promise will need less frequent cleaning and maintenance. To see if the filters really do have anti-dust powers, we've got UV and Protector versions of the filters in the office to test; both of which can be used to protect the front element of a lens. In the days of film, UV filters were incredibly popular but now, they're not really needed for filtering UV light as cameras have their own built-in UV (and infrared) filters. However, they're still useful for protecting your glass along with 'protector' filters that have no impact on the light passed through to your camera's sensor.

HOYA FUSION Antistatic Filters Features and Handling

The HOYA FUSION Antistatic filters are constructed from hand selected silicates that are smelted and blended to create the glass. An improved 9-layer Super Multi-coating formula is then applied to the surface of the glass to reduce reflections on the surface of the glass and reduce the effect on the colour balance, contrast, or clarity of the final image. 

The frame, which is constructed from aluminum, is wide-angle lens friendly as its low-profile means vignetting won't occur and we had no problems removing or fixing the filter to the front of a camera lens. You can also attach a lens cap to the filters in the antistatic filter range. 

When comparing the antistatic filters to another generic filter, you can see how the antistatic coating works effectively as unlike the generic filter, the antistatic filters won't pick up particles. 

HOYA Fusion Antistatic Filters - Antistatic Test

Generic Filter - Antistatic Test

We also found the HOYA FUSION Antistatic filters were easier to clean, particularly when removing greasy fingerprints, and they repelled water really well with water droplets bubbling up and rolling off the front of the filter instead of sticking. 

When cleaning the antistatic filters, we used a clean lens cloth, and a Lens Pen FilterKlear, which has a flat cleaning tip designed to clean flat filter glass, compared to the standard lenspen which is concave to clean the convex surface of a lens. 

HOYA FUSION Antistatic Filters Performance

When capturing an image with the protector filter in place, it looked no different to the shot captured without the filter in front of the lens which is a good thing as you simply want the filter to protect the lens and not change the look of the final image.

When shooting in normal situations, with no bright light source in the frame, it was also difficult to notice any difference between a photo taken with the UV filter or without so again, it can be used to simply protect your lens. However, when a bright light source is in frame, such as the sun or street lights, the UV filter does reduce flare slightly more than the cheaper filter we compared it against.  

HOYA FUSION Antistatic UV filter performance:

Generic UV filter performance:

Value For Money

The HOYA FUSION Antistatic Filters are available in a variety of filter sizes and prices start at around £40 for a 37mm Fusion Antistatic Protection Filter and rise to around £122 for an 82mm Fusion Antistatic UV Filter. In comparison, a generic UV filter from ebay costs around £4 but flare and contrast problems can occur when using cheaper filters, as we found out. Fusion Antistatic Circular Polarising Filters start at around the £80 price mark. 

HOYA FUSION Antistatic Filters Verdict

The HOYA FUSION Antistatic Filters do repel dust well and the coating also makes it easy to clean, making them a  good choice for protecting high-quality lenses. When purchasing a UV or protector filter, do remember to make sure there is no degradation of image quality but with the HOYA FUSION Antistatic Filters, this isn't something you need to worry about. 

If you have a budget lens, then it's possible the cost of the HOYA FUSION Antistatic Filters may not be worth the investment. However, if you have an expensive lens, then the relatively low cost of a protective filter is a worthwhile investment, and we were impressed with the results captured with the HOYA FUSION Antistatic UV Filter, too.

HOYA FUSION Antistatic Filters Pros

Case provided
Strong and easy to clean
Minimal flare when using UV filter in strong sunlight 

HOYA FUSION Antistatic Filters Cons

Could be considered expensive

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
VERDICT

The HOYA FUSION Antistatic Filters are easy to clean, repel dust incredibly well and perform admirably.