Marumi’s DHG Super Circular PL doesn’t have the luxury feel of the Lee Filters Lee Elements Circular Polarizer but it’s available in a much wider range of sizes, costs a fraction of the price and is very good optically. The only fly in the ointment is that the thin mounting ring makes it hard to remove if you accidentally over-tighten it on the lens.
Pros
+
Attractively priced
+
Easy to clean
+
Extensive size range
Cons
-
Hard to distinguish the mount and adjustment rings
-
Cuts out around 1.6EV
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Take care to avoid over-tightening
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Marumi has been involved in the optics industry for over 85 years and it offers an extensive range of filters in different formats. In fact, it produces 8 different types of screw-in polariser with some combining the polarization with a neutral density filter. The DHG Super Circular PL is one of Marumi’s upper-end polarizers and it’s created with color neutrality as a priority.
The Marumi DHG Super Circular PL is available in 16 different sizes from 37mm to 105mm. While the price increases with the size of the filter, they are attractively priced with the 82mm filter I tested being available for around £67/$110.
As is usually the case, the filter frame is made from aluminum and the glass is coated with a water and oil repellant that helps water to bead off and makes fingerprints less of an issue than with uncoated glass.
The filter is supplied in a slim plastic case that’s ideal for slipping n a camera bag.
(Image credit: Angela Nicholson/Digital Camera World)
(Image credit: Angela Nicholson/Digital Camera World)
The Marumi DHG Super Circular PL has a good-quality feel with a smooth rotation action that is nicer than that of the Hoya Fusion One Next Cir-PL, but not quite up to the standard of the (more expensive) Lee Filters Lee Elements Circular Polariser.
Unlike some other screw-in filters, the mounting ring of the Marumi DHG Super Circular PL doesn’t extend beyond the adjustment ring. It’s also a little slimmer, which makes it hard to get a firm grasp the correct area when removing the filter and it’s therefore essential to avoid over-tightening the filter when you mount it or adjust the polarization effect. In the process of testing this, I thought I’d got the filter stuck a couple of times and was just trying to remember where I’d stashed some rubber bands (stretching one over a filter ring gives more purchase), when the filter came free.
Performance
(Image credit: Angela Nicholson/Digital Camera World)
Marumi claims that the DHG Super Circular PL cuts out up to about 1.6EV of light and my tests confirm this to be the case. Also as claimed, the polarizer is neutral, although naturally, it boosts the saturation of colors, so warm tones (and others) may look more vibrant.
Scrutinizing 45.7Mp images captured using the Nikon Z7 II at 100% on a computer screen also reveals that there isn’t a noticeable drop in the amount of detail that’s visible when the filter is used.
Further good news is that when the filter is mounted directly onto a lens with an 82mm thread, there’s no increase in vignetting at focal lengths as short as 24mm.
Verdict
(Image credit: Angela Nicholson/Digital Camera World)
Marumi makes the DHG Super Circular PL in an impressive number of sizes and if you have a collection of lenses with different sized filter threads, the price of the polarisers makes it tempting to buy one for each of them rather than use step-up rings. However, with a 105mm filter costing less than some 82mm filters, it’s tempting to buy the biggest and know that you’ve got everything covered.
While the build quality of the DHG Super Circular PL isn’t as good as Lee Filter’s Lee Elements Circular Polariser, it does the job and the Marumi filters are a fraction of the price. Nevertheless, you need to be careful to not over-tighten the DHG Super Circular PL on the lens because it can be very hard to get off.
Optically, the Marumi filter is very good and it delivers the effect you expect.
Angela has been testing camera gear from all the major manufacturers since January 2004 and has been Amateur Photographer’s Technical Editor and Head of Testing for Future Publishing’s photography portfolio (Digital Camera Magazine, PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, N-Photo, Practical Photoshop, Photography Week and Professional Photography magazines, as well as the Digital Camera World and TechRadar websites). She is the founder of SheClicks - a community group that encourages and supports female photographers.
