The best polarizing filters in 2024: top circular polarizers for photographers

best polarizing filters
(Image credit: Rod Lawton)

With one of the best polarizing filters, you're much more equipped for outdoor photography. Polarizing filters, or polarizers as they're commonly known, are ideal for boosting the vibrancy and contrast in your images. 

They reduce unwanted reflections in water and glass, as well as enhance the color of skies by cutting out haze. It's an effect that can't be replicated easily in post-processing, which is why an inexpensive polarizer is such a good buy for pretty much any photographer.

A polarizing filter works by cutting out certain light waves, thereby reducing the level of glare and haze from the sunlight. They come into their own especially when you're photographing large bodies of water like rivers, lakes, or the ocean. Cutting out reflections allows you to capture the character and color of the water with much more depth, improving the overall quality of the image.

Even if you're using some of the best photo editing software, this is a difficult effect to achieve digitally. Much like the best neutral density filters, polarizers have stayed enduring popular in the digital age because they do something unique that happens at the moment of capture.

There are a few good tips for getting the best out of a polarizer. We'd recommend shooting with the sun at a 90º angle for best results, and remember that some polarizers like the newer LEE Elements range allow you to control the intensity of the effect, so you can make adjustments depending on the conditions. For a few more helpful tips, click to jump straight down to our section on what to look for in the best polarizing filters.

Here are our recommendations for the best polarizing filters you can get right now. 

best polarizing filters: our top picks

The best polarizing filters

Why you can trust Digital Camera World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out how we test.

Best all-round

Editor's Choice

(Image credit: Hoya Filters)
The best all-round

Specifications

Thread diameter range: 49, 52, 55, 58, 62, 67, 72, 77, 82mm

Reasons to buy

+
Excellent performance
+
High light transmittance
+
Extremely durable

Reasons to avoid

-
Not a budget option

This HD nano Mk II filter is a simply superb circular polarizer. Build quality is epic, the glass is toughened and the nano structure coatings are hard as nails. In our tests we found that there’s actually less of a darkening effect than usual. Compared with most circular polarizers, this Hoya delivers 25 per cent more light transmission, which equates to about half an f/stop. 

It’s not only a bonus when using the optical viewfinder of a DSLR, but also when you need to retain speedy shutter speeds under low lighting. It’s available in a wide range of popular sizes, overall performance is spectacular and it’s well worth the investment. 

See our full Hoya HD Nano Mk II CIR-PL review.

Best value

(Image credit: Angela Nicholson/Digital Camera World)
Best value

Specifications

Thread diameter range: 37mm-105mm

Reasons to buy

+
Top image quality
+
Good water and oil resistance
+
Plenty of size options

Reasons to avoid

-
US pricing is high
-
Light transmission could be better

Marumi offers a slightly confusing four distinct ranges of circular polarizers, each with different glass/coating combinations. The DHG Super range gets a water and oil-repellent coating, which works well, easily beading away droplets and resisting fingerprints, albeit not quite as well as the Lee Polariser.

However, DHG Super polarizers don’t incorporate high light transmission glass, as found in Marumi’s EXUS polarizers, which may explain why our sample filter restricted light by half-a-stop more than the best filters on test. Otherwise, optical performance is excellent, with no drop in image sharpness, and no sign of color casts or vignetting. The latter is mainly thanks to a slim frame design that’s a whisker under 5mm thick. It screws very smoothly into your lens’ filter thread, and the polarizer’s front element rotation is also slick.

With filter thread diameters available in all common sizes from 37mm through to 95mm (and even an elusive 105mm option, if you can find it), there’s a DHG Super polarizer for almost any lens, and most are very well priced, in the UK at least.


See our full Marumi DHG Super Circular PL review

Best money can buy

(Image credit: Angela Nicholson/Digital Camera World)
Best money can buy

Specifications

Thread diameter range: 67mm-82mm

Reasons to buy

+
Super easy to attach/detach
+
Very high-quality glass

Reasons to avoid

-
Fewer thread size options
-
Somewhat pricey

For a long time, LEE Filters were only available as part of a holder system, requiring an extra attachment to get on and off the front of the lens. However, in 2021, the company finally relented and came out with the Elements series – circular filters designed to be quickly attached and detached from a lens without the need for a holder. 

Made from premium glass, the Elements Polarizer also has a useful adjustment ring to allow you to fine-tine the polarizing effect. It won't fit all lenses as its minimum thread size is 67mm, but it covers a range that includes a lot of optics. If you don't mind a slightly higher asking price, we would say that the Elements Polarizer is absolutely worth it. 


See full Lee Filters Elements Circular Polariser review

Best with NX filter holder

(Image credit: Angela Nicholson/Digital Camera World)
Best with NX filter holder

Specifications

Thread diameter range: None (NX Series holder required

Reasons to buy

+
Suitable for super-wide lenses (down to 16mm)
+
Slick control for changing the polarity of the filter

Reasons to avoid

-
Only compatible with Cokin NX-Series Holder

The NX-Series is Cokin's latest slot-in filter system, taking 100mm wide filters. The NX CPL has been specifically designed to fit into this frame system - so is best suited to those who want a range of different filters to use with their cameras, rather than just a polarizer. 

In our tests, we were impressed that the smart, low-profile aluminum holder is compatible with wide lenses (up to an EFL of 16mm). Cokin sells the NX-Series Holder and CPL filter separately, but they are also available together in a number of kits, including the NX-Series Starter kit which includes 72mm, 77mm and 82mm adapter ring plus a 100x100mm frame and a 100x143.5mm frame for holding Cokin Nuance square or rectangular filters (or other filters of the same size and 2mm thickness). See our full Cokin NX CPL review.

Best for versatility

(Image credit: Angela Nicholson/Digital Camera World)
Best for versatility

Specifications

Thread diameter range: 105mm

Reasons to buy

+
Unparalleled optical quality
+
Versatile - can be used with lots of lenses
+
Unrivaled water resistance

Reasons to avoid

-
Comparatively expensive
-
Clip-on design could be more refined

Lee’s Polariser works in conjunction with the LEE100 100mm filter system. This is based around the LEE100 holder that attaches to your lens via a suitably sized adapter ring. The polarizer then clips to the front of the holder, leaving space for additional square filters to slide in behind.

This system means the polarizer is large at 105mm in diameter, allowing it to cover numerous different lens diameters. It’s also very easy to rotate, and it clips into the holder much more easily than trying to screw a conventional polarizer onto your lens. However, the clip-in mechanism is surprisingly difficult to detach again, requiring more squeeze than is comfortable. Another consideration is the combined filter, holder and adapter ring cost, which is significant.

But that said, you get what you pay for. Lee’s glass has no negative impact on image sharpness, it only reduces light transmission by just over 1-stop, and you needn’t worry about any sign of color casts. This is also easily the best filter for resisting fingerprints and repelling water, with droplets beading away perfectly. Lee even includes a high quality zippered pouch in which to store the filter.


See our full Lee Filters LEE100 Polariser review

Best for most users

(Image credit: Kim Bunermann/ Future)
Best for most users

Specifications

Thread diameter range: 25mm-82mm

Reasons to buy

+
Good range of sizes
+
Very well priced

Reasons to avoid

-
Slight cool cast

Tiffen's hugely reliable filters are known among photographers for being a good affordable option, and so it goes for the firm's Circular Polarizer range. These filters are cheaper than most, and come in a good range of sizes from 25mm right up to 92mm. 

There's a slight cool cast to them, but it's not too pronounced, and light transmission and sharpness are generally very good. The high-quality ColorCore Glass construction is what gives the filters their excellent overall quality.

They're a little thicker than some of the others on this list, but not enough to really be a problem. 

Read our full Tiffen Circular Polarizer review

Best with Cokin's P-series

(Image credit: Future)

7. Cokin P-series P164

Best with Cokin's P-series

Specifications

Thread diameter range: 48mm-82mm (requires holder)

Reasons to buy

+
Broadly compatible system
+
Affordable

Reasons to avoid

-
Warm color shift
-
Muddy edges

The well-established Cokin P-series range of filters is known for being affordable and offering a wide range of creative effects, including polarizers. Most of the range is square or rectangular, fitting into the mount via a P-series filter holder. This filter holder attaches to your lens with an adaptor ring, which is available for lenses with attachment threads of between 48mm and 82mm. 

The filter holder has three slots for filters. One fits circular filters, such as the Cokin P164 polarizer. However, there are also two central slots that fit square or rectangular shaped filters as well. The knurled outer edge of the P164 polarizer is designed to ergonomically allow easy rotation.

While the Cokin P-series is affordable, we did feel that the plastic holder felt a little flimsy in comparison to the Lee Filters holder, or the newer Cokin NX System. We also found that there was a slight warm color cast and some muddiness in darker areas. 

Best for everyday

(Image credit: Future)

8. B+W XS-Pro Digital HTC Kasemann MRC Nano

Best for everyday

Specifications

Thread diameter range: 49mm-77mm

Reasons to buy

+
Excellent optical quality
+
Lots of size options
+
Minimal light loss

Reasons to avoid

-
Very pricey, especially for larger sizes
-
Disappointing coating performance

B+W’s premium XS-Pro circular polarizers come in a huge range of thread diameters to suit lenses from tiny Micro Four Thirds optics through to beefy large aperture super-teles. A cheaper ‘F-Pro’ range is also available, but at the time of writing, the price difference isn’t vast.

Filter thickness is 4.5mm when fitted - not quite as wafer-thin as Cokin's Nuances circular polarizer, but you’re still unlikely to encounter any vignetting. An advantage of the marginally thicker design is that the rear filter element’s frame is slightly easier to grip when screwing the filter onto your lens. The front element is also easy to rotate, being silky smooth, and there’s a secondary thread on the front for stacking multiple filters.

B+W’s HTC (High Transmission Circular) glass is claimed to result in minimal light loss of 1-1.5 stops, and we found this to be spot-on. Optical quality is also first-class, as we couldn't detect any color cast, plus the filter has no effect on lens sharpness. 

Less impressive is the MRC Nano coating, however, which is supposed to resist water and fingerprints, but barely beads water away better than a budget filter. It does at least help with filter cleaning, as water can be wiped away quite easily.

We could forgive the lackluster water/fingerprint resistance, if it wasn't for the top-end pricing of these filters, which is hard to justify when compared to equally capable, yet cheaper rival glass.

Best for high-end glass

(Image credit: Angela Nicholson/Digital Camera World)

9. Hoya Fusion One Next Cir-PL

Best for high-end glass

Specifications

Thread diameter range: 37mm, 40.5mm, 43mm, 46mm, 49mm, 52mm, 55mm, 58mm, 62mm, 67mm, 72mm, 77mm, or 82mm

Reasons to buy

+
Attractively priced 
+
Optically very good
+
Low profile filter ring

Reasons to avoid

-
Slight warm tone in images
-
Rotation not as smooth as some rivals

Designed to update the original Fusion One series, Hoya's Fusion One Next filters are premium, high-quality polarizers for those demanding the best in terms of optical quality. Constructed from 18 coated layers of glass to provide ultra-high light transmission, these filters also have a low-profile filter ring to make them useful even for super-wide shooting. They have a front screw too, so you can stack the polarizer with a UV or protection filter if so desired.

In our tests we noted that the Fusion One Next Cir-PL cuts out up to around 1.3EV of light so the camera settings need to be adjusted accordingly. We also like that this filter is available in such a wide variety of filter threads - with 13 different options currently available. See full Hoya Fusion One Next Cir-PL review.

Polarizing filters explained

What to look for in the best polarizing filters

best polarizing filters

Before/after: Polarizers cut through reflections on water and glass, and improve contrast and colours of skies (Image credit: Future)

Thin frames
Generally, when you're working with filters, you'll want to look for a slim mount to ensure you get maximum versatility when shooting. This is because thick mounts can introduce vignetting and can be difficult to work around when you're shooting with a wide angle lens. 

Color control
If you're using a polarizer that's on the cheaper end, you can sometimes see color casts introduced into your images. This isn't ideal, but you can easily fix this issue in post-processing.

A clearer picture
Some manufacturers will use hydrophobic coatings to help repel water, but we'd still recommend being careful when using your polarizer around water.

Lighten up
Remember that polarizers can restrict around two stops of light, so make sure to keep an eye on your shutter speed. However, it's worth remembering that premium polarizers will often use higher transmission glass in order to help counteract this effect.

Maximizing value
One of the most frustrating aspects of owning several lenses is that, unless you've stumbled into a fantastic fluke, they'll likely be different filter thread diameters. However, that doesn't mean that you have to invest in a polarizer several times over to fit your different pieces of glass! Buy one to fit your lens with the largest filter thread diameter, and then use step-up rings to mount it to the others. Sorted! 

Read more:

10 things you need to know about camera filters – and which ones to buy
Use a polarizing filter to cut through reflections
How to use polarizing filters for colorful cross-polarization effects
The best neutral density filters
The best ND grad filter kits
Best variable ND filters
The 50 best camera accessories 

Ben Andrews

Ben is the Imaging Labs manager, responsible for all the testing on Digital Camera World and across the entire photography portfolio at Future. Whether he's in the lab testing the sharpness of new lenses, the resolution of the latest image sensors, the zoom range of monster bridge cameras or even the latest camera phones, Ben is our go-to guy for technical insight. He's also the team's man-at-arms when it comes to camera bags, filters, memory cards, and all manner of camera accessories – his lab is a bit like the Batcave of photography! With years of experience trialling and testing kit, he's a human encyclopedia of benchmarks when it comes to recommending the best buys.