A hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF) (10) for guiding at least one mode of a light field (1) along a mode guiding section (11) of the HC-PCF (10), comprises an outer jacket (12), an inner cladding (13) and a hollow core (14), which extend along the HC-PCF (10), wherein the inner cladding (13) is arranged on an interior surface of the outer jacket (12) and comprises anti-resonant structures (15) surrounding the hollow core (14), and the hollow core (14) has a mode guiding core diameter (d) provided along the mode guiding section of the HC-PCF (10), and wherein at least one fiber end (16) of the HC-PCF (10) has a light field coupling section (17) in which the hollow core (14) is tapered over an axial coupling section length from a fiber end core diameter (D) at the at least one fiber end (16) to the mode guiding core diameter (d). Furthermore, methods of using the HC-PCF and manufacturing the HC-PCF are described.