Kase Filter System One Year On by Filly Bonito-Brook

Exactly one year ago I started using Kase filters, I had used other well-known brands previously and I was intrigued to see how the Kase system compared to them and how they would help me in my photographic journey as a landscape photographer. I initially purchased the Kase K8 holder and a wide range of filters, I have since upgraded to the K9 holder, I will go into the benefits of this new holder a little later on.

What did I enjoy most about the Kase Filter System as a whole?

The magnetic CPL for me was a game changer, being a landscape photographer. I’m often taking pictures in not the easiest of locations i.e close to a cliff edge, well not easiest for me as I suffer terribly from a fear of heights! So, in places where you must “focus” on your safety, a system that made my life easier and safer was most welcome.

The CPL attaches magnetically, no screwing needed, this made it so easy to take on and off as I required. The new CPL for the K9 filter holder system is slightly larger from the previous K8, increasing the size from 86mm to 90 mm, this avoids any chance of vignetting when used with ultra-wide lenses.

The turning dial to adjust the CPL is also large and easy to use. It is also easy to remove as there are two indents on the back plate allowing you to get a good grip on the CPL even with gloves on and this is something that I personally like a lot, most of the times I’m setting up during the early hours of the morning or late evenings when the temperatures tend to drop so you need to work fast in cold conditions.

The K9 holder is sturdy and easy to use, it has a faster screw lock mechanism so this allows you to work faster without compromising the safety of the holder and filters. This works great for me and I think most other landscape photographers would agree, sometimes you just don’t want to be fiddling around with complicated filter systems. The filter slots in the K9 are designed so that the filters slide in smoothly and easily, especially welcome when working in precarious locations as previously mentioned. I have experienced this being an issue with other brands used in the past, so a very welcome improvement for me.

Another plus point for me is having the gasket on the holder rather than on the ND filters, this avoids any damage to the gasket as I had experienced with other brands. The one thing that I personally like is the fact that the ND filters are 150x100mm in size, I found with previous systems I used that placing the square ND filters precisely into a holder was time consuming and the removal difficult, the Kase ND’s just slide in easily and easy to remove.

The filters are high standard optical glass and colour neutral, I found the neutrality is outstanding both on grads and ND filters and thanks to the Nano coating the filters wipe clean fast with no smearing, this in particular is very important for me as I shoot a lot of seascapes sometimes in weather conditions that are not always favourable. The filters are also shock resistant/shatterproof so if you are unlucky enough to drop the filters you stand a better chance of them not ending up in a million pieces. The filters are also scratch resistant, more than often I’m photographing in harsh environments so I appreciate the toughness of the Kase filters.

As I said previously, I have a wide range of Kase filters and am often asked, “Which filters do you use the most and which filters would you advise I buy?” My answer is always it depends what you would like to achieve, having said that I generally seem to use my 6 stop ND filter and a soft or medium graduated filter as I enjoy LE very much. I would advise anyone looking to buy their first set of filters that these three are a good starting point.

In conclusion, one year on I must say that my experience with the Kase filter system has been all round very positive and I find myself to be more relaxed when out on a shoot thanks to the ease of use and the sturdy build of the system. This for me has to be one of the most important things in my photography journey, in order to not take the pleasure away from something I love doing dearly.

Thank you to Kase Filters UK for making my photographic experience all the more pleasurable.