Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-12-05)

Here, I used a 10-stop ND to

smooth the water and give the

image a more graphic feel

Sony Alpha 7 III, 24-105mm f/4 at 38mm, 3min

at f/16, ISO 100, Kase K9 10-stop ND

Kase’s ND filters

are top quality and

perfectly neutral in

terms of colour

Sony Alpha 7 III, 24-105mm F4 at

24mm, 4min at f/5.6, ISO 400.

Kase Wolverine K9 polariser, 3-stop

soft ND grad and 16-stop ND

remove. This enables the
use of an extremely low
prole design that sits behind
the square lters, and is easily
adjusted using a wheel on one
side of the holder. It also means
that you can leave adapter rings
on your lenses and readily swap
the polariser between them when
you’re not using the lter holder.
Adapter rings are available in
72mm, 77mm and 82mm sizes,
while for lenses with smaller
threads, you use step-up rings.
Kase sells inexpensive bright red
plastic caps that push over the
adapters to protect your lenses
when they’re not in use.

When you do come to t the

holder and start using neutral-

density lters, you’ll nd that

they’re not actually square.

Instead, Kase has made them

the same shape as its grads, at

150x100mm. This turns out to

have genuine operational

advantages; it makes the lters

much easier to swap in and out

of the holder, particularly when

you also have a grad in place,

and also makes them easier

to grab from the carrying case.

However, the downside is that

you end up paying for glass

that you’re not actually using,

which offsets some of the cost

for xing the carry case to my

camera bag strap. I’d actually

recommend the case to any

100mm system user, regardless

of what brand they use; it costs

£30 from Kase’s website.

All of the lters use toughened

glass, along with coatings that are

designed to make them scratch

resistant and easy to clean. They

really are of excellent quality, and

have a ghting chance of surviving

if you drop them accidentally on

to a hard surface.

In practical use

I tested the £365 Kase Entry-

Level Kit, which comprises the

Testbench FILTERS TEST

saving afforded by the relatively

small polariser.

Even the soft case that’s

supplied with the various kits

is brilliantly thought out. It holds

up to ten lters, and has a pocket

on the front for the holder and

adapter rings. On the back,

you’ll nd clips for a strap, plus

a tripod attachment point that

wraps around one leg and is

secured in place by Velcro. At this

point the case unzips and opens

concertina-fashion, giving easy

access to all your lters, with its

lid tucking neatly out of the way

at the back. I found that the

tripod attachment was also handy

Attaching the case to your tripod gives easy access to your filters The polariser is easy to adjust from behind the camera