Reviews
A respectable "starter" filter kit
Note: The maker supplied a review sample for evaluation, the opinion of the product is my own personal viewThis kit consists of 4 filters, a padded case to hold them in (Velcro closing) a screw in petal lens hood, a lens cap and stick on cap holder and a lens cleaning cloth. Filter size is 52mm, this is a relatively common filter size for many Nikon kit lenses (18-55mm, 55-200mm to name two obvious ones) but you can use it with any other brands just check the filter size.I'll list out the filters first with a brief explanation of what they do:**UV Filter**: Many use this as a "lens protector" to guard against dirt/damage to a front lens element, it does also reduce ultra violet light/haze but it's not really applicable to digital cameras as they are very resistant to UV, for film capture the effects and advantages are more obvious still handy to have as a protection lens.**CPL**: Probably the most useful filter for anyone to own the circular polariser reduces reflections from non metallic objects, it also increases contrast many use it for enhancing landscape photos and clouds, this is a variable effect filter rotating the outer ring increases/reduces the polarisation.**ND4 Filter**: This reduces the light hitting the sensor/film by 2 stops that means for example if you have a shutter speed of 1/100s without the filter you will have a shutter speed of 1/25s with this filter; a few uses for this enhancing movement (water, people) also you can use faster lenses on bright days wide open if you've run out of shutter speed, and it also helps for daylight fill flash by bringing the shutter time down to the camera flash sync speed**FLD Filter**: This has a "purple tint" mainly used for colour correction for fluorescent lighting, but it can also be used for creative effect tooThe filters are quite respectable in quality a few obvious points to make, at this price point you won't get 20 coatings on the filters or ultra thin frames but the elements are held firmly in place with no wobbling, threads are clean and well machined and there were no obvious issues with sharpness using these. With the UV filter just watch for a bit of flare with direct sun, these are aimed as affordable and they are quite respectable for their moderate cost. Fold up bag is quite good too keeping all 4 filters together and padded so avoid damaging them.Lens hood has a thread so it screws directly into the filter thread the only drawback with this is you don't have any filter threads but it remains useful as you don't always use filters and a lens hood isn't normally supplied with the kit lenses.Out of all the filters the circular polariser (CPL) is the most useful for creative photography, though as with any filter there is a time to use it and not to. Being able to remove reflections (glass, water etc but not metallic objects) can be very handy for lots of types of photography, the increased contrast is liked by some for scenic work but resist the temptation to always use it dialled up the "max" but it's a good filter to experiment with. The ND filter is also quite handy as is the UV one if you require lens protection, the FLD one is less likely to be used perhaps I would have picked a close up filter to enhance macro work instead still it's there if you want to try it.For what's on offer in the entire kit it's a pretty good offering and more than good enough for a cost effective way to start experimenting with photography and taking it up a notch or two.
25.05.2015