Reviews
Filter it through
Okay, so you bought a new DSLR or CSC and have used it enough to be familiar with all the buttons and settings and you now understand Aperture, ISO and Shutter Speed. But you want to get a bit more adventurous and experimental. Apart from splashing out and investing in different lenses, which can be somewhat expensive, another path to take is that of the well trodden one of filters.The obvious one to get the day you buy your camera is a UV (ultraviolet) one, mainly as a protection for your lens. Replacement glass is wallet groaning but a scratched UV filter is pocket money stuff. (It can remain in situ, so put it on and leave it there.) Okay, it won't make any difference to your photos but can save you a stack of cash if the worst should happen. The next step is the plethora of filters that can emphasise your pictures in a myriad of ways. There are two sorts; slot-in and screw-in. This is the latter.Within this K&F Concept pack is a lens hood, a wrist strap for something or other, a lens cap, a microfibre cloth (mine is white) and six filters, which are housed in a neat fold-up wallet. The wallet has mesh compartments for each filter with even finer mesh padding inside the pocket so you don't need to keep them in the individual wrapping. The filters are a decent mixture:A UV filter.A circular polariser.A graduated orange.A graduated blue.A graduated grey.A fluorescent light.The thing with these is it's a nice assortment and it's up to you to experiment with them. The beauty of filters is that not only are they interchangeable, they can be stacked together to give wider options so you keep trying different things until you get something you're happy with.Yes, these are cheap but there's no point in spending a lot of money at first. Try this pack, see how you get on and then you can graduate to more expensive and better filters. A nice blue tint or orange glow to the sky is fair enough but try the FLD on the dog and see what it looks like. One thing to remember is that though Photoshop can be used for a multitude of things, the one thing it cannot do is replicate the effect of a polariser. Along with the UV filter, this is a 'must have'.Bear in mind that photography has no right or wrongs. Don't let anyone tell you your pictures aren't any good; if you like the photos you take, that's all that matters. You will only improve through discovering what works and what doesn't (for you that is, not anyone else) and this set can help.I was sent this by the manufacturer for review purposes.
01.07.2015