Last year the company that produces the 100mm filter holder system that I’ve been recommending to my photography workshop students stopped making that filter holder. Since then, I’ve been trying various holders to see if I can find something to start recommending again. At the same time, K&F Concept approached me to see if I wanted to review their K&F filter holder. I said, okay, and they sent me a copy for free in exchange for the review.
If you aren’t familiar with filter holders systems, there are two parts: the filter holder and an adapter ring. The adapter ring is sized to screw into the threads on the front of your lens. The holder attaches to the adapter ring. When looking at a filter holder, you will see slots that run parallel to the front element of your lens. These slots hold the square or rectangular filters.
K&F Concept Filter Holder Description
K&F Concept made their filter holder from lightweight aluminum with two plastic modular slots. The holder features a slim and round profile. It has a velvet-like gasket glued to the holder to help block light from leaking during long exposures. On the holder’s side, you’ll find a semi-circular button that releases the holder from the adapter rings. Many filters holders now feature a polarizer holder, but this one keeps it simple and skips that. It’s painted black, and after 3 months of use I’ve noticed that it’s wearing off on the edges of the adapter rings but the holder still looks good. That’s probably more of a function of wear I carry the pieces in my pack than of anything else.
Speaking of adapter rings, usually when you buy a system, you buy the filter holder and then enough adapter rings to cover all the different sized threads you have on your lenses. For example, I have lenses with 62mm, 67mm, 72mm, 77mm and 82mm threads. While I might not use a 100mm filter on all those lenses, it’s nice to have the adapters if needed. Adapter rings cost anywhere from $10 to $40 each, and the cost adds up. To help you save money, K&F Concept includes all the sizes from 49mm up to 82mm. That’s a great selling point for this system.
At under $45, it seems like a bargain.
What’s it like in the field?
So, what’s it like in the field? Pretty good except for one major flaw. I’ll get to the flaw in a second (technically it’s the six point in the list below if you want to skip everything else).
When in the field you want a holder that does six things easily. You want a filter holder that:
- Goes onto the adapter ring easily. This one uses three tabs to lock onto the ring. It’s not easy unless you figure out the trick. The trick is to hold the filter holder vertically until you get the top two tabs locked onto the top of the adapter ring, and then push the release button to allow the filter’s bottom tab to lock onto the adapter ring. It takes a few tries to get the hang of, but once practiced, it works fine. There are a few other holders that use a similar system, notably Nisi and Kase.
- Is easy to put filters into. I tried both glass and resin filters and it’s smooth and easy to use. If your filter already has a gasket, such as Singh-Ray’s Mor-Slo filters, you will need to remove the filter holder’s velvet-like gasket to make it work. Note: use the code “thathansel” for a 10% discount from Singh-Ray.
- Holds the filter in place. It works just fine for this.
- You also want a holder that spins on the adapter ring, so that you can vary the angle of your filter. More importantly you want it to rotate to make it easy to place your filter right. On a split ND grad, the filter is usually divided in the center. The bottom of the filter is clear and the top of the filter is dark. You usually place the split between the dark top and clear bottom on the horizon. To easily and accurately see the split, you rotate the filter back and forth. As you rotate it, you’ll see it pivot in the center of the split. Then you move the filter up or down until that pivot sits on the horizon. This filter holder works just fine for this purpose.
- Doesn’t vignette on wide lenses. This one is fine out to 14mm on my Nikon Z 14-30 f/4 S lens.
- Stays on the adapter ring and can’t accidentally fall off. This is the flaw. The filter holder stays on the adapter ring without issues unless, and this is a big unless, you accidentally push the release button against something. The problem is that there is no locking mechanism or safety catch that will hold the holder onto the adapter if the release button is pushed. That means that you have to be careful not to do that.
Five out of six criteria isn’t bad (or ain’t bad if you are into that type of language). But, the failure of the sixth criteria is a tough one. You could have $500 of filters hanging off the end of your lens and accidentally push the release button wrong and have the filters break when hitting the ground. Not ideal.
Can it be fixed?
If it weren’t for that, I’d have no problem recommending this holder, but at $42 I don’t want to give up on it either.
So, I experimented a bit. I took a small piece of gaffers tape and put it under the release button. Then I tried to push the button to get the filter holder to fall off. It doesn’t fall off! Perfect if you don’t mind dealing with a piece of gaffers tape. I suppose a paperclip or something else would work fine. Someone with an engineering mind could probably 3D print something that would work. Or if you have the tools, you could drill a threaded hole to put a safety screw into the release button and then screw the safety screw down to prevent a release. This would be similar to other systems out there. In a completely unscientific test, I used my kitchen scale to determine it takes between 10 and 14 ounces of force to depress the button enough to case it to release. That’s not a lot of force, but it’s not exactly a light touch either.
In the end, I don’t really have a recommendation to make. I like the filter holder enough that I’m using it with my 14-30 f/4 when I haul that lens out (which has been exactly zero times since I got the Z 14-24 f/2.8 S). I also have it in my pack if I want to use 100mm filters with my 24-70 (almost never) or my 70-200mm (even less than never).
But…
It’s $42. That’s a bargain. If it didn’t have the flaw it does, it would be my recommended filter holder. I’d love to see K&F Concept fix this issue. With a simple fix, I’d highly recommend it.
Get it at Amazon (If you order from this link, I get a commission.)
This is probably a dumb question, but I have never used a filter system like this. Does this system have square filters that work for black and white photography? (Red, yellow, orange, etc) Or can I just use the round versions with this system? It’s not exactly clear to me what is the best most cost effective way to do this? Also I think the Cokin square set that is available is too thin for this filter holder. These things all feel way more complicated than they need to be.
Yes, you can get square filters (100mm by 100mm) for b&w. That’s the way that I’d buy it. Cokin filters should work with this holder as the width should be the same. If not, I believe you can remove a spacer. It works for nearly all 100mm x 150mm or 100mm x 100mm filters. I use Singh-Ray Filters and if you use the Singh-Ray discount code “thathansel” you will save 10%.
If you want to use b&w filters with ND filters and ND Grads, then getting them in square would be the way that I’d buy them.