The Filter Dude and Kood 100mm Pro GNDs

[weepete]

I was recently in the market for some half decent 100mm filters and a filter holder to go with it. Unfortunatley the Lee filters are way out of my budget as I will be looking to purchase a full set of ND/GNDs. After a bit of online research and scouring the usual places for information I came across this review Edan Davey Landscape Photography Filters on a budget and largely on the strength of it decided to shell out for a set of 3 100mm Kood hard cut GNDs which set me back the princely sum of £52.99 from Crooked Imaging. I now have the filters and a few initial tests show the perform pretty much as the review states though I do get a light magenta colour cast with all three filters stacked and my Marumi CPL. So on the whole I'm pretty pleased, they are definately better quality than the sub £10 ebay specials I was using before. So I'll be adding more of these filters to my collection over the next couple of months and I'm looking forward to getting some shots with them.

Next I was searching for a filter holder for these bad boys. Back to the bay I was looking for something similar to the Lee filter holder as I quite like the design. After humming and hawing over buying a one from cokin or kood or just going for aother ebay special I came across this guy The Filter Holder FilterDude from across the pond. $50 and some free international shipping later I had a 100mm filter holder on it's way along with a 72mm ring. After a few days it arrived on my doorstep (BTW this guy has the best address ever!) in a nice little pouch. After I figured out that the blank plates provided sit on top of the clips so you can fit the measuring scale on it was all assembed. The holder itself is plastic, but it comes across as good quality and sturdy. Putting the filters in was pretty easy, they felt really secure and I doubt they will be going anywhere. The ring to attach the filter is annodised aluminium and quite thick, good quality bit of kit and when put together with the filter holder has almost no play yet rotates freely. There's an option on his site to order an attachment in order to fit a 105mm CPL to the outside of the holder but I'll hold off on that one for a bit as cpls that size are costly.

So if anyone is looking for a budget option for filters I can reccomend both of the above brands. Sure, its not quite the quality of Lee or Singh-Ray but still decent and a fraction of the price.