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I’m a creature of habit when it comes to photography equipment. Mostly. I use SRS Microsystems for bigger pieces of equipment - lenses, camera bodies etc - SRB Photographic for ND filters, KeyPhoto for all my analogue needs, and of course WEX for, well, everything in between. Having had some lens issues so some recent changes in my kit (read my other post here), I wanted to begin with a cheap UV threaded filter for a specific fashion photoshoot in Portugal - I didn’t want to end up with a surplus filter for a thread size I could no longer use, or sand in my lens! 

With the average cost of a 67mm UV filter being about £18, I thought I’d do a little homework and see what else was available if I didn’t want to part with that much money, just yet. I had a little look on Amazon - something I’ve never done for photography equipment before - and found a brand I hadn’t heard of before called K&F Concept. For a similar price they offered filter sets. Not just a UV filter, but polarisers, ND and ND grads too. Now I was spoilt for choice. For a few pounds more than a UV filter by Kenko or Hoya, I purchased this kit from K&F Concept.  

With it I got:

• UV filter
• Polarising filter
• FLD filter
• ND2 
• ND4 
• ND8
• Cleaning kit
• Spare Lens cap and hood
• Carry case
  
  Now really, isn’t that just a steal? All I wanted was a UV filter, and now I had even more things to play with! As expected, the UV filter did it’s job perfectly. It protected my lens from sand, the threat of being scratched, and of course, flare. I haven’t yet found a need for the FLD filter, but tried out the polarising filter and NDs on location too. 

There’s a bit of a knack to threading them on; for a while I thought I’d tightened them enough, but soon found that I could just lift them off if I wanted to. Be sure to line up the threads carefully, and you’ll find them as smooth as any other. I found that I could only do this by threading them on, before mounting to my tripod (which, granted, isn’t ideal if you’re using an ND10 - but luckily I wasn’t!).

I didn’t find the polariser as effective as others I’ve used. That is to say, it never truly gets ‘dark’. Holding it up to the light and turning the thread, the change is quite discreet, and the effects are not as noticeable compared to my Hoya.

The small NDs are great. Just what you need if you feel like a dabble in some long exposures, but either haven’t advanced to, or feel the need to invest in, a Lee Big Stopper (read this post about my favourite alternative from SRB). Light enough to see through so that the tricky thread-finding won’t disturb your workflow, I even tried mine out on the Danish coast, and whilst not necessarily the best coastline you’ll ever visit, managed to get good results on a bright day. 

The cleaning kit, as imagined, is perfect, and there is no noticeable difference between K&F Concept's kit, and any of the leading names such as LensPen. If I’d done this test blind with unbranded equipment, I should have been just as happy with either. So you know when you decide to change your camera bag last minute? Well, now you have enough cleaning equipment to leave some in each! The only fault I can really find with this, and yes, it is a little niggle, is the orange fabric. I know, I know, I like black, but this isn’t the problem. Both the microfibre cloth and the inside of the case have the tendency to leave little fibres on the things you’ve just cleaned! So, have the air blower handy, or a soft lint-free cloth. I always find micro-fibre cloth to be less help and more hinderance anyway...