First test
PRICE: £499.99
LEEFILTERS.COM
LEE85Deluxe Kit The LEE85 filter system is a portable solution designed for smaller form factor cameras Lee is world renowned for its 100mm filter system and a redesigned 100 holder was launched last year. The 100mm system is ideally suited to full- frame and medium format cameras, but probably overkill for smaller
format cameras and the grads perform differently, so Lee came out with the Seven5 systemwith a scaled-down holder and filters. The LEE85 system supersedes the Seven5 system, which is now discontinued. Four LEE85 kits are available, and here we look at the top-of-the- range Deluxe kit priced at £499.99. It comes with the LEE85 holder, 0.6 ND medium grad. 0.9 NDmedium grad, Big Stopper, circular polariser, pouch, cleaning products and 58mm, 67mm and 72mm adapter rings. The other kits are Discover, Develop and Aspire, priced at £199.99, £264.99 and £349.99, respectively. They all come with the holder and adapter rings, and it’s the supplied filters that vary. It makes perfect sense for Lee to upgrade its offering for small format cameras. The Seven5 systemwas just a little too small to perform properly with wider focal length lenses or those with large front elements. A Seven5 filter measures 75mm across and the new LEE85 grad is 85mm across – the grads are 115mm tall compared with 90mm
NEUTRALDENSITYGRADS
Lee’s graduated filters are made from optical-quality resin and are hand-dipped by its skilled team. While optically sound, resin filters are more prone to marks and scratches from handling and general use. Lee has innovated with its 85 grads and standard filters and there is a simple but very useful protruding grip tab that has the filter’s name on it. Now you can remove the filter from the carry
pouch, load it into the holder and return it – and all without any edge handling. Lee supplies grads in a variety of densities and gradation styles (hard, medium, soft). In this kit, 0.6 (2EV) and 0.9 (3EV) medium ND grads are supplied, and these are probably the only two grads most landscapers will need. Perhaps a reverse ND can be added for keen sunrise/sunset shooters.
THECIRCULARPOLARISER
5600K
AWB
The polariser in a slot-in filter system creates a dilemma for the manufacturers, because you need to be able to rotate it for the best effect. Some brands (Benro, H&Y and Marumi, for example) have taken the option of placing the polariser closest to the lens front behind any ND or grad in use, using a cog drive mechanism to rotate the filter. Lee has taken the other option and placed the polariser in front of any other filters, so no need for any drive cog and it's easy to get to.
With the LEE85 (and redesigned 100 holder) the polariser is in a rotating mount on a frame with a spring-loaded tab on each side, and this clips firmly into the holder. It’s possible to fit the polariser with the holder in situ, but it is easier and safer to take the holder off the lens first. I found the best way to fit it was to locate one side first so you have something to push against to lock the other side. There’s a knack to it, but it’s easy enough and the filter does lock securely – it would need
IMAGES The LEE85 polariser delivered a fine performance in AWB mode
a very hard knock to dislodge it. I didn’t experience any issues with the Lee polariser at the front of the filter stack and it did what it’s supposed to do well, cutting down glare and enhancing blue skies nicely without introducing any colour cast. It’s optically sound, too, and shooting a test chart with and without the polariser showed image resolution to be constant.
ABOVE Taken with the LEE85 0.6 medium grad with a Fujifilm X-T2 fitted with the XF10-24mm f/4 zoom at 16mm. The exposure was 1/60sec at f/4, ISO 200
26 Photography News | Issue 80
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