First test
PRICE: £200
PHOTOTEQ.COM
H&YKH-100 K-Holder kit Hong Kong-based filter brand H&Y has released a new 100mm system that uses the attracting power of magnetism
H&Y offers two ways into its 100mm system, whether you’re starting from scratch or currently committed to Lee, Format or Nisi systems. If you belong to the latter group, the opportunity is to buy a set of newmagnetic strips to modify your holder and some magnetic frames into which your existing filters fit. A little work and you can enjoy the convenience and speed of magnetismwith the holder, filters and adapter rings you already own. In this review, however, we concentrate on the K Series. The KH-100 kit costs £200 and comprises the holder, a drop-in circular polariser, carry wallet and four adapter rings: 67mm, 72mm, 77mm and 82mm. In addition, I had a ND 1000 (10EV) at £130, a selection of ND graduated filters costing £199 each and the KC- 100, a cheaper, slimmer holder with no drop-in slot for a polariser. I also had a Kmagnetic holder designed for the FujifilmXF8-16mm f/2.8 ultra-wide lens. This holder locks securely on to the lens rim using a lockable collar. It's a good solution and means the same 100mm filters can be used without vignetting. H&Y also makes one for the Olympus 7-14mm lens, and both cost £99. The K-Holders are machined from aviation aluminium and have a lovely smooth, matte finish. The K-100 holder is held on the adapter ring by two locking knobs and loosening the tightened knobs a little means it can be rotated while it remains firmly in place on the lens. The only filter slot as such is for the drop-in circular polariser. The polariser comes as a single component that can only go on one way, with the drive cog on the left and the filter name facing you. It slides smoothly into place and clicks firmly into position. I found it easiest to locate the right side first and, when in place, it is easy to push the filter all the way home using the cog drive thumb grip. Just reverse the process to take the filter out. Once in place, it’s not going anywhere and then all you have to RIGHT The circular polariser is in place here, with the drive cog used to rotate it showing at the top of the holder. The side screw locks any filter in place on the front of the holder, while the other thumb screw is one of the two that lock the holder to the lens adapter ring
SPECS › Prices KH-100 kit includes K-Holder, 95mm circular polariser, carry case and 67mm, 72mm, 77mm and 82mm adapter rings, £200 KC-100 kit includes K-slimline holder with no polariser slot, carry case and 67mm, 72mm, 77mm and 82mm adapter rings, £120 K magnetic holder for Fujifilm 8-16mm f/2.8 only, £99 K magnetic holder for Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO only, £99 100x150mm magnetic frame, £25 100x100mm magnetic frame, £23 Adapter strips: Lee 100, £15 Adapter strips: Formatt Hitech 100, £15 Adapter strips: NiSi V5100, £15 Adapter rings: 49mm to 86mm available, £17.50 ND grads, £199 each Soft 0.6, 0.9, 1.2 Reverse 0.6, 0.9, 1.2 Hard 0.6, 0.9, 1.2 Centre 0.6, 0.9, 1.2 Drop-in circular polarisers/ND
BELOW A frontal view of the H&Y holder with a framed grad filter in position. The thumb screw on the right can be used to lock the filter in position. Without it, the filter can be easily slid up and down in the holder to suit the scene
ABOVE Taken with two 100mm filters (10EV ND and 1.2 soft ND graduate) on the K holder designed for the Fujifilm 8-16mm f/2.8 lens. The lens was set to 12mm and mounted on a Fujifilm X-T2, and the Bulb exposure was 120secs at f/18, ISO 200
do is use the drive cog to adjust the polariser for the best effect. Grad and NDs fit on the front of the holder and you simply offer the framed filter between the two indexed running rails and magnetism does the rest. The first filter can be secured in place with the grub screw, but if this isn’t used, the filter can be slid up and down within the frame easily enough from behind the camera. The locking screw is worth using if you’re going to move around with filters in place or if you plan to add another filter or two to the stack, because it will keep the first filter attached when you take the other filter(s) off, but take care you don’t lose it, although it does have a long stem. Adding one filter to the front, you can offer up either side of the filter and the holder and frame will mate fine. As you will recall from your school days, magnets repel as well as attract, so if you offer up a second filter and you find it won’t match up properly, just spin it round 180° and try again. The best thing to do is get into the habit of adding the first filter with its name or the star icon on the filter frame facing you, then every subsequent filter will marry up just fine.
The magnetic attraction also comes in handy if you have several filters in your collection. You can store them stacked and there’s no issue with dust or filters rubbing together. Separating filters needs a little finger strength and there is the downside that it’s trickier when wearing thick gloves. H&Y filters are made from glass: Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for the grads and Schott B 270 for the NDs and NDs/CPLs. I’m no glass expert, but Mr Google tells me that Corning Gorilla Glass 3 is chemically strengthened and formulated to be extra tough and damage resistant, while Schott B 270 gives an outstanding optical performance. In my test, I didn’t manage to damage anything and when the filters got dusty – or wet – they were easily restored to their pristine state. Image sharpness was very, very good in my tests. I took a set of comparison shots of a test chart with and without filters. Using a Nikon D850 with a 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/11, I found that even with the polariser, a grad and the 10EV ND in place, lens resolution was untouched, and that was impressive. WC
ND8 CPL, £179 ND32 CPL, £189 ND64 CPL, £198
PROS Easy and fast to use, optical quality is excellent, glass filters, cog drive works well, polariser quick to remove, build quality of the holder CONS Filters are pricey Verdict I really enjoyed my time using the H&K filter kit. I am a keen filter user and the workflow with the magnetic-fit filters is speedy and fuss-free and I didn’t have any filters drop off. The quality of the products is impressive and capable of an excellent performance.
ND 1000 10EV, £149 ND 4000 12EV, £159 ND 65,000 16EV, £179
100x100mm ND ND64 (6EV), £120
ND 1000 (10EV), £130 Contact: phototeq.com
30 Photography News | Issue 80
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